Consciousness is fundamental; only thereafter do time, space and matter arise. This is the starting point for a new theoretical model of the nature of reality, presented by Maria Strømme, Professor of Materials Science at Uppsala University, in AIP Advances. The article has been selected as the best paper of the issue and featured on the cover.

Strømme, who normally conducts research in nanotechnology, here takes a major leap from the smallest scales to the very largest—and proposes an entirely new theory of the origin of the universe. The article presents a framework in which consciousness is not viewed as a byproduct of brain activity, but as a fundamental field underlying everything we experience—matter, space, time, and life itself.

Is this a completely new theory of how reality and the universe are structured?

"Yes, you could say so. But above all, it is a theory in which consciousness comes first, and structures such as time, space and matter arise afterwards. It is a very ambitious attempt to describe how our experienced reality functions. Physicists like Einstein, Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Planck explored similar ideas, and I am building on several of the avenues they opened," says Strømme.

Uniting quantum physics with philosophy

For many years, Strømme has worked on a quantum-mechanical model that unites quantum physics with non-dual philosophy. The theory is based on the idea that consciousness constitutes the fundamental element of reality, and that individual consciousnesses are parts of a larger, interconnected field.

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