many-worlds interpretation
MEN-ee WURLDZ in-tur-preh-TAY-shun
ˈmɛni wɜːrldz ɪntɜːrprɪˈteɪʃənListen
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an interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed by Hugh Everett III in 1957, in which all possible outcomes of every quantum measurement are realised in branching, non-communicating parallel branches of the universal wavefunction, rather than a single outcome being selected by wavefunction collapse; in the many-worlds interpretation there is no collapse — the wavefunction always evolves deterministically according to the Schrödinger equation, and the appearance of probabilistic collapse is explained by the branching of the observer along with the observed system; the interpretation is popular among physicists who find it ontologically parsimonious despite its extravagant multiplication of parallel worlds
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