The origin of life We are investigating whether life on Earth may have come from Mars, or whether life formed independently on Earth several times over, perhaps creating a “shadow biosphere.”

The origin of physical laws and the nature of time How do the laws of physics originate? Are they immutable or do they change with time? How does a universe with temporal direction emerge from time-symmetric laws? Research on these interconnected problems is being pursued using results from quantum cosmology and the theory of computation.

The origin of the universe Our research focuses on the first split second after the big bang, and addresses whether the observed universe might be only a tiny component in a multiverse of vastly different universes. A key issue is why the observed universe seems to be so remarkably well suited to support life.

Foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum biology Our current focus is on the use of weak measurements and post-selection from ensembles of identically prepared quantum systems. This formalism is being used to investigate biological systems, cosmology, and the nature of the observer.

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