45 5 v 1 2 5 Ja n 20 01 Collapse , Expansion , and a Variable Speed of Light Subhash Kak Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Louisiana State University

This paper presents an information-theoretic view of how an observer within a quantum system will perceive his world. It is argued that because of the indistinguishability of quantum particles, a coherent state will appear to an observer within the system like a singu-larity. As superposition is lost, space appears to expand, although to the outsider it is merely the collapse of the wave function. Implications of these ideas to cosmology are considered. The superluminal expansion of space provides a basis to understand inflationary cos-mologies. This expansion may be taken to be equivalent to a much faster speed of light during the inflationary period. These ideas can be tested by checking for 'higher' speed of light from photons emitted by decohering atoms.