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Tegmark's Mathematical Universe
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FQXi Administrator Anthony Aguirre wrote on May. 1, 2007 @ 18:10 GMT
While he would be too modest to toot his own horn, there's nothing stopping me from pointing out that 'mad Max' has recently put out a
very interesting paper on whether all possible formal systems (and the 'physical' universes that some subset of them describe) are equally 'real'.
I like lots of things about this paper. One part that I worry about -- or perhaps misunderstand -- is the connection with Godel's theorem. Max makes an extended argument that if we exclude all human-centric 'baggage' then the universe must be mathematical, and in particular isomorphic to some formal system. He then limits this to 'Godel-complete' formal systems. But why? My feeling is that exactly what Godel proved is that there are mathematical truths that are not decidable using the formal system within which they are formulated. So the *truth or falsity* of them ('truthiness'?) is (a) baggage-free, but (b) outside of any formal system. So in his scheme is it real or not? I don't know.
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Member A. Garrett Lisi wrote on May. 2, 2007 @ 19:08 GMT
Well, if we accept the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (which is pretty neat) then ALL mathematics is "real" -- as that's what the universe, err, is. But that can't be the last word, for a couple of reasons. First, our universe seems fairly simple, at least compared to how complicated it could be if all mathematics were manifested. Second, we run up against G??del's incompleteness theorem. I...
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Well, if we accept the
Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (which is pretty neat) then ALL mathematics is "real" -- as that's what the universe, err, is. But that can't be the last word, for a couple of reasons. First, our universe seems fairly simple, at least compared to
how complicated it could be if all mathematics were manifested. Second, we run up against
G??del's incompleteness theorem. I suspect I know just enough about G??delian incompletenes to get into trouble (and even if I did truly know it, I wouldn't be able to prove I knew it), but I'll offer up some ideas anyway.
G??del's incompleteness theorem is the dagger through the heart of
Hilbert's program to build all of mathematics from a simple logical foundation. Real mathematics (what real mathematicians (i.e. not me) do) is usually about proving things (theorems), and those things, including the proofs, can be encoded as numbers and operations between them. Hilbert hoped all true theorems in mathematics, with proofs, could be built up with logic. But G??del came up with this zinger: "This theorem is true but cannot be proven to be true." And there it sits, a theorem, which can be encoded by a G??del number, that is true but has no proof. So any sufficiently complicated formal system, in which these G??del numbers can be formulated, is incomplete since it has true statements that aren't provable.
This incompleteness wouldn't be much of a bother for physicists (who tend not to care much for proofs anyway) except the MUH proposes that mathematics, including proofs, is our long sought Theory Of Everything. So, as far as I can tell, Max Tegmark introduced the Computable Universe Hypothesis in order to dodge G??delian incompleteness. The CUH says maybe the universe consists of mathematics simple enough that G??del's theorem doesn't apply. It's a neat idea, since it also explains why the universe seems relatively comprehensible, but I sure hope it's wrong. If it's right, it implies the universe is finite, and anyone trying to build a TOE out of continuous pieces (like
me or
them) would have to toss the whole effort and (like
him) consider something more like Legos. Now, I've always loved Legos, but they got kinda boring after age twelve or so, and I'd be sad now if that's all there was to play with. So, if we accept the MUH, how do we dodge the CUH? I can think of two options:
1) Live with G??delian incompleteness as part of our universe. This doesn't seem so bad to me, but as a physicist I'm more interested in truth than in proofs. I don't know why it's bad to have things about the universe that are true but not provable. (And it would be frustrating for mathematicians -- which is fun to see as a physicist often humbled by math papers.) I'm hoping someone else here (maybe
Janna Levin?) will argue why a mathematical universe would vanish in a puff of logic if there were true things that weren't provable.
2) Limit the MUH another way (with minimal carry-on baggage). I don't know enough math to argue this well -- but I remember that
naive set theory had problems with G??delish paradoxes which led to the formulation of
axiomatic set theory. Maybe the universe is just a complex mathematical shape, or a geometric automata, that exists and acts in a way describable by a set of mathematical axioms that preclude G??delian self-reference? It's true that we can write down and think about G??del's theorem -- but that doesn't necessarily mean our substrate cares about the theorem, does it?
Anyway, fun stuff to think about.
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Ponder Stibbons wrote on May. 8, 2007 @ 05:38 GMT
My take on why his central thesis is flawed:
http://aeolist.wordpress.com/2007/04/26/confusing-bag
gage/
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Count Iblis wrote on May. 8, 2007 @ 19:55 GMT
What I like most about such ideas is that it demistifies some couterintuitive aspects of arificial intelligence, the subjective aspects about our personal experiences etc. If indeed all mathematical systems are universes in their own right, then consider the (personal) universe that is defined by the formal rules that describes how someone's brain works.
Personal experiences are simply events that happen in such personal universes. We are such personal universes but we find ourselves living inside simulations performed by neural networks in a universe that is accurately decribed by the Standard Model and General Relativity. Presumably this is because very complex universes (that can onlty be specified using a large amount of data) have a small measure while simple universes that can be specified with a small amount of information have a large measure.
In case of our minds, the formal rules are not really how exactly the neurons are connected to each other, that's just the way the program is implemented in this universe. But there also exists a "source code" that describes who we are. The way one implements the program does not matter to the program itself.
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William wrote on May. 10, 2007 @ 22:45 GMT
There's also another way to argue that ERH implies MUH than outlined in the paper.
If every mathematical structure exists, we can choose the mathematical structure which approximates our universe so well we could not distinguish it from our own, given that we can not distinguish it; our universe can be described by that mathematical structure and given that there is no way to distinguish it, it actually is this structure.
Now I must agree that ERH is not exactly the same as stating that every mathematical structure exists. It certainly is at least as general a proposition as ERH and it can also be considered as a form of ERH given that mathematical existence implies an external physical existence.
I also do not see how any of this is counterintuitive; given that we would simulate a given SAS (Self Aware Structure) two times in an exact way. It would be absurd for the SAS to state that he was the first or second being simulated, given there is no way to distinguish the different simulations. Only the probability measure can/will be affected. In a broader context I do not like the wording that we would be living in a simulated reality as this is again a absurd statement. Given that we accept MUH, we exist regardless of the fact if we are being simulated or not. Would it not be counterintuitive that only SAS being simulated exist and those who are not simulated do not exist ?
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Ponder Stibbons wrote on May. 13, 2007 @ 07:57 GMT
William wrote: "given that mathematical existence implies an external physical existence."
That is an extremely strong "given", which if true would imply the [in my opinion absurd] consequence that every possible mathematical structure exists in some universe. I also can't think of any good arguments for it.
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Jonathan Colvin wrote on May. 23, 2007 @ 07:19 GMT
Re. Ponder Stibbons, I don't see that it is absurd that every mathematical structure should exist. The hypothesis "all mathematical structures exist" is simpler than "only certain mathematical structures exist" and so is to be preferred by Occam. In fact, the MUH is the simplest possible metaphysics, having no free parameters at all.
Re. Garett Lisi: I don't see that the CUH implies a finite universe. If the computation never stops (halts), the universe will be infinite. One might posit existence as identical with proof. On this analysis the universe is a mathematical proof machine. Godel would imply that there must thus be true theorems (possible universes) that are not provable (never exist).
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Reason McLucus wrote on May. 29, 2007 @ 05:12 GMT
Of course math can explain the universe. Even astrology has a math behind it that allows precise calculations of how the stars supposedly influence different people's lives, although they lack an adequate explanation of the physical process involved.
Understanding the universe will require looking at the issue of physical dimensions of reality in strict mathematical terms instead of relying...
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Of course math can explain the universe. Even astrology has a math behind it that allows precise calculations of how the stars supposedly influence different people's lives, although they lack an adequate explanation of the physical process involved.
Understanding the universe will require looking at the issue of physical dimensions of reality in strict mathematical terms instead of relying on the physical senses.
In the strict mathematical sense a dimension is a characteristic or variable. The only information the three Euclidean dimensions provide is length, width and height. They provide the location of "points", but cannot provide any further information about the points. These dimensions cannot say if the point has some type of "spin" or "charm".
If reality consisted only of these three dimensions, we would see a world in black and white only. Our eyes could only determine that something was in a location or not. They could not determine other characteristics of objects because characteristics like color require additional information provided by other variables. The eyes can determine if an object is reflecting or emitting light or if light is merely passing through it, but this characteristic of objects doesn’t depend on length, width or height. One object could not be a different temperature than another in a 3 dimensional reality, because temperature differences require an additional characteristic or variable.
Our eyes cannot see gravity or a magnetic field. Yet, we know both exist because we can see or feel the effects of them. When we see something fall off the edge of a table we only see it fall. We do not see the invisible force that draws it to the floor.
Gravity and magnetic attraction are not defined by simple length, width and height. The sun occupies a greater 3-dimensional area than earth and has higher gravitational attraction, but a black hole the size of a ping pong ball could have higher gravitational attraction than the sun. The density of matter might determine gravity, but density is a different dimension from length, width and height.
Other dimensions would not necessarily have to be “higher” dimensions. There is no mathematical reason that would preclude the existence of various different “spaces” with different numbers of dimensions. For example, there could be an energy space and a matter space. One or more of the dimensions of these different spaces could be unique to that specific space. Other dimensions could be the same with the different spaces intersecting in the shared dimensions. We may perceive reality as 3-dimensional because the various spaces that make up reality intersect in the dimensions of length, width and height.
If other dimensions are actually higher dimensions than the space in which we exist, then it would be impossible for the eyes to see them. Higher dimensions could only be perceived indirectly through the projection of their influence on our space. A projection from a higher dimensional space into a lower dimensional space can only possess the dimensions of the lower space.
Physicists treat gravity as a force, but have some trouble explaining it. Perhaps gravity isn’t a force per se, but merely a dimension of matter. A given object may have a length, width, height and a gravity.
Albert Einstein suggested that gravity could warp space. Perhaps it is matter that warps space through impact on an elasticity dimension and it is the warping of space that causes the effect called gravity.
A dynamic intersection of spaces might explain some aspects of quantum physics such as tunneling or particles that seem to wink in or out or reality. The winking could result from the particle being in the space we perceive at one time, but not the other time. If this explanation is correct then time travel would be impossible because a moment of time would be only a temporary intersection rather than a location that could be traveled to in a science fiction story.
Perhaps the different flavors of quarks are actually different dimensions of quarks. An up quark would be a quark in the up dimension. A down quark would be in the down dimension. Each quark might have its own Euclidean space with a quark in a location or not in a location. The different quark spaces might then combine to form a matter space.
What we call human intelligence or consciousness seems to exist in a higher physical dimension. Human understanding of the physical world and ability to alter it implies knowledge that could only be obtained by viewing that world from “above”. Beings living in a 2-dimensional world would only be able to perceive locations as being so far forward then right, left or back from the present location. They could not recognize if that location was on the other side of a barrier from them because recognizing that fact would require being able to see the world from above which would be a higher dimension.
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paul valletta wrote on Jun. 5, 2007 @ 03:25 GMT
Reason:"In the strict mathematical sense a dimension is a characteristic or variable. The only information the three Euclidean dimensions provide is length, width and height. They provide the location of "points", but cannot provide any further information about the points."
But then Height is relative to a width, and width is reletive to a length?
Thus:"If reality consisted only of these three dimensions, we would see a world in black and white only. Our eyes could only determine that something was in a location or not. They could not determine other characteristics of objects because characteristics like color require additional information provided by other variables." we see a "range" of colours..because each colour is relative to another colour, ie spectrum?
We do not see just black and white, not because there are MORE dimensions, but they are part of a combination, spectrum?
There cannot be more than 3-Dimensions for our physical Universe, at this moment in time, this is not to say that the Universe will always remain 3-D. I believe the Universe to be dynamic, it changes over time, and in the future it will develop "extra" dimensions.
A simple water molocule cannot be placed within a 5-Dimensional space and remain a water molocule?..the stucture of matter within space-time is 3-D. But all of 3-D structures have "edges", these can be viewed as 2-D boundaries, thus as you state, fields or forces help gather matter into 3-D forms.
It is interesting that all of forces/fields are hard to detect..visually that is, because edges can have linearrly finite form, from this perspective, 2-D fields always "surround" 3-D structures.
You cannot find 2-D fields within a 3-D structure, but you can find a 3-D structure within a 2-D field!
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corrado morozzo wrote on Aug. 26, 2007 @ 12:09 GMT
I am not a mathematician and when I happen to read or hear some complicated mathematical issues, I always feel very ignorant, but before falling in a deep depression I react imagining to be in front of a mathematical formula and asking it to show me how it interact with all other formulas to construct and regulate the reality I am living in.
When I see that the formula remain still, I feel better, and realise that, contrary to the formula, my ignorance doesn’t prevent me to act in a free and constructing way.
Perhaps I am wrong, but my vision of mathematic is that of an instrument that serve its purpose only if is used by an operator, (man, animal and down to the single element of nature)
At this point a question arise: can the single element of nature that uses the mathematical instrument, be considered o represented as a mathematical function?
I don’t believe so, and I feel backed also by G??del theorem, the operator to correctly operate the instrument, must necessarily be positioned a step higher, (whatever this step higher means)
Am I right? Hope so.
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corrado morozzo wrote on Aug. 27, 2007 @ 12:21 GMT
I agree with Jonathan Colby (may 23, 2007) that the hypothesis “all mathematical structure exist” is simpler than “only certain mathematical structure exist”, and therefore preferable, I am also convinced that the first would be in better position to represent our reality.
I recon also that my conviction in not a scientific proof, in fact there could be only two way of proving it:
¬? Verify one by one all structures,
¬? Introducing, according to G??del a meta-rule.
Not having a meta-rule, I would be stuck, if it weren’t for the awareness of disposing, as individual, a partial or limited meta-rule: the possibility of making a choice.
Having the possibility of a choice means that instead of a definite proof, I can propose an hypothesis, verify it, and, if not happy, propose a new and different hypothesis.
With any luck, even if I will never arrive to a definite proof, in meantime I will have proved myself to be real and alive.
Now the question: if all mathematical structure exists, would there also be a structure capable of making a choice like I do myself? In other word produce a partial or limited meta-rule to self-justify it existence? (And therefore partially satisfy the G??del theorem?)
The question is not an easy one, and might be left with many other unsolved theoretical questions, but there is a fact to consider: in this moment our scientific evolution is stuck to a similar problem: how many links can a simple element of nature install with others elements?
Take away the “one to one” possibility, there are only two left:
¬? One to many
¬? One to all
No need to say that the first possibility has been the choice of the traditional science and, at this time, most, if not all, mathematical models respect this choice.
A choice that, due to the fact that it is impossible to give a fixed amount for the “many”, it is not without incongruence, an incongruence that has been “partially” overcome by introducing average and probability calculus.
At this point, as there are still many phenomenon of our reality (most of them related to free choice, evolution and complexity) that are difficult/impossible to be represented with traditional mathematical models, the previous question becomes relevant, could the reason be of having chosen the “many” instead of the “all”?
I certainly realize that the choice of “all” would envisage a reality different from what we are used to, and at the same time it would need adequate mathematical structures (including its’ meta rule) to represent it, but if the proof between “all” and “many “ is only a matter of choice, and providing hypothesis to support it, be sure that the “all” would be my choice.
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al wrote on Sep. 27, 2007 @ 17:23 GMT
Readers of crime fiction (or other interest-driven novels) know that a dazzling beginning ultimately leads to a disappointing end. Apparently the same happens in The MU. Staring With MUH which should dislodge ERH, it soon adds CUH. Then in VII.G Tegmark candidly admits
"that virtually all historically successful theories of physics violate the CUH, and that it is far from obvious whether a viable computable alternative exists. The main source of CUH violation comes from incorporating the continuum, usually in the form of real or complex numbers". Say goodbye to the CUH and start thinking about the continuum. It was the pride and joy of XIXth century mathematics but in the next century it produced mostly trouble, witness the 'annoying infinities' that Tegmark mentions, and of course it lead, albeit indirectly, to Godel's result.
It's been a long time since the Lowenheim-Skolem theorem told us that everything has a countable model, but nobody took it ontologically, except postmodernists who said that il n'y a pas de hors-texte, and perhaps a few others.
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pauljpease wrote on Nov. 14, 2007 @ 04:01 GMT
Is there any theory out there that addresses either of my two main concerns about using mathematics to describe physical reality? Or are my concerns unfounded?
1) All physical theories seem to utilize the mathematical constant pi. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, in Euclidean space. In Euclidean space it is constant and incommensurable. Since physical space is non-Euclidean, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter will depend on the local curvature of space-time. Is pi included in physical theories because there is some need to include a factor of roughly 3.14159 in the equations, thus making it a purely mathematical concept? However, if it is the geometric relation and not the factor of 3.14159 that is relevant, does it make sense to include a Euclidean geometric term in a non-Euclidean theory of space-time? If pi was not constant, but determined by General Relativity, then quantum theory would be affected by General Relativity as well?
2) Is there any reason to think that the physical continuum is the same as the mathematical continuum? Arguments for including incommensurable numbers in the mathematical continuum include the fact that the point where the in-circle of a square and the diagonal of the square intersect is incommensurable. So in order for there to be an actual intersection of this line and arc there must be an irrational number. But in physics, where such lines are merely abstractions, does there really have to be such an intersection point in space-time? Would the whole subject be simplified if these very possibly "unreal" points were excluded from the mathematical system used to describe the physical world?
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bob eldritch wrote on Jul. 30, 2008 @ 22:45 GMT
Especially having discovered quantum entanglement it could be thought that understanding a large psrt of reality is not about an explanation that describes mathematically quantified properties of a cause or its effects.
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amrit wrote on Jan. 30, 2009 @ 14:10 GMT
Universe itself is a conscious phenomenon, not logical one. Mind and mathematics cannot grasp consciousness and so universe totally. For that awakening of consciousness is needed. Consciousness is a scientific research tool which is distinguishing clearly between mathematical models of the universe and universe itself.
attachments:
Fundamental_Physical_Phenomena_under_Examination.pdf
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Georgina Parry wrote on Feb. 23, 2009 @ 03:19 GMT
There will always be potential incompleteness because objective reality can not be known directly.It can only be known by experience and comprehension of that experience. This involves processing of input which is information. From this information subjective reality is formed.
The reality formed depends upon the information received, the quality of that information (for example has there been loss, interference, delay, deception) and how it is processed. Each individual will receive different input and has a unique biology. Therefore experiencing a different present moment and personal subjective reality.
If there is no information from a part of objective reality there can be no experience and no knowledge of that part.
Therefore any mathematical model of objective reality may be incomplete, since there can be no knowledge of what is missing from the model.
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Georgina Parry wrote on Feb. 27, 2009 @ 12:42 GMT
Paul,
In my opinion Quaternion mathematics designed to encompass all 4 dimensions into mathematics is a much better tool for describing and analysing the physics of the universe at all scales. It has been neglected by most and underused.
In my opinion also Pi is related to the fundamental structure of the objective material universe.
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jul. 25, 2009 @ 05:19 GMT
Anthony,
The basic ideas of Max Tegmark and Gordon McCabe are right, but I disagree with the specifics, in particular the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis and the Computable Universe Hypothesis. Also the multiverse idea is not scientific because it is not falsifiable and only hides our current inability to understand the standard model parameters’ origin. What if the reason for their values is going to be found in the future?
If Mathematical Universe Hypothesis is right, then it runs afoul of Chaitin’s algorithmic information theory and Godel’s theorems. If the real world is only a mathematical structure, then its total algorithmic information is finite. However, reality contains mathematicians who continue to discover new mathematical structures. This implies that all mathematical structures discovered by mankind must be part of the mathematical structure of the real world. But Godel already killed Hilbert’s program of axiomatizing math and hence a single super-mathematical structure isomorphic with the real world cannot exist. The Computable Universe Hypothesis is design to answer the problem with Godel’s results, but it looks artificial and still cannot solve the algorithmic information challenge. What can exist are many mathematical structures describing the real world.
Then the question becomes: why only some mathematical structures are describing the real world and not others? For example why is space 3-dimensional and time one dimensional? The solution for understanding the nature of reality and for the uniqueness of the relevant mathematical structure exists and is rooted in the belief that our universe is indeed unique, and moreover, mathematically provable to be unique. What one needs to ask is not how math and reality are similar, but how are they different. If math and reality are isomorphic concepts, then the fundamental differences between them will become the ultimate physics principles. Those principles impose severe mathematical constraints on the platonic world of math and act as very selective filters of the mathematical structure able to describe reality. Is this just a speculation? Not at all. See my essay entry: “Heuristic rule for constructing physics axiomatization” for the state-of-the-art results in proving uniqueness results. Character limitations forced me to give only a cursory introduction to those results and their extremely rich foundational implications. I am looking forward to discussing in depth any questions about those results and their foundational interpretation. In particular, the nature of time is very clear, quantum mechanics is now intuitive, and the dimensionality of the space-time is a mathematical theorem. Even the standard model parameters may be mathematically obtained in our lifetime.
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Max™ wrote on Nov. 2, 2009 @ 02:09 GMT
Still need to digest more of this, I agree with the general MUH idea, but the CUH, and the static bird description seem like... well, baggage.
Simply stating that spacetime is divided up into 3 spatial and 1 temporal dimensions overlooks the qualitative difference between what space and time are.
Space is a structure which defines relations within itself in a particular...
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Still need to digest more of this, I agree with the general MUH idea, but the CUH, and the static bird description seem like... well, baggage.
Simply stating that spacetime is divided up into 3 spatial and 1 temporal dimensions overlooks the qualitative difference between what space and time are.
Space is a structure which defines relations within itself in a particular manner.
The use of dimension as a parameter, and the use of dimension in reference to some spatial parameter (this has a width dimension, that is a given distance away, etc) doesn't properly express what a temporal dimension is.
If a set of 3 spatial dimensions, analogous to the concept of directions, is described in terms of relationships and distances... then it defines the various manners in which those relationships can be adjusted.
The naive picture of 4-D spacetime is that all of the different states which our set of 3 spatial dimensions have contained/defined are contained in the 4th dimension, which many stick the label of time on and call it a day.
While concepts of extra spatial dimensions are possible to understand, yet can be quite difficult to picture. Further, the concept of systems with n observable dimensions are quite naturally handled mathematically... yet this still doesn't bring up the difference between a spatial and temporal dimension.
If you can say that something is located at a point in relation to the 3 spatial dimensions, it isn't as simple as adding another picture of the same dimensions in a slightly different state.
Time is a dimension, which is a degree of freedom, a way in which measurement can be defined in relation to other measurements of the same order.
It feels natural for me to describe it with the statement "Time is the direction Space moves through." As I realized that with all of my years studying curved spacetime and such in GR, I never actually realized that it isn't sensible to simply imagine space curving as literally as illustrations try to show.
You can't really say up was displaced to the left, can you?
So if up is warped or bent, then that curvature occurs within the direction of time.
This is something I deduced from SR and GR, but it is not stated in such a literal manner within the theories, nor often at all. Though considering the theories with this in mind, it seems a very natural description.
Where was I going with this ramble...
Oh yeah, the CUH, it does not seem proper to limit the overall mathematical structure to a specific state, as it seems to be ignoring that the sum of possible states that the structure could take is the 4 D spacetime as a whole.
The selection of a particular history is a single aspect of that, which would appear to imply that you would need at least one more dimension to represent the possible histories.
The value "one" applied to a spatial dimension, is not the same as the the value "one" applied to a single temporal dimension.
A spatial dimension describes the possible locations along itself, and a set of spatial dimensions enable relationships to be defined between those possible locations in terms of the other members, and the rules they obey.
A temporal dimension describes the possible states that a spatial dimension itself can assume.
The difference along a single direction is positive or negative from another point.
The different states of a direction curved across time can only be defined in relation to the other states, without a particular positive or negative sign.
Time needs to be handled better, I think most can agree, but the further one immerses themselves in the examination of these concepts, the harder it becomes to ignore ideas like the MUH.
Max Morriss
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Ben F Rayfield wrote on Nov. 2, 2009 @ 08:43 GMT
I think I have a more consistent version of "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically" based on small changes in the definitions of some words. Its a few paragraphs down...
People do not pay enough attention to definitions of words. For example, in USA, a law was changed simply by saying "consent" instead of "choose". Science words work the same way.
Some people...
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I think I have a more consistent version of "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically" based on small changes in the definitions of some words. Its a few paragraphs down...
People do not pay enough attention to definitions of words. For example, in USA, a law was changed simply by saying "consent" instead of "choose". Science words work the same way.
Some people say "universe" includes the past and future. Some say "exists" only describes the present. Some say things can be "outside the universe", which makes no sense at all after saying "universe" means "everything". Some say "universes" to describe the many multiverses which are each a part of the 1 UNIverse. Uni means 1. If multiverses are found, then the definition of "universe" should expand to include them. "Universe" could mean "all x where x exist". If its possible to travel back in time, then the "past" you travel to must "exist", because its impossible to travel to a place that not exist unless you create it by the act of going there, and theres a huge problem with creating the same past you remember if it did not already exist. I don't think you would remember it well enough to rebuild it. I'm trying to avoid time-based words like "exists", "existed", and "will exist". The word "exist" was created by very confused people and has no place in a scientific debate until you define it consistently. There are many examples of vague words destroying technical theories.
I'm starting with no knowledge and no assumptions.
START THEORY:
I'll define some words (different than how Max Tegmark defines them). "Universe" means "all time, space, laws-of-physics, multiverses, and whatever else there is". "Determinism" is everything thats completely predictable. "Nondeterminism" means all "random" and all "chaos" and all "free will". Abstract things do not exist. Math is abstract and infinite. Math is determinism plus nondeterminism. Things that exist can be part of things that do not exist, like "dog" is an abstract definition of an animal, but your specific dog does not have to be abstract. Math is symmetric. In logic talk, "implied" is the timeless word for "caused" or "required". I've not said what exists and what does not exist yet. End of definitions.
If universe not equal math, then that lack of symmetry is 1 nondeterministic thing that is not implied by anything, therefore the universe equals math.
Math includes nondeterministic things. Nondeterminism is a strange-loop.
Time is a strange-loop. However you travel through it, "time" always appears to be "now".
Space is a strange-loop. However you travel through it, "space" always appears to be "here".
Consciousness is a strange-loop. However your consciousness changes, wherever and whenever it is, "consciousness" always appears to be "me". Its no different than space and time.
END THEORY.
Theres a technical way to say that: nihilistpanpsychism.
Nihilism means "nothing exists" or the idea of "exist" contradicts itself. Its symmetric so it expands panpsychism to equal math, outside of all time, space, laws-of-physics, multiverses, and whatever else there is.
Panpsychism means "everything is consciousness".
Universe (including all time and multiverses and consciousness) = Math = Nihilistpanpsychism
I don't know the theory of Buddhism well enough to say for sure, but it appears that nihilistpanpsychism is equal or very similar to what Buddhists call "nirvana". I defined it in a technical way. Before anyone accuses me of getting religious, technically, Buddhism is a type of Atheism. I don't "believe in" nihilistpanpsychism. I say it is true.
The theory predicts telepathy and other strange mental abilities, because everything is consciousness. It also predicts smooth flowing between the infinite continuous multiverse branching (quantum wavefunction) in all directions of time, space, mass, energy, laws-of-physics, multiverses, and whatever else there is. The theory predicts that you can walk into a parallel multiverse (a little different than where you were) as easily as you stay in the one you are in, depending on your consciousness. The theory predicts that big quantum computers will work. The theory predicts you can walk on water (I'm not saying it did or did not happen) if your consciousness is a certain way. Which way? I don't know. The theory predicts more things than it does not predict. Most importantly, it predicts that we should read a math book to learn physics. Max Tegmark thought of most of it. I just created a variation of his theory.
Nihilistpanpsychism is testable and falsifiable if you have an advanced enough system. I have one in mind based on a global AI network of millions of people playing mouse-music (which I will create, free and open-source), to test this consciousness theory using subtle changes in musical psychology.
Read my design documents at
http://audivolv.com for the "TELEPATHY" section of "ToDo Summary.txt". Thats the test I'm planning.
I'm an AI researcher. The current version is an intelligent musical instrument that writes Java code to change how it sounds to sound more the way it thinks you want it to sound. Its a self-modifying AI.
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re castel wrote on Nov. 20, 2009 @ 19:32 GMT
Theories involving the idea of spacetime as a continuum are indeed rather naive in that such theories ignore the qualitative difference between the ideas of space and time. The idea of the curved space is really quite naive and the idea of spacetime relativity is so confused.
There are clear differences between the classical Galilean/Newtonian/Maxwelian ideas of the transformations of...
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Theories involving the idea of spacetime as a continuum are indeed rather naive in that such theories ignore the qualitative difference between the ideas of space and time. The idea of the curved space is really quite naive and the idea of spacetime relativity is so confused.
There are clear differences between the classical Galilean/Newtonian/Maxwelian ideas of the transformations of motions (velocity or motion transformations) and the Einsteinian idea of transformations of space and time (spacetime transformations).
The classical view assumed the space dimension as an absolute/unchanging background container of the corporeal substance of existence in which motion transformations are wrought, and the classical assumed the time dimension as an absolute/unchanging background container of the abstract instance of existence in which duration transformations are wrought. The substance of existence was considered ethereal (Maxwell's ether) and that the instance of existence was considered ephemeral.
Einstein's idea that the ethereal substance of existence does not exist advanced the idea that the space dimension itself is that which is subject to the transformations, and his assertion that time is a continuum with space also advanced the idea that time dimension itself is also subject to the transformations. Thus, essentially the modern assertion is that the substance of existence is the space dimension itself and the instance of existence is the time dimension itself. Hence, the idea of spacetime transformations - which apparently means that space is ascribed the motions and time is ascribed the motions with the idea of duration being explained away or done away with according to the destruction of the idea of simultaneity. These ideas were of a new kinematics that abandoned the classical assumptions and the common sense perspectives. Einstein's weird kinematics is a departure from the classical kinematics.
The classical views of the corporeal motion transformations (or curvature of motions) wrought on the substance of existence within the space dimension and of the abstract duration transformation (or passage of instants) wrought on the instance of existence within the time dimension remain very much in the common sense perspective. However, the popular interpretations of the mathematical formulations persist in an abject salaam to the Einsteinian ideas of mixed-up spacetime transformations, which is why our science cannot seem to get its act together.
Most of the mathematical formulations in our physics can readily be interpreted as descriptions of the phenomena (the corporeal) in the existence according to the idea of motion transformations and of the noumena (the abstract) in the existence according to the idea of duration transformations, which are rather classical common sense ideas. Einstein's famous formula E=mc
2 for the mass-energy equivalence is actually of the idea of motion transformations. The ideas of linear motion transformations and tensor motions transformations are readily interpreted from the formulations, and relating these are apparently enough for a description of the dynamic physical universe. Establishing an understanding of how information is processed would also allow a comprehensive view involving the phenomena (the corporeal/physical reality) and the noumena (the abstract reality) in the existence, which quite covers everything there is in the existence.
It would be lovely if I had grant money to spend for the time to do the formal research and presentation of the idea of kinematic relativity, which is the more sensible idea instead of the idea of spacetime relativity. But grant money for a formal research on this sort of thing and for one who is not really a science guy is hard to obtain; and, as it is, all I can afford is my
website where I have some discussions on the idea of kinematic relativity and the idea of motion transformations owing to curved motions. Perhaps one of these days I could figure out how to (a difficult thing since I am not currently connected to the academe) and finally get around to submitting a research proposal (perhaps to FQXi) that will be worthy of an ample grant for the kind of formal research and presentation that I have in mind.
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Marcel-Marie LeBel wrote on Nov. 29, 2009 @ 01:23 GMT
If we are looking for a fundamental level, we do not stop at something that we know comes from simpler principles. Mathematics find their origin in rules of logic. Rules that are observed, followed and obeyed in all realms and theories. These are the real rules the universe follows, not our laws of physics that actually rule our observations of the universe. The observation is not the universe...
Lets look for the logic of things, not just their observational description.
Marcel,
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Ben R Rayfield wrote on Dec. 10, 2009 @ 14:15 GMT
I've posted the following at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Multiverse
Its a continuation of my post above.
Some parts of Max Tegmark's theory "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically" CAN BE TESTED by carefully designed internet routing software and patterns of information flowing through it. Some people say "universe" only includes the present, but if the...
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I've posted the following at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Multiverse
Its a continuation of my post above.
Some parts of Max Tegmark's theory "all structures that exist mathematically exist also physically" CAN BE TESTED by carefully designed internet routing software and patterns of information flowing through it. Some people say "universe" only includes the present, but if the universe equals the total of math, there would be no limits on what can be experienced. You could change the laws of physics because all possible laws of physics are a subset of math. Consciousness and time would also be a subset of math. The "Global Consciousness Project" has already demonstrated unexpected results from their quantum-hardware-generated random numbers.
If the universe equals all math, then we should be able to write a reasonably short Lisp program to run on the Lisputer software and verify the Lisputer is executing in the same way the "laws of physics" are executing, by verifying that the Global Consciousness Project's "random" numbers become less random at that time. The Global Consciousness Project has years of data (about patterns some times and lack of patterns other times, in their generated "random" numbers) to compare it to. We must be careful to cover all possibilities, but if the Lisputer demonstrates an ability to change those random numbers, then we should take that as evidence that Max Tegmark is right, unless later a flaw is found in the test setup or assumptions made in designing/interpreting the test.
http://noosphere.princeton.edu QUOTE: The Global Consciousness Project, also called the EGG Project, is an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others. We collect data continuously from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites around the world. The archive contains more than 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second." Our purpose is to examine subtle correlations that may reflect the presence and activity of consciousness in the world. We predict structure in what should be random data, associated with major global events. When millions of us share intentions and emotions the GCP/EGG network data show meaningful departures from expectation. This is a powerful finding based in solid science. END QUOTE.
The following 2 softwares are still being planned and do not exist yet, but what they will do is very simple. The few lines below should be enough for you to understand why those softwares will be able to test Max Tegmarks theory, when I finish building those 2 softwares. I must make an exception on Wikipedia's "unbiased" rule, because claims have been made against Max Tegmark's theory being untestable, and I am the only one who has any idea how to test it. There is a policy against "orginal research", but this is directly based on Tegmark's theory for the purpose of testing it. If what I write here is to be removed, the claim that the theory is untestable should also be removed. Both should stay because testability (falsifiable) is an important part of every science theory.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lisputer QUOTE: Lisputer "Don't panic". Based on Max Tegmark's theories, a high-level quantum prog-lang for solomonoff, bayesian, determinism, nondeterminism, Global Consciousness Project. Plugin for Schrodingers Network Router. Recursion controls blur/sharpen of multiverse END QUOTE.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/schrouter QUOTE: Schrodingers Network Router Research framework for interactions between UDP packets as exponential amounts of uncertainty build up in divergently branching recursions (EQ, XOR) through many computers on the Internet. Set AI goals more/less uncertainty for multiverse blur/sharpen. END QUOTE.
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Marcel-Marie LeBel wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 18:14 GMT
(repost from blog)
Science is empirical. What does it mean? It means that we recognize not knowing about the underlying reality. It means that we accept this ignorance because we have found about 200 years ago a pragmatic approach to this situation. We simply treat this universe as a black box. We ignore the content of the box and concentrate our study on our interaction or experience (empirical) with the box. By studying our experiences of the box we have come up with regularities and some possible images and ideas of what the box contains. These are our laws of physics and the models that we can infer from them. But no matters how pointed our empirical method is, no matters how sharp and detailed our models are, they are still modeled and framed on the requirements of proof within the empirical system. In other words, the empirical method was meant to study our experience of the box, never to find its content, which must be addressed in a metaphysical approach. No matter how wonderful our science may appear, it is just a small portion of what can be done and known. Without knowing the content of the box, we do not have any idea of what we are really doing. This is the limit of physics. We don’t do or understand as much as we could and should.
Once we understand the Nature (substance and Cause) of the content of the box, we may resume doing physics knowing and understanding what we are really doing. We will do much better than we are now. So, this is a temporary limit. It would be very hard to argue against the need to understand the content of the box. And the content of the box is by definition outside the domain of science. The right tool for that domain is metaphysics. I do not see any other choice. This accepted ignorance or blindness by convention must stop. Everything is now in place and available to answer the question.
Marcel,
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Marcel-Marie LeBel wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 20:10 GMT
Florin,
Before we even start an argument here, there is already a good side to this exchange. If/if you are anything like me, you re-read the other essay more in depth, past the simple cursory reading. I did so and revisited the three principles. The choice of this forum is in line with both our essays.
Marcel,
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 20:30 GMT
Marcel,
I am glad we can discuss those issues here. Let me start with a few observations.
Observation 1: in some cases math is not only a model of reality, it is reality. Case in point: Minkowski space. It is impossible to accelerate any object faster than the speed of light “c” or to transmit information faster than c. Mass and spin are related to the representations of the Poincare...
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Marcel,
I am glad we can discuss those issues here. Let me start with a few observations.
Observation 1: in some cases math is not only a model of reality, it is reality. Case in point: Minkowski space. It is impossible to accelerate any object faster than the speed of light “c” or to transmit information faster than c. Mass and spin are related to the representations of the Poincare group.
Observation 2: After Galileo, physics is an experimental science. This means that we validate our descriptions of nature against experiments. Beautiful self-consistent theories were discarded to the trash bin because nature said something else.
Observation 3: Math is about abstract relationships regardless of their realization. For example the rules of complex numbers can be modeled by the Argand plane or by a 2X2 matrix representation.
I hope you agree with all of the 3 observations above. Then the question becomes: can we describe scientifically reality, or is this the job of metaphysics (or God)?
I contend that if axiomatizing physics is achievable, then we can solve the nature of reality in a mathematical way. This means that there will be a mathematical proof which anybody can check about the necessity of existence of nature as we observe it. If this proof is ever going to be reached, then we no longer need to have physics as an experimental science, all we need is to see if our models of reality can be made a consequence of the axioms of nature. If yes, then we are guaranteed that they will be experimentally verified as well. Is this far fetched? Not at all. In smaller slices of reality this happens already. (Take a grounded infinite conductor plate and position an electric charge at a distance d. Compute by Maxwell’s equations the attraction force the charge experiences and compare it with experiment. They agree and we do not need to doubt our mathematical calculation because we know that Maxwell’s equations are valid.)
But for physics axiomatization, we are talking about whole nature and we no longer have the luxury of partial models (like Maxwell’s equations above). By observation 3, can we find a grand mathematical equation which describes the whole nature? Suppose the answer is yes. Then write it down on a piece of paper, say “fly” and a new universe will start. Is this possible? Of course not, they are only marks on the paper, not another universe. So the answer is NO. Therefore we have:
Consequence 1: Starting from pure math is impossible to axiomatize physics.
Let’s now use Observation 2. By observing small slices of nature, can we infer something about existence as a whole? Maybe yes, maybe no, nobody was successful so far. But the boundary of knowledge keeps advancing, and for now it is a matter of personal taste or belief of what we think the answer is ultimately going to be. But if it is a matter of belief, then we are in the realm of metaphysics already and your argument fits well in here. Lets go with it and infer:
Consequence 2: starting from experiments and models of reality is impossible to come up with a definite answer to the question “what is existence”?
Time now to use Observation 1. In some cases math is reality and being math, there should be some way this can be derived mathematically. If starting from experiments/reality is not the way to go, and if starting from pure math is not the way to go either, the only remaining option is to start from both. Here we recall the “unreasonable effectiveness” of math to describe nature. Reality and math are made out of the same building blocks, just like liquid water and ice. Maybe the place to start is to seek the similarities and differences between math and reality. Scholars already studied the similarities but ultimately got stuck in Consequence 2.
Heuristic rule: seek the differences between reality and math (see here my essay contest). Those differences act as filters selecting only a very few “unique” or “distinguished” mathematical structures from the infinite world of math. This is a work in progress and now this problem becomes a mathematical well posed problem and my essay is dedicated towards this aspect. But there is an entire different discussion from the philosophical point of view.
So assume (big assumption) for now that the math case is settled and indeed we did have achieved complete physics axiomatization and let’s explore the philosophical consequences.
First question. Why did this work? Suppose you are God and want to create the world. What do you want to have? You have your building blocks (the mathematical structures which existed before time in an acausal Platonic world), but those blocks are valid only within a limited domain (their axiomatic framework). The first thing you want is to have existence independent of context (see the universal truth property). The second thing you want is to allow interaction in your world, otherwise it is only a static frozen mathematical structure like say set theory. So here comes the composability principle. By now you can create a clock, or a software program, all nice things, but it needs something else: free will, or infinite complexity (see deformability principle).
Now second question: why there is something rather than nothing. Answer: because it can be.
Third question: Why is our universe happening only once? Are there multiverses? Where they come from? For this God needs to eliminate the universal truth property. Why? Because it is this requirement that confines us to a particular universe. So what do you get when you eliminate it? Surprise: hyperbolic quantum mechanics. I speculate that the proper way of solving the birth of our universe is in a hyperbolic QM framework. In this theory, time does not exist.
Forth question: what is God? It is the platonic world of math.
Final question: what is reality? It is the platonic world of math rearranged to achieve the 3 requirements of reality: independent existence, unrestricted interaction, and infinite complexity.
Regards,
Florin
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 22:30 GMT
Tegmark advances the notion of a first order calculus which skirts the problem of Godel. I am not sure that Tegmark's ideas are particularly workable in physics, for I fail to see how we can empirically test it. I have similar questions about axiomatizing physics. Back in the 1980s there was a movement towards axiomatic field theory, but none of that managed to come up with anything particularly valuable for how people actually do science.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 23:19 GMT
Lawrence,
I think axiomatizing physics can have two outcomes: 1. prove our universe could be only in the way we observe it, 2. help open up new roads into existing puzzles like quantum gravity.
First, what does it mean to axiomatize physics? There are 2 approaches: Tegmark’s which take the standard definition of axiomatization (and of course runs into head on problems with Gödel) and my approach which uses the axioms not to derive the useful mathematical structures applicable in nature, but to select them from an infinite set of available structures.
There is a subtle point to be made about proving uniqueness of nature. All mathematical structures are unique. There are no 2 Pythagoras theorems. A better term is “distinguished”. We can have a Minkowski space with 1 time and 429 spatial dimensions, but the 1+3 space is distinguished by nature.
The old-fashioned axiomatization approach of the axiomatic field theory did not yield much except increased rigor. This was expected as you get out what you put in (remember bootstrap theories). The ultimate roadblock stems from Gödel and you can avoid it with Tegmark’s approach for example, but I believe it will be ultimately proven as too restrictive as well. But when one uses axioms as requirements instead, Gödel’s limitation no longer applies. As requirements, the axiomatization of physics is achieved in meta-mathematics.
Florin
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Marcel-Marie LeBel wrote on Dec. 20, 2009 @ 23:31 GMT
Florin
Wow! You do not start in low gear …!
Observation 1:
Maths are the metric extension of logic. Logic is therefore more primitive, more fundamental than mathematics.
The metric extension pertains to the multiple identities presented by the observer status i.e. our need to know in relation to our experience. It describes our relationship with the box, not its...
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Florin
Wow! You do not start in low gear …!
Observation 1:
Maths are the metric extension of logic. Logic is therefore more primitive, more fundamental than mathematics.
The metric extension pertains to the multiple identities presented by the observer status i.e. our need to know in relation to our experience. It describes our relationship with the box, not its content. Mathematics are not stuff or a substance you can build something out of.
Observation 2: What nature is and what it says through our experience is very different. Our experience requires that we build space and time to position our experience. …we validate our description of our reality against experiments, the Nature of which escapes us (black box).
Observation 3: “Math is abstract relationship “ …. Is contrary to observation 1: .. “ it is reality”
Here is my position on the God thing/argument:
If you truly believe in God, you know better to discuss its status under a microscope..
If you don’t believe in God ... then what are you talking about exactly?
This is why I don’t discuss the matter
Reality: Physics is the study of our Reality as provided by our experience. We create our reality according to our experiences. So, what is the universe like when it is not modeled by our human experience ? The Nature of something is what this thing is by itself outside the scope and modeling of our experience. The concepts of “reality” and “nature”, “nature of something”..etc. are the most commonly confused concepts of all…
“can we find a grand mathematical equation which describes the whole nature”. It would be a description of our experience, not that of the universe or underlying reality. A description is a complete metric sentence that does not need or even allow causality. Lets make this clear: our reality is the sum of our experiences, a binary relationship between the underlying reality and the observer, senses and mind. Our reality is this relationship that exists only with us at one end of it. So, the Nature of the underlying reality, as something “by itself”, will never be described in terms of our experience of it. Our reality is not a state, but is a relationship, a relationship highly contingent on our position, size, senses and mind. In order to understand the universe, we have to see past the transformation and complexity we introduce into the data.
Natural metaphysics pertains to the study of substance and cause of the underlying reality i.e the content of the box. No belief, souls etc.
Consequence 1: As described in my essay, science is a collection of truth systems that all converge on something out of reach; the underlying reality. Because all truth system are logically incompatible with each other, the axiomatization of all of physics is, in my opinion, impossible ( i.e. no physical TOE) On the other hand, the underlying reality can be axiomatized under natural metaphysics, as the unreachable cornerstone of all our experiences.
“The first thing you want is to have existence independent of context (see the universal truth property)”
Why in the world would you want this? We make this distinction/ partition; the universe doesn’t.
The three principles:
Universal truth: Logic is the rule of the universe and this is why it is equally valid inside and outside the box in
maths, science etc. It is the one common denominator in all we do and know. Pretty obvious?
Composability: A universe based on logic accepts only one substance and only one cause and is therefore
a monistic system, fully composable(?).
Deformability: Substance, cause and logic form a completely fluid system, fully deformable.
We could not have more opposite ideas! I say that the whole universe is made of an explosive process/substance that we call the passage of time. Incidently, I show in my essay the logical creation of the universe and it allows only one substance to exist; the passage of time. Just try to create the universe out of nothing without resorting to the logical rule of non-contradiction! Good luck!
Conclusion:
1) I think that in general, we have a poor semantic use of some terms carrying multiple meanings and that need constant limiting adjectives, like time, nature, reality, empirical, truth, substance, cause, etc. For example, time means many things and if unspecified, it means everything and nothing specific.
2) Natural metaphysics can be built in a bottom-up approach as I did in my essay. It doesn’t require one reject anything from physics. It explains logically what is observed empirically, the cause but not the metric.
These explanations support present descriptions and can help physics to evolve beyond its intrinsic limitations; the point of view of the observer.
Marcel,
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 21, 2009 @ 06:40 GMT
Marcel,
There are so many things I can discuss with you, but I’ll pick and choose what I think are the most important differences between our views.
“Because all truth system are logically incompatible with each other, the axiomatization of all of physics is, in my opinion, impossible ( i.e. no physical TOE) On the other hand, the underlying reality can be axiomatized under natural...
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Marcel,
There are so many things I can discuss with you, but I’ll pick and choose what I think are the most important differences between our views.
“Because all truth system are logically incompatible with each other, the axiomatization of all of physics is, in my opinion, impossible ( i.e. no physical TOE) On the other hand, the underlying reality can be axiomatized under natural metaphysics, as the unreachable cornerstone of all our experiences.”
Indeed, all truth systems are logically incompatible with each other and this is the essence of Gödel’s result about the impossibility to have a TOE of math. However, a TOE of physics is an entirely different matter. Find one logical inconsistency in nature. There is none. Order the platonic world of math in a way that avoids all contradictions and you get the necessity of time (among other consequences). Time is a necessary condition to avoid self-referencing contradictions.
“[The first thing you want is to have existence independent of context (see the universal truth property] Why in the world would you want this? We make this distinction/ partition; the universe doesn’t.”
There are two definitions of truth: (1) the mathematical definition: a statement is true if it can be derived from the axioms (2) the physical definition: true is something corresponds to reality. The mathematical definition is very narrow and the same statement is true or false depending on the axiomatic context. 2+2 = 4 is true in the usual arithmetic, but it is false in the addition modulo 4 for example. But in nature, truth has a much larger reach and this is remarkable. It is this larger reach which gives reality its ontological value independent of any observers.
“We could not have more opposite ideas! I say that the whole universe is made of an explosive process/substance that we call the passage of time. Incidently, I show in my essay the logical creation of the universe and it allows only one substance to exist; the passage of time. Just try to create the universe out of nothing without resorting to the logical rule of non-contradiction! Good luck!”
Not quite, I use to think in the past along your lines, but time by itself while necessary, it is not sufficient.
The key of explaining the birth of our universe is in an acausal domain and I think is linked with the multiverse idea. If the 3 principles guarantee the uniqueness of our universe, then to get to the multiverse scenario we need to break this uniqueness, meaning removing one or more of the 3 principles. And indeed there is a mathematical solution called split-complex (or hyperbolic) QM which has inequivalent representations (unlike standard QM). There are no logical contradictions, everything is consistent within a representation, and I believe this is the mathematical starting point of the multiverse investigation.
“1) I think that in general, we have a poor semantic use of some terms carrying multiple meanings and that need constant limiting adjectives, like time, nature, reality, empirical, truth, substance, cause, etc. For example, time means many things and if unspecified, it means everything and nothing specific.”
This was the main point of Wittgenstein.
“2) Natural metaphysics can be built in a bottom-up approach as I did in my essay. It doesn’t require one reject anything from physics. It explains logically what is observed empirically, the cause but not the metric.”
As Wittgenstein put it, philosophy is mainly playing with words. What we need is unequivocal mathematical proof of our statements, in other words, we need physics axiomatization. A proof, is a proof, is a proof. When axiomatization is achieved, then anybody, even a machine can mechanically check the validity of the proof. No more fuzzy semantics.
I believe I showed the way of how to do it. Compare math and reality. Extract core characteristics of reality: (independent ontology, unrestricted interaction, and infinite complexity). Then derive mathematical consequences from them. Prove the necessity of time, quantum mechanics, space-time in 4 dimensions, electroweak symmetry. This is already done. To do: Eliminate all supporting assumptions. Attempt to prove the rest of nature: strong force, standard model, quantum gravity, cosmology. Then physics axiomatization will be complete.
What I propose is first and foremost a paradigm. The existing mathematical results were all obtained as part of various unrelated research programs with their own motivation. But together they enforce the hope that the rest of the program will be ultimately successful.
Florin
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 21, 2009 @ 12:21 GMT
Hi all ,
That seems interesting about the axiomatization but if the referential is not good thus all is false .The road is false ,the gauge too and the math tools too .
When a theory is correct ,we see its applications and laws everywhere .
Only the physics explain the physicality .The maths at this moment imply confusions .
The metaphysics too needs a balance .If the fourth dimensions are inserted thus where are we going ,Einstein is really bad understood .It is probably the reason why the distorsions and bizares things are inserted .
The toe doesn't exist due to the evolution and thus the lack of mass.Only a GUT IN OPTIMIZATION AND EVOLUTION CAN BE ACCEPTED.The toe are like a search of credibility in the sciences community ,thus the individualism is a problem .
It exists only one axiomatization and we are youngs at the universal scale .
Dear Florin ,
you say
Then physics axiomatization will be complete.......impossible because the line time constant is a reality thus the evolution too thus our unknew too and walls ............
Regards
Steve
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Marcel-Marie LeBel wrote on Dec. 21, 2009 @ 14:43 GMT
Marcel,
There are so many things I can discuss with you, but I’ll pick and choose what I think are the most important differences between our views.
“Because all truth system are logically incompatible with each other, the axiomatization of all of physics is, in my opinion, impossible ( i.e. no physical TOE) On the other hand, the underlying reality can be axiomatized under natural...
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Marcel,
There are so many things I can discuss with you, but I’ll pick and choose what I think are the most important differences between our views.
“Because all truth system are logically incompatible with each other, the axiomatization of all of physics is, in my opinion, impossible ( i.e. no physical TOE) On the other hand, the underlying reality can be axiomatized under natural metaphysics, as the unreachable cornerstone of all our experiences.”
Indeed, all truth systems are logically incompatible with each other and this is the essence of Gödel’s result about the impossibility to have a TOE of math. However, a TOE of physics is an entirely different matter. Find one logical inconsistency in nature. There is none. Order the platonic world of math in a way that avoids all contradictions and you get the necessity of time (among other consequences). Time is a necessary condition to avoid self-referencing contradictions.
lebel:1)"Find one logical inconsistency in nature. There is none" The universe obeys logic-is operational on logic = only one substance allowed!
2)"Time is a necessary condition to avoid self-referencing contradictions." it has to be so in all points, everywhere.
1) + 2) = universe all made of time operating on logic
“[The first thing you want is to have existence independent of context (see the universal truth property] Why in the world would you want this? We make this distinction/ partition; the universe doesn’t.”
There are two definitions of truth: (1) the mathematical definition: a statement is true if it can be derived from the axioms (2) the physical definition: true is something corresponds to reality. The mathematical definition is very narrow and the same statement is true or false depending on the axiomatic context. 2+2 = 4 is true in the usual arithmetic, but it is false in the addition modulo 4 for example. But in nature, truth has a much larger reach and this is remarkable. It is this larger reach which gives reality its ontological value independent of any observers.
lebel: Again, it is a matter of definition: For me a truth is an absence of choice. A most certain truth is an impossibility. My essay is based on that definition.
“We could not have more opposite ideas! I say that the whole universe is made of an explosive process/substance that we call the passage of time. Incidently, I show in my essay the logical creation of the universe and it allows only one substance to exist; the passage of time. Just try to create the universe out of nothing without resorting to the logical rule of non-contradiction! Good luck!”
Not quite, I use to think in the past along your lines, but time by itself while necessary, it is not sufficient.
The key of explaining the birth of our universe is in an acausal domain and I think is linked with the multiverse idea. If the 3 principles guarantee the uniqueness of our universe, then to get to the multiverse scenario we need to break this uniqueness, meaning removing one or more of the 3 principles. And indeed there is a mathematical solution called split-complex (or hyperbolic) QM which has inequivalent representations (unlike standard QM). There are no logical contradictions, everything is consistent within a representation, and I believe this is the mathematical starting point of the multiverse investigation.
“1) I think that in general, we have a poor semantic use of some terms carrying multiple meanings and that need constant limiting adjectives, like time, nature, reality, empirical, truth, substance, cause, etc. For example, time means many things and if unspecified, it means everything and nothing specific.”
This was the main point of Wittgenstein.
“2) Natural metaphysics can be built in a bottom-up approach as I did in my essay. It doesn’t require one reject anything from physics. It explains logically what is observed empirically, the cause but not the metric.”
As Wittgenstein put it, philosophy is mainly playing with words. What we need is unequivocal mathematical proof of our statements, in other words, we need physics axiomatization. A proof, is a proof, is a proof. When axiomatization is achieved, then anybody, even a machine can mechanically check the validity of the proof. No more fuzzy semantics.
lebel: "philosophy is mainly playing with words" which is what gave philosophy a bad name in the first place...
I believe I showed the way of how to do it. Compare math and reality. Extract core characteristics of reality: (independent ontology, unrestricted interaction, and infinite complexity). Then derive mathematical consequences from them. Prove the necessity of time, quantum mechanics, space-time in 4 dimensions, electroweak symmetry. This is already done. To do: Eliminate all supporting assumptions. Attempt to prove the rest of nature: strong force, standard model, quantum gravity, cosmology. Then physics axiomatization will be complete.
lebel: Philosophy and science used to be one and the same (PhD). This present schizo approach leaves pieces of the puzzle in the hands of two different group of people. Science build truth systems by adding truths. Philosophy produces opinion that add up only to more opinions. This means that in metaphysics, you get it all in one shot, or you don't. It must be self sustaining and cannot use any previous work or be based on citations. This is how it works. The core question is always the same; What do you want? Create one more description or to understand the meaning of all descriptions. You look for description, I look for the real stuff; substance and cause of the universe.
What I propose is first and foremost a paradigm. The existing mathematical results were all obtained as part of various unrelated research programs with their own motivation. But together they enforce the hope that the rest of the program will be ultimately successful.
lebel: Your essay could win for summarizing well the work on the subject. But your goal is that of a physicist. You are condemned to the hopes of a physicist, hopes that share the limits of physics. The exercise of finding the limits of physics was not to find more physics but rather to find out what comes next, after physics. What is physics missing and in need of?
I wish you well, Marcel
Florin
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 21, 2009 @ 17:03 GMT
Florin,
I tend to think that algorithim-atizing physics is preferable to axiomatization. The question to my mind of greater importance is how quantum information, eg Q-bits and Q-n-tuples, are preserved and the conservation laws they obey. In this sense the universe may preserve them according to some quantum error correction code.
I read a couple of Tegmark's papers some years ago. I am sometimes accused of being speculative and of proposing conjectures, but Tegmark’s ideas are way out there. So I will confess I have trouble seeing these ideas as at all empirically verifiable, even in principle. Yet as I recall Tegmark did restrict the physics aspect of this to some first order calculus, instead of up to Lambda calculus, so that the Godellian problem does not impact his program. I
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 22, 2009 @ 05:29 GMT
Marcel,
I agree that there is a deep connection between time and logic. I do not agree that truth implies the absence of choice although it seems plausible. The problem is the fuzziness of the definition of “choice”. A quantum mechanics wavefunction may have a definite (true) value in some region, and still there is a choice available as QM is probabilistic. However, if you narrow the definition of “choice”, your argument becomes valid.
”Philosophy and science used to be one and the same (PhD). This present schizo approach leaves pieces of the puzzle in the hands of two different group of people. Science build truth systems by adding truths. Philosophy produces opinion that add up only to more opinions. This means that in metaphysics, you get it all in one shot, or you don't. It must be self sustaining and cannot use any previous work or be based on citations. This is how it works. The core question is always the same; What do you want? Create one more description or to understand the meaning of all descriptions. You look for description, I look for the real stuff; substance and cause of the universe.”
I am certainly not a philosopher, but new ideas do not develop in a vacuum. All research programs have a fuzzy philosophical side called heuristics, a really fancy word for “gut feeling”. It is this heuristics that guides us during the search in the dark, until we manage to prove new results. Sometimes this is fool’s gold, sometimes it is the real deal, but we do not really know until we have the math on our side. Now I have found my heuristics and I do not feel the need to polish it at this time. It may not be at the required level of sophistication, but it is good enough for me. What I really want to do is to mathematically prove that I am right.
I wish you well too, Florin
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 22, 2009 @ 05:52 GMT
Lawrence,
I have recently discovered the wonderful results of Bob Coecke and I think you may appreciate his approach. In short, he starts from the isomorphism between the tensor product of 2 Hilbert spaces with the vector space of linear transformation between the 2 spaces. From this he develops a high level pictorial approach to QM and finds links with a special kind of logic (which forbids information duplication and deletion), algorithmic theory, and category theory. Not quite error correction, but a high level language where certain QM theorems are given trivial proofs.
About Tegmark’s approach, he runs under Godel’s radar, but this is a weakness: the approach is not rich enough to model the entire nature. What comes to mind is the brain-in-the-vat argument. How can we prove that we are not for example just a computer simulation in some supercomputer somewhere in a vastly different type of reality? I believe the answer is complexity in the AIT sense. If AIT complexity is not infinite, then we are a brain-in-a-vat/computer simulation, if not, we are the real deal. Proposals that avoid Godel by postulating computability are just too simplistic to model nature.
Regards,
Florin
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 22, 2009 @ 11:29 GMT
Hi ,
I am sorry to use this thread.I read your posts and I try to encircle your lines of reasoning .I see a kind of confusion between the computing and the universality .
In an extrapolated model (and simulations),the variables and parametrs are specifics ,correlated with the idea of the conceptor ,here the computer .The informations and the linear transformations thus are invented by humans .Thus we can change the laws .It is different I think .
Never a computer will be able to create life ,and more the biological system .Why ? bECAUSE SIMPLY THE TIME EVOLUTION MUST BE CONSIDERED with the weak polarisations near centers of gravity since the begining .
The computer in conclusion is just a tool .The mass ,the time ,...can't be invented by a computer ,physically speaking .
Thus we return about the essentials ,the referential and the topology with the universal correlations and laws must be respected in all systems.
I agree that all can be explained with maths ,but if and only if the good parameters are inserted .I have nothing against math but the physics need some limits .
Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 23, 2009 @ 00:04 GMT
Florin,
I have been looking at some of Coeckes. They are a bit on the long side. Yet they do seem to center around categorical structures (functors) with QM. I think that quantum mechanics and general relativity have a partial functor. A Schold's ladder construction has a Galois GF(4) logic, as does the structure of a spin-1/2 system in QM. I will have to study these further. He seems to work with the Naimark approach to linear spaces which leads to noncommutative systems and geometry.
I have thought that underlying all of physics might be a Godelian nest of self-referential states, which form a sort of self-referential chaos. I think this is maybe the ultimate end of physics, which might exist at the Planck scale with maybe an asymptotic "onion layering" of structures above it. String theory at ~ 10L_p is one such layer we currently have some possible understanding of and there might be layers beneath that. Maybe there is an infinite nesting of such layers as one approaches the Planck length. So Godel might be lurking underneath things in the end. I am not sure whether we can ever plumb the depths of particle physics and cosmology to reach that.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 23, 2009 @ 05:44 GMT
Lawrence,
Category theory is useful in physics mostly because it captures well the idea of a tensor product. Personally I am inclined to investigate in depth Hopf algebras. In a 10,000 feet view, a Hopf algebra has a build-in zoom-in operator (the product) and a zoom-out operator (the co-product) and this makes them useful in many ways, including renormalization group approach and supersymmetry. And non-commutative geometry uses them extensively. By the way, non-commutative geometry has string and LQG features as well. I believe that the central question of physics today is deciding if supersymmetry truly exists in nature. If invalidated by experiments, it will simply kill string theory. One argument against it is the fact that the standard model is maximally chiral. Pure chirality appears only in simple groups; increasing the complexity can easily generate partial chiral symmetries. Combined with an anomaly cancellation argument (to include the strong force as well), all SM may arise from a simpler GUT without supersymmetry. But if superpartners are discovered, string theory would get a major boost.
I agree with the onion metaphor.
Florin
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 24, 2009 @ 02:30 GMT
The recent findings of simulatneous arrivals of photons of widely different wave lengths puts a big nix on LQG. The discrete system near the Planck scale predicts an intrinsic dispersion that depends on frequency. The Fermi spacecraft found none of this from a burstar 4 billion light years away. Supersymmetry is also by the Coleman-Mandula theorem the spinorial extension of internal and external symmetries into a single symmetry system. If SUSY fails that would be profoundly disappointing.
Hopf algebra are though interesting. They are significant in Wilson loop or line integrals and connections to knot theory. I notice some Hopf algebra structure in Bob Coecke's papers. I have not as yet read them on a hard level yet.
Cheers LC
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Plorin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 24, 2009 @ 05:11 GMT
Lawrence,
I am not so sure LQG is really dead. Physicists have this amazing ability to fine tune theories to fit experimental data. And SUSY is just one way to beat the C-M theorem. SUSY has several advantages, but there is no clear mechanism of how to break it.
Florin
PS: have a nice Christmas
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 25, 2009 @ 12:30 GMT
Hi to both of you ,Florin and Lawrence and Happy Christmass .
You know I have nothing against your ideas but I think simply that if you superimpose several imaginaries and pure mathematical extrapolations ,you are going to be in a big confusion about our physicality .A lot of theories in this line of reasoning thus are not possible for a verification .I agree it is so far in the extrapolations what it is difficult to verify them. The pure maths are foundamentals for the physicality if and only if the good numbers and the goog limits are utilized ,it is not a question of tools but of referential .With your capacity to play with maths inside a good referential ,your results shall be so important and thus very important for the sciences community .There the complemenatrity seems still an essential .
Best Regards and happy new year too
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 27, 2009 @ 21:49 GMT
I have this idea that loop variables might be a constraint system on spacetime manifold as defined in a stringy sence. The AdS ~ CFT correspondence does indicate that spacetime does have a background structure. The LQG theory is a system of constraints (based on spinorial ADM relativity and Hamilton constraints) that might work to map AdS --> dS where the de Sitter sector is the physical universe, and the AdS is more of a spacetime fiction corresponding to conformal fields. So the LQG equations seem to be one way in which this might be accomplished. My attempts at this ran into considerable difficulties.
With respect to the Tegmark many worlds idea and set theory I found the following
Skolem’s Paradox, from another discussion. This seems to offer up a way of having first order logic systems which are also ZFC with arbitrary cardinalities. Again, I am not exactly on this sort of track. I think getting quantum gravity and holography worked out is a sufficient challenge. Maybe this does impact how other cosmologies can exist in a multiple outcome situation with quantum gravity. We might if we get good enough we will figure out how to detect some quantum interference between our spacetime and other spacetimes with other cosmologies. Tegmark’s ideas are much to “far out” for me to consider as potentially empirical science.
Cheers LC
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 28, 2009 @ 11:20 GMT
Dear Lawrence ,
Could you tell me more about the theorem of incompleteness please ?
About the works of Tegmark ,which I respect too like all works ,even if I don't agree,I have a question for the multiverses .These multiverses are in one system thus what is this uniqueness .
The Universe is purely physic ,the maths are just a tool synchronized if the referential ,physical is correct .
The multiverses idea have not limits and a real toplogy .It is just infinite in the extrapolations even for the laws and their invariances and coherences .Thus all looses its sense in the uniqueness and the specific thermodynamical link .On the other side in a human imaginary point of vue ,it is beautiful ,but is it foundamental .
If we imagine a Universe with the hubble law ,I see a big paradox about the expansion if we go behind the limits ,like the speed of the light ,the increasing of the wavelenght and the Doppler effect ,our perception is false about the expansion I think .I think it exists a lot of confusions about the real movements ,if the rotation aroud the cenetr is considered and furthermore the real movement in a specific closed system and its laws of evolution.,thus the real dynamic can be understood since the begining in the physicality.
The spherical objects don't move due to this expansion ??? The perception is different than our reality .
Regards
Steve
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 28, 2009 @ 16:38 GMT
Lawrence,
Skolem’s paradox in interesting in the way it discredits the realism ideal. In physics the debate about hidden variables and the proper interpretation of QM is old news, but in mathematics the naïve interpretation of set theory would lead one to believe in realism/absolute truths. Set theory is a rather hard area with many unintuitive results.
Steve,
Incompleteness theorem is rather easy and well understood. From 10,000 feet, it goes like this: Consider the liar’s paradox: “This sentence is false”. If it is true, then we take it at face value, believing what is says and it says it is false. Hence true implies false. In reverse, suppose the statement is false, meaning that the sentence is indeed false, but this is what is says itself, so it is true. Hence false implies true. In conclusion true->false and false->true. Same for any other antinomies, like the barber’s paradox: “a barber is the person who shaves precisely the people who cannot shave themselves”. Does the barber shave himself?
Now Gödel replaced truth with provability and he formed the following sentence: “This sentence is unprovable”. Now if false, it means that it is provable, meaning that there is a sequence of logical steps proving it. But wait a minute, in this case we just proved a false statement and therefore we have an inconsistent system. If the statement is false we have inconsistency. Now if the statement is true, we have incompleteness. Why? Because there is this statement which is both true and unprovable. So what Gödel showed was that one has either incompleteness or inconsistency. Now this is all a big handwaving, to make this airtight and rigorous, there is an entire mathematical construction behind it, but it can be done successfully. The key was to find a rigorous mathematical definition of provability.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 28, 2009 @ 18:39 GMT
Hi dear Florin ,
Thank you very much for this explaination about the incompleteness theorem ,I understand better its meaning.I liked your line of explaination .
I am going to learn more about the works of Godel ,Tegmark ,Wheeler ...I will encircle better this necessity to have these referentials .The incompleteness seems imply a non limits in the system .
I agree it is relevant about the creativity and potential of our brain .But in the physicality ,the ultim axiomatisation seems in one universal system .The only incompleteness is the evolution and thus our step of evolution .The logic and the rationality shows us the pragmatic road even for an idea or a theory or an intuition .If an equation is coherent with its physicality ,thus all recursives axioms shall give an universal correlation .
If the superimposings are inserted in a specific definition of a system with a serie which is personal thus the incompleteness becomes a confusion and an ocean of paradoxs ,just due to the utilization of the imaginaries in the logic complexity of the referential and its laws .The incompleteness apears like an false evolutive point of vue .
On the other side in a specific system invented by humans ,like a computer ,thus the incompleteness takes all its sense in the selectivity of the codes and thus the series .This kind of superimposings imply a specificity where the physicality and its laws are different .There I can agree about some paradoxs because it is correlated with the encoded architectures .The theory of wholes and the paradise of Cantor seems a tool of pure maths which implies the pure confusion about the reality of the physicality .For all x in R or E ....all is a question of referential and synchronization with the real numbers in the physicality in fact in my opinion .Thus how can we interpret the axiomatization ,perhaps only with our evolutive limits in accepting the real whole.The human logic seems far of the universal rational logic .I say that for the physicality of course not for the computing .
The inconsistency of a theory is not a reason to accept the theory like an axiom or in the other side .
I admit it is a little confusing for me .I am going to learn more ,it is very interesting in fact .Thanks dear Florin .
Best Regards
Steve
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Dec. 29, 2009 @ 08:08 GMT
Hello Steve, Hello Florin,
by thinking about Zurek's Quantum Darwinism i came to an analogy i built some months ago to understand more about the dynamics with which superpositions could create reality. This analogy refers to the barber's antinomy. In its original form it was formulated by Bertrand Russell like this:
„You can define the barber as ‘one who shaves all those, and those only, who do not shave themselves.’
The question is, does the barber shave himself?”
One could "solve" this antinomy by simply assuming that both alternatives - shaving himself/not shaving himself - are somewhat superposed in the way that the candidate for the shave shaves one side of his face (this could be the barber himself) and another person is shaving the other side of his face. But that would be against the original spirit of the antinomy.
My "solution" goes a step further and says that
"the barber shaves all those and only those men, who shave the barber and only the barber."
This statement is equivalent with the situation that the barber shaves all those and only those who do not shave themselves - but without having to shave himself. I wrote a paper about why this could indeed be the case and would be happy if anyone interested in it would read it and maybe comment on it. I will attach it as pdf-file here.
I wish the entire fqxi-team, all members and participants of the current fqxi essay-contest and all commentators a happy new near and want to thank all these people for the possibility to exchange interesting ideas and viewpoints.
Best regards
Stefan Weckbach
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 29, 2009 @ 13:56 GMT
I am not sufficiently knowledgeable of set theory to comment on much depth. In discussions with somebody else Skolem’s paradox came up. The thought occurred to me that this “naïve” approach to set theory (or an countable cardinal interpretation that occurs “paradoxically”) might be a way in which Tegmark’s approach to his “ultra-verse,” or what ever we call it, might work in some ways that fits into deeper mathematical foundations.
My interests are more parochial I suppose. I wonder how it is that LQG and other spinorial approaches to general relativity fit into the string framework. I don’t think that dynamic triangulations or LQG are robust enough to describe foundations well on their own. However, they start from completely reasonable assumptions or bases, so I don’t think they are wrong in the sense that phlogiston theory was or pre-20th century aether theories were.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 30, 2009 @ 04:41 GMT
Dear Stefan,
You have quite a paper on the barber’s paradox. However, I do not really understand your solution and I feel it is mostly semantics. In my opinion, there are only 3 solutions for self-referencing paradoxes.
1. a standard antinomy is just nonsensical (like liar’s or barber’s paradox). It is similar with asking: “what is the color of the eyes of the king of USA?” Each word is well defined, but together the sentence is meaningless.
2. time evolution solution: A(t) implies ~A(t+1) implies A(t+2) …
3. QM solution via superposition. |Psi> = |A> + |~A>
Solution 1 corresponds to no-go theorems in physics like no-time travel paradoxes via either time travel is forbidden, or time travel implies lack of free will and demands “destiny” to avoid all paradoxes.
Solution 2 is realized for example in the basic electromagnetic oscillator.
Solution 3 is possible only under very strict conditions. In a theory with interactions it leads to unitarity violations.
In nature we avoid self-referencing paradoxes because of time. A universe without time (like say with the metric tensor diag (+,+,-,-)) would not be immune from those kind of paradoxes and ontology as we know it would not be possible.
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 30, 2009 @ 04:58 GMT
Lawrence,
Dynamic triangulation is OK, but I feel it assumes too much and achieves too little. Its roots are in very early Robb and Zeeman’s results. LQG is far richer, but I feel very uneasy with Wheeler-deWitt equation as the starting point.
Tegmark’s approach has the big merit of giving respectability to this line of research, but the major problem is extracting mathematical consequences from it. Gordon McCabe had continued his approach into the hard area of model theory, but time till tell if this would get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Dec. 30, 2009 @ 10:05 GMT
Dear Florin,
thank you for your important comments on my paper. Yes, i agree, many standard antinomies are in fact truly nonsensical, i agree fully with you. Also the barber antinomy is unsensical, cause a barber cannot shave those and only those who do not shave themselves. This would mean he had to shave all the people of the world! (the universe?:-), who don't shave themselves. So Russell was wrong to define his barber in that way (in my opinion)!
But my interest in such antinomies (self-referencing statements) isn't driven by the search of a specific content, but by the search of their universal form.
I am sure by mentioning the liar's paradox, you didn't refer to the original formulation but more to such sentences as "this sentence is false" etc.
The original formulation of the liar's paradox is indeed decidable ("The Cretans are always liars"). It must be false (a "lie" or whatever) cause there exists another possibility to decipher the paradox, namely the possibility that the Cretans indeed aren't always liars. So Epimenides' sentence is simply false, because if it is considered to be true, this wouldn't make sense. In this case (his famous statement), Epimenides could have been really lied. In contrast, "This sentence is false" seems to me to really being nonsensical.
But back to Russells findings. He was motivated by set-theoretic considerations. Asking, if the class of the classes that are not members of themselves, is a member of itself or not, one comes - according to Russell - indeed into difficulties. Classes that satisfy the criterion of not being a member of themselves are always formulated in explicit form. For example the class of all red cars. In this class there is no room for containing itself.
Classes that do not satisfy the criterion are always formulated in an implicit form, for example the class of all things that aren't red cars. This class is surely one of the things that aren't red cars - and therefore has to contain itself as a member. Those kinds of classes have as a property that they all contain themselves infinitely many times - due to iterations. For Russells classes that are not members of themselves, this property doesn't apply. So in my opinion the main class in question - Russells class of all these classes - cannot be a member of itself (analogically the barber in my solution cannot be a member of the class he is shaving).
My interest in such somewhat stupid things is driven by a main question that is somewhat interwoven with the manner, science comes to knowledge and to conclusions: By observing patterns and building rules out of them. My paper about the barbers antinomy could be headlined with one question that is in my opinion in deep accordance to our current essay contest:
"Has every rule an exception?" or elsewise formulated, is the following true(?):
"No rule without its exception"
Best regards
Stefan Weckbach
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Dec. 30, 2009 @ 17:47 GMT
Hello Stefan ,Lawrence ,Florin,
Dear Stefan,
Hope you are well ,and happy new year too .
I think you makes a very interesting point about the conscious .In a discussion with Jayakar about the intelligence and extelligence ,we see the link between the rationality which appears like relevant too.The paradox thus is not necessary for the balance between the physicality and the uknew if I can say .
The universal referential and its pure dynamic thus always will be specific with its codes .An imaginary referential ,if it is not synchronized ,will imply paradoxs and incompleteness due to the lack of limits and the lack of real topology of the chosen system .That depends always of the referential and the superimposings in my opinion .There I think it is possible to extrapolate the universal system with a synchronization of the imaginaries if the essentials are respected.
Without this kind of line of direction ,and the time and its specific periodicity,the non coherences appear and thus the confusion too.
Dear Lawrence or Florin ,could you explain me the theory of models ,please?Happy new year
Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Dec. 30, 2009 @ 20:56 GMT
Florin,
Here is the issue as I see it. We have two types of theories. We have string/M-theory which is vast in its "theory space." There is too much structure to this to presume it is completely false. It might of course emerge in some new form, but doubtless it will remain a big "space." Then there are the small theories, such as LQG and DT. The one thing which DT has going for it is...
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Florin,
Here is the issue as I see it. We have two types of theories. We have string/M-theory which is vast in its "theory space." There is too much structure to this to presume it is completely false. It might of course emerge in some new form, but doubtless it will remain a big "space." Then there are the small theories, such as LQG and DT. The one thing which DT has going for it is it avoids some of the chaotic foam issues of LQG. The advantage these theories have is they are closer to the structure of general relativity in its pure form. I suspect these theories suffer from not having the huge domain of field theory that string theory has, which is what is leading to some of its problems, in particular the Barbero-Immirzi ambiguity. LQG does indeed stem from the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, which defines constraints NH = 0 and N^iH_i = 0, the Hamilton and momentum constraints. The quantum analogues are HΨ[g] = 0 and H^iΨ[g] = 0. These are of course not dynamical equations, but rather Lagrange multipliers which define fields on a contact manifold of solution. So far the progress with LQG has been frustrating.
So my modest (or not so modest) proposal is the following. One of the theoretical coups of string/M-theory has been the AdS-CFT correspondence. I will at this point avoid technical discussions on this, but say that this implies that on the boundary of the AdS spacetime there is defined a conformal field on the S^5 sphere. The boundary of AdS_5, with the group SO(3,2) is equivalent to a conformal field theory. The theory is then AdS_5xS^5, which can emerge from an 11 dimensional theory with the extended Anti-de Sitter group SO(4,2) ~ SU(2,2). This is a remarkable and beautiful result which Maldacena worked up 11 years ago. Susskind, Vafa and others have demonstrated that if a BTZ black hole is placed in the AdS that the conformal field theoretic information on the horizon of the BH and on the boundary of the AdS preserve that information, which has been a further recent deep development. Yet the AdS spacetime is not the physical spacetime of our universe. The universe is asymptoting to a de Sitter spacetime, with the group SO(4,1). This spacetime has a Wick rotation on the additional time-like dimension and it recovers a solution to the Einstein field equations which approximates the observable universe. Further, the BTZ black hole is replaced (by hand at this point) with physical black holes which we know exist. My proposal is to use LQG as the system which performs this map between the conformal theoretic AdS spacetime to the physical dS spacetime.
Here is what might be going on. Hyperbolic groups such as SO(m,n) have sequences of moduli points (gauge connections etc) which do not converge in a Cauchy sequence. The Wick rotation SO(3,2) - -> SO(4,1) will then impose this condition on a set of these moduli points. But a straight forwards map is a “violent procedure,” which does this in an ad hoc manner. Instead we want to preserve the conformal theoretic information of SO(3,2) when we perform the map. It is my conjecture that the constraints of loop variables might just serve this purpose. This might also provide the additional information required to work the gauge ambiguity with the Barbero-Immirzi parameter. I have tried a number starts, but so far I can’t get anywhere. I had thought, maybe still do think, that the quantions you work with might be a tool. I am not clear on just how to proceed with this. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Dec. 31, 2009 @ 02:33 GMT
Dear Friends,
The key here is that simplices are the geometrical representation of Spin groups.
A simple example is Spin(4)~SO(4)xSO(4) has 12 operators - the six edges of a tetrahedron (4-simplex & FCC basis) times two directions per edge. Add in the three dimensions in which the tetrahedron exists, and you have the 15 operators of SU(4). Everything has rank-3 and dimension-3.
Similarly, Spin(3), SU(3) and G2 are related to the 2-dimensional 3-simplex (triangular lattice), and Spin(5) and SU(5) are related to the 4-dimensional 5-simplex.
As these dimensions fracture into brane structures, the Lie algebras also fracture, which is why Spin(4,2) becomes so relevant (4 dimensions of Spacetime plus 2 dimensions of AdS).
Of course, these simplices work very well within the framework of CDT.
Have Fun and Have a Happy Blue Moon of a New Decade!
Ray
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Dec. 31, 2009 @ 04:19 GMT
Lawrence,
I would not deny the impressive results of string theory, but I do not hold this as reason to certify its overall correctness. If for example the same amount of brain power were put in non-commutative geometry, equally impressive results would be there as well.
My interest in quantions, SO(2,4), SU(4), and SU(2,2) is from the point of view of von Neumann algebra factors and Hopf algebras. I feel that quantions may unlock “distinguished” properties which will point the correct way for SU(3) and GUT. If SUSY emerges naturally in this approach, then I will be a believer again in string theory, otherwise I fell that non-commutative geometry is the right path.
I am not sure I can really offer any meaningful guidance except to point out the problems I consider interesting myself. I would like to understand better the metaplectic group, geometrical quantization, and the link with maximal entangled states and Segre embedding. Also I would like to understand in depth the meaning of associativity and Jordan exceptional algebras. The link between quantions, Hopf algebras, and category theory is very interesting as well. The connection between quantions, von Neumann algebras, and non-commutative geometry is worth investigating combined with an in-depth understanding of the spectral triple.
Regards,
Florin
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 2, 2010 @ 17:42 GMT
Hi all ,
I search some explainations for the M THEORY ,If I understand weel Mr Witten utilized the bad tools .I don't critic his skills but simply the method .
The brane and strings are a false road implying confusions and unlimited non physicality .I can understand the economic strategy since this M tHEORY from Princeton buit all must be reals and pragmatics .Our sciences are not a play but a real search of the Truth .There the sale of books and ideas are just a short time.
The supergravity in 11 dimensions have no sense and rationality .It is just a mathematial false extrapolation about our physicality and its universal laws .
I think at this moment the skills focus on non rationality ,like a paradoxal dream where the imaginary part of our brain takes the main part of the method .
Impossible in this road to be in this universality and physicality .
I take the time to encircle this method and more I read or learn and more I see non coherences ,hidden unknew ,bizzare extrapolation above our 3D ,external cause of mass .I have not proofs ,I search but no I don't find them .A local proof is not a global proof .It is essential to encircle this whole I think .
Sometimes the maths and their beauty takes the main rule for some axioms ,but the physicality is the main part ,not in the other sense in fact .
Best Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 2, 2010 @ 22:17 GMT
Florin,
I have been working quite a lot on the Jordan exceptional algebra. I think this in connection to quantum error correction codes actually underlies string/M-theory. The 27 dimensional J^3(O) with a light cone constraint reduces to the 26 dimensional bosonic string as 3 octonions plus two independent scalar degrees of freedom. The three octonions are the vector terms plus their supersymmetric pairs as spinors. So the other two additional octonions are those spinor fields and their conjugates. This reduces things to 11 dimensions, or on the light cone condition 10 dimensions. My essay paper goes into more depth on this.
Steve,
String theory is a general spacetime (with curvature) version of the S-matrix theory. The string is a parameterization of fields along a chord or loop. Even early on it was thought that one could parameterize fields in two or more dimensions. This would be the quantum sheet or quantum 3-volume, 4-volume and so forth. This did not turn out to work terribly well. What Witten did was to show how open string with their endpoints attached to a membrane would have its modes coupled to soliton waves on this brane. This permitted one string type to transform into another. I hold to the view that string and d-branes are themselves really emergent from quantum units of information --- related to what Susskind calls the D0-brane. This is a brane of zero dimensions! So in a way we are back to particles. What the d-brane does is from an S-matrix perspective to define the domain of support for the S-matrix so it can work in generalized curved spacetime of up to 11 dimensions. If you read my essay you will find some of this, and the approach with quantum information (quantum error correction codes) leads to a type of Skrymion action. This action operates for particles or quantum fields in topological knots or loops, from which I think strings emerge from --- as well as general d-branes.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 3, 2010 @ 22:40 GMT
Lawrence,
I am casually learning octonions, but if you already understand them, what is the physical meaning of their lack of associativity (if any)? (From the mathematical point of view the lack of associativity is related to terminating the infinite series of Lie algebras.)
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 4, 2010 @ 13:19 GMT
Hi dear Florin ,Lawrence ,
I thank you dear Lawrence .You know I try to be in synchro but this parameterization seems in a infinite serie more the bad tools .
The série in this logic ,never will give good results because the universal gauge between quantum and cosmological spheres are not correlated with our main laws .
You know I liked your essay because your are an exeptional mathematician .But I try still to encircle your method .
Like say Florin ,the associativity seems essential in a physical point of vue .I think when an axiomatization is correct ,it doesn't exist confusions.Just unknews .
In fact the causality is intrinsic and the evolution seems the part of the puzzle whichj builds gravitational stability and its specificities .Thus the fields ,mass ,particules and their rotations have a specific intrinsic code and even at this ultim scale ,we have the same laws with some differences ,foundamentals furthermore .
The transfert of informations is simple thus all parameterizations must be correlated with our laws .The fields too are in this proportionality .
The time and the light thus in this line of develoment can't be rational I think .
Best Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 4, 2010 @ 19:49 GMT
Florin,
Right now I worry less about the nonassociative aspects of E_8 and am more focused on the automorphism and centralizer groups G_2 and F_4.
Nonassociativity is a bit strange. Yet all it says is that (e_ie_j)e_k – e_i(e_je_k) = C_{ijk}^le_l, where the last term is by multiplication table rules e_i(e_je_k). So you think of this as a sort of π/2 phase shift. The physical meaning I think involves the S-matrix. The S-matrix acts on a set of vertices or particles p_i
|φ) = |p_1, p_2, …, p_i, …, p_j, …p_n)
and converts this channel into an S-channel which has some overlap with
(φ| = (p_1, p_2, …, p_j, …, p_i, …p_n|,
so the expectation of the S matrix for these two ordered sets of states is
( S ) = |φ> = (p_1, p_2, …, p_j, …, p_j, …p_n|S|p_1, p_2, …, p_i, …, p_j, …p_n).
By S = 1 + 2πT this is determined by a transition matrix, which by the exchange of vertices determines the S-T-U relationships or Mandelstam variables. In this case we simply have an exchange or a commutator in a quantum group. This might be represented by (ab)---(ba) as a braid link, and for multiple exchanges the S-matrix determines a braid group. For the exchange of three elements this gives a Yang-Baxter equation which is equivalent to a Jacobi identity on the double commutator [a, [b, c]] and it is equal to zero. The channel is produced by a product of Hilbert spaces for each vertex, so
|p_1, p_2, p_3> = |p_1>|p_2>|p_3>.
Nonassociativity is an ambiguity which says that
|(p_1, p_2), p_3> = (|p_1>|p_2>)|p_3> = |p_1>(|p_2>|p_3>) + |C_{123}^4p_4>.
This is a type of Hopf algebraic system, but with a “twist.” The noncommutative system is defined by the K-linear map on the vector space V, or between V and V’, a multiplication and co-multiplication rule you get the Hopf hexagon. However, for three elements and an associative rule there is a corresponding pentagon (Stasheff polygon), the hexagon and pentagon are fused together to form a general polytope. I can delve into these detail later if you are so interested.
What would this correspond to physically? The ordering ambiguity means there are two S-matrix channels which are not commensurate with each other. For the case of a black hole a string, which is really an S-matrix element, is observed to exhibit completely different physics according to an observer who witnesses it fall towards the black hole from a distance, what Susskind calls a fiducial observer or FIFO, and an observer who falls in with the string, a freely falling observer FREFO. What Susskind has argued is how the physics observed by the two is completely different, but both are physically valid. The general polytope I mention indicates how noncommutative geometry and nonassociative algebra are related (a bit complicated), and physically this means what we think of as a proper ordering of events or trajectories must be “liberalized.”
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 4, 2010 @ 21:50 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
You said "This is a type of Hopf algebraic system, but with a “twist.” The noncommutative system is defined by the K-linear map on the vector space V, or between V and V’, a multiplication and co-multiplication rule you get the Hopf hexagon. However, for three elements and an associative rule there is a corresponding pentagon (Stasheff polygon), the hexagon and pentagon are fused together to form a general polytope. I can delve into these detail later if you are so interested."
Actually, I am interested.
Figure 4 of my "A Case Study..." paper involves a Petrie pentagon that I purposely drew as a distorted Petrie hexagon. This makes a lot of sense if you look closely at the quantum numbers (particularly T'_G). I think this leads to a Spin(6)~Spin(4,2)->Spin(4,1) (related to the 5-simplex, Spin(5) and SU(5)) isomorphism and decomposition, which helps explain the difference between my 12-dimensional model (with 8-dimensional hyperspace - Spin(6) plus G2) and 11-dimensional M-Theory (with 7-dimensional hyperspace - Spin(4,1) plus G2). Higgs theory , the CKM matrix, and the PMNS matix may all be intertwined in G2 and this collapsed dimension.
Please review my recent tiling pattern and enlighten me.
Thanks!
Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 4, 2010 @ 23:20 GMT
Probably a good introduction to associahedra is
Root systems and generalized associahedra by Fomin and Reading. I attach two figures from the paper which illustrate the pentagonal associahedra, which involve 4 elements. The second is the rather odd Stasheff polytope for hexagonal flips. These flips can in general be maps between elements on the vertices. So I have this proposal or idea that a Hopf algebraic system can fits into a system of associahedra. This is a bit of a distant "TBD." I have just been doing background reading on noncommutative geometry and on the nature of associahedra and cyclohedra.
I have to get back to other things here pretty soon, so I might comment more on this later.
Cheers LC
attachments:
associahedra.jpg,
associahedra2.jpg
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 5, 2010 @ 17:00 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
Thank you for the article. It looks helpful. I need to read it several times and study it. Could the relationship between pentagons and hexagons be related to the Carbon-60 buckyball?
My latest ideas may be related to this 2-dimensional cyclohedron.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 5, 2010 @ 22:10 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
Thank you for the explanation and the archive paper, it is really helpful. I guess I am still not very clear on the physical meaning. Various properties are useful in different contexts, but can we prove for example that the special Jordan algebra cannot be the observable algebra part of a QM state space representation?
Regular Jordan algebras and spin factors can play this role, but in going from algebraic QM to state space, is associativity really required?
I would imagine that the Born rule is somehow no longer valid, but this is all fuzzy speculation. The reason I am saying this is that the Born rule is associated with the continuity of the spate space and the ability to define a distance. Is norm (or equivalently the scalar product) definable in an operator algebra space where associativity is broken? I do not know enough of operator algebra spaces to answer that but my conjecture is that it is not. If I am right, I speculate again that this would physically mean that in case of the special Jordan algebra there will be hidden (unphysical) states.
In another topic, I started listening to Susskind’s GR lecture on the web (the link you suggested for Jason). The lectures are very clear and easy to follow, even without writing anything down. But they puzzle me. For the first 4 lessons I was bored to death and the lectures did not make much sense to me. He talked about Gauss theorem and the fact that a spherical body has the same gravitational attraction as if all its mass is concentrated at the center. Now this is elementary undergraduate stuff, and how would someone interested in GR take this class before some prerequisite classes? Are those classes undergraduate classes? It looked like this, but then why someone teach GR at undergraduate level? Something is very funny here.
Regards,
Florin
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 5, 2010 @ 23:05 GMT
Dear Florin,
I agree about the hidden, unphysical states. Lawrence's model contains at least 3 E8's and a G2. Depending on how you arrange these, you should have more degrees-of-freedom/ states thatn my K12': (3 x 248 + 14 = 758 > 684). My K12' predicts hidden, unphysical 'scalar fermions' or 'tachyons'. I think these illogical 'particles' are related to a Higgs multiplet that is more complex the the Standard Model.
Dear Lawrence,
If we flatten out a 3-D Carbon-60 buckyball into a 2-D broken lattice and center the broken lattice around a hexagon, we could still obtain a G2 triality with some pentality symmetries. This 'G2' appears to be 2-dimensional, but contains the curvature of the third (of 3-D buckyball), apparantly invisible dimension. Now we have 12 dimensions instead of eleven.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 02:23 GMT
Florin,
I will get back to technical issues tomorrow or later in the week. I am a bit tied up an the moment. When it comes to Susskind's lecture, they are very elementary at the start. In fact throughout them they rely upon pretty basic ideas, but towards the end he builds to quite a crescendo if you can make it to the 12th lecture. What intrigues me is the incredible teaching skill involved here, where with basic ideas and elementary arguments he builds a great depth of understanding. His lectures are an example of a true craftsman at work in teaching students. And if you listen to them, as I sometimes do in the background, you might find yourself intrigued by these little insights into things which occur throughout. These are like Debussy's piano music, where some pieces can sound elementary at first, but are amazingly deep in their musicology.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 03:35 GMT
Lawrence,
Thanks, I look forward to it. I am currently at lesson 8 and after lesson 6 I became addicted. The first lessons were hard to watch, but I wanted to observe his teaching style. Still, I do not understand who is his audience. It is neither undergraduate, nor graduate students.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 11:06 GMT
Dear Florin ,funny is still a weak word .
If you was bored to death at lessons ,thus perhaps you can study the real sciences like biology or physicality .I have an idea ,the horticulture .
I am laughing of course ,let's laugh in this funny thread ,not relevant but funny .
Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 15:08 GMT
Ray,
I am not sure whether this is right or not, but these polytopes might have some relationship with the 120/600 cells ~ H_4. A pair of these compose the Weyl representation of E_8. I am not prepared to make any serious hpothesis along these lines.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 16:00 GMT
Dear Steve,
I recommend you watch the lessons yourself and provide us with your feedback.
General relativity is conceptually easy (the equivalence principle) and mathematically hard. The 12 lessons are like saying: here is a course in how to build rockets to reach the Moon. Then 1/3 of the course is talking about hot air balloons, how to build them, how they work, and why they cannot reach the Moon. Now if you do not already know hot air balloons cannot reach the Moon, how can you be expected to pass a final exam on advanced rocket science?
So what I do not understand is how can anyone who is not familiar with elementary facts about Newtonian gravity is supposed to pass a final exam in general relativity if they are not a mathematical genius?
But criticism aside, the lessons are indeed crystal clear and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn about the subject.
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 16:18 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
That is an interesting observation. I have been wondering how Spin(6) hexagons morph into Spin(4,1) pentagons, and where does the extra dimension (#12) go?Flatenning out a buckyball came to mind because a buckyball consists of 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons in a regular lattice. It has both the triality and pentality symmetries that we need for H4 and E8. Now the question is "How does a 3-D Carbon-60 buckyball relate to a 4-D 120-cell or 600-cell?"
Have Fun!
Ray
p.s. - Maybe I should look at the lecture series as well. My specialty was HEP, not GR.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 18:58 GMT
ahahahaha oh thanks master of the maths ,the undergraduate in the imaginaries
ahahahah I insist ,the horticulture is good for health and furthermore you shall understand better the sciences and thus the maths .It is just a suggestion from a non certificated scientists .
You want to speak about maths dear Florin ,let's go .
My only condition is to use the reals and the real maths ,not an ironic system of nothing .
Good plantation .
Steve
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 19:07 GMT
ps with humility of course and respect to your skills , your maths are falses and imaginaries .Your referential is false ,your limits too ,only some method are interestings and that is all .
Your axiomatization is an ocean of confusions and decoherences where the imaginaries take the main part of the physicality .The road is false ,simply .I invite you ,really and with respect to study all sciences ,really .You shall insert thus the good serie in 3D .That will permit you to have good parameterizations because there it is false in the whole .
Regards
Steve
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 19:46 GMT
Sometimes I beleive you are obliged to rest in this line of reasoning .
I am frustrated with the two mavericks and you too dear Florin .Why this road really ,I am curious .
You are the 3 so competents ,why this bizare road .Is it really your choices .
Friendly
Steve
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 20:12 GMT
C’mon Steve, be a good sport, join in the fun. Dive right in, take the class, it is not that hard. Physics is just like Edison said: 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. In physics perspiration is the math. Physics without math is like hot dog without ketchup, or ping-pong without the paddle.
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 6, 2010 @ 20:47 GMT
Dear Spherekeeper Steve,
Buckyball = soccer ball - What part of that is imaginary? You could deflate and cut up a soccer ball if you want to see these multi-dimensional lattices represented in a somewhat simple 2-D lattice of Petrie diagrams.
The Carbon-60 buckyball was such a big deal that Sir Harry Kroto (currently at my alma mater, Florida State U.), Robert Curl, and Richard Smalley won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering Carbon-60 in soot.
The buckyball is nearly spherical, which ties into Face-Centered-Cubic close-packing lattices - similar to stacking spherical fruit at the grocery store.
The difficulty of ANY model is that there are a large number of possible paths. Your model suffers as well. I agree that spheres may be fundamental, but why is spin fundamental? Why are prime numbers fundamental? Ultimately, your arguments for spheres may not be any better than some of the 'crazy' math that I am playing with.
Have Fun!
Dr. Cosmic Ray
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 02:09 GMT
Dear Spherekeeper Steve,
I have heard about your Spherical GUT for nearly a year, and yet have not seen any serious details. What direction are you taking with this research? Will you publish a 30 page journal article or a 1000 page book?
I would be glad to proof-read it for you - perhaps 10 pages at a time. I have not used anyone else's ideas without giving them proper credit. My only fear is that I might see huge similarities between our ideas: sphere-packing vs. FCC lattices, spheres vs. buckyballs, etc... You are convinced that you are working in 3 dimensions. I am convinced that you have two or three 3-branes, but you have limited your model's potential by ignoring larger branes (up to as large as an E8 octonion 8-brane) as did Garrett Lisi.
I know you do not like extra dimensions, but certainly there are extra degrees-of-freedom. For instance, an electron can be identified by its mass, charge, and intrinsic spin. Where do these extra unknown degrees-of-freedom come from? Do they miraculously jump out of the aether? I have developed a consistent multi-dimensional model for explaining these phenomena. If you would prefer to think in terms of extra degrees-of-freedom rather than extra dimensions, then that is probably a reasonable alternate approach. But do not dig a hole in the sand, bury your head, and pretend that we know everything.
Your Friend,
Dr. Cosmic Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 02:20 GMT
Ray,
I think if there are relationships with a hex spin(6) and the pentagon it is more that there are multiple copies of spin(6) in a hex arrangement. This is maybe a part of what I am speculating on here --- writing ideas on a whiteboard and striking them out as I figure they don't work. The pent is then some Stasheff polytope which determines an underlying nonassociative structure on the spin(6).
I think we might want to focus in on the QCD ~ AdS_3 we talked about before the holidays. That does look like workable physics at this time.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 13:02 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
I agree about the multiple Spin(6) hexagons. Consider the similarities between a 2-D hexagonal tiling and a flattened out 'pseudo-2-D' buckyball tiling.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 13:49 GMT
p.s. - The buckyball idea is not a tangent. It is related to your G2 trilaity and my Gravi-Weak 5-simplex.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 14:24 GMT
Dear ray ,
You know What I like you and I am nice .But I am frank and direct .That doesn't change my love about people .That said
Please the C60 is like many crystals ,it is just a idea whithout universality .
It is just a chemical architecture .Any sense in a whole point of vue .
Dear Florin ,when I studied the piano with the Hanon method ,it is the first words on the first page of the method ,1 and 99 .I have studied all sciences like that even maths but the reals maths .Not an ocean of imaginaries behind the 3D .all that is false I repeat about the limits of the series and the referential ,furthermore these kinds of confusing methods imply a non possibility for the proofs .I find that very sad for the sciences community .
Dear Ray ,I have altready explained my point of vue about E8 ,it is a joke and that is all .Why he doesn't come and Mr Witten too ,why dear Ray ,because they fear simply .I eat the pseudos sciences .
Dear Ray ,I have uderstood the play of some people ,I eat that too.If you can't understand my theory after 1 year thus never you shall undertand it .It is the same for several people ,frustrated and jalous .Simply because a young belgian has found the ultim gauge .Like I said before ,don't focus dear friends behind this gauge but let' improve inside but not with these kinds of methods ,that has no sense .
For the publication ,DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR me ,I have already explained my point of vue in private ,I am already dead dear ray ,thus you can imagine my point of vue ,nothing to do in fact .With or without publication n,with or without copies or others ,my theory will rest and wikll be more foundamental than the ideas without universality and its laws .
Never I say what I know all ,I just explain my point of vue ,and when the truth is there ,some don't like that .I am laughing and that is all .
Alldays I study and complete my universal taxonomy .I class all ,and when you class all ,you see the truth ,the spherization of the universe by quantum sheres .It doesn't exist extradimensons ,just a superimposing in 3D .Higgs false too .
Limited the potential of the model and after what ....3D dear ray ,my model is too different.I can't work with you or Lawrence or Florin or Lisi or Witten ,impossible for me ,your roads are falses and without uniquness .I prefer work with pragamtic and rational people .
But for the sciences center you are welcome of course to adapt in 3D inventions for our fellow man ,I think they prefer 3D and they don't need extradimensions .The reality is the reality .
With respect for all the doctors ,professors and undergraduates ,but I suspect a very sad reality at schools ,Oh my God ,the next lessons at the university will be How to create a time machine to explore an other universe with tachyons .HUM HUM I think I prefer study in my books ,a good book is important.
Regards
Steve
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 14:48 GMT
PS ,dear Ray ,I don't say you are jalous but some are like that .
I must admit I am parano due to my past ,I have lost all dear Ray ,all due to the human instinct .I can admit I am a bad economist but really here in Belgium they fall down me and not a little.I must be prudent now .
Do I must be still too nice ,no evidently ,it is important for my theory and the sciences center to be more prudent .I dislike to put the things in point but I must be like that .Be sure ,I like people ,it is my reason of life but I fear too .
I can't play with my theory ,no I must be strong .Evern if I seems arrogant .I am arrogant ,yes but I evolve .I have many things to study like all people .
Regards
Steve
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Dr. Cosmic Ray wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 14:57 GMT
Dear Steve,
I have heard many bits and pieces of your theory, but I have not seen a complete presentation. You referred to yourself as 'dead'. I assume that you are talking about your odds of publishing in a journal, because you seem to be a person who enjoys life. I published my book online as a 'print-on-demand' book through Lulu.com and allowed distribution through Amazon.com. It does not cost much to publish a book this way, and it is accessible (in English) to nearly anyone interested.
I am listening to you, my friend. I want you to prove me wrong about multiple dimensions. Only the math makes multiple dimensions seem reasonable - common sense makes multiple dimensions seem illogical. But I suspect that you have replaced my 'pseudoscientific' hidden dimensions with equivalent 'pseudoscientific' hidden degrees-of-freedom. If so, is your model really any more fundamental than mine?
My model has 'scalar fermions'. Are these tachyons? Do they provide Higgs-like properties? I do not know. Make fun of them if you like - they are a legitimate part of these pentality symmetries. What if these 'scalar fermions' become useful in Higgs theory, the CKM matrix, and the PMNS matrix?
Don't be too serious! Have Fun!
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Dr. Cosmic Ray wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 15:02 GMT
p.s. - A good CEO knows that he cannot do everything on his own. You must learn who can be trusted, their strengths and their weaknesses, and delegate responsibilities. A good CEO must 'watch his back', but cannot get too paranoid to ask for help. A former General gave me the following advise "Trust, but verify".
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 7, 2010 @ 18:13 GMT
Ray ,
You are right ,alone we are nothing in fact .
I repeat I don't critic the skills but the models .
You can do the same with mine ,between us ,you know what my Theory is correct .
Why an other logic in 3D ?It is impossible .
This reality will rest .It is not a reason it is finished for the discoveries ,no it is the begining of a real research with pragmatism about our real universe .It is more essential to study what we can study in fact and not extrapolations behind the walls ,that has no sense .The unknew is the unknew and our 3d are our 3d ,it is like that since the begining .And never that will change .
When I say that about pseudo sciences ,I insist yes all that is pseudo sciences .And the skills have others things to do I think.
It is sad all that in fact ,very sad for the sciences .
Friendly
Steve
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 8, 2010 @ 18:44 GMT
The real problem in fact is the referential and the correlation between the maths and the pure physicality .
The maths show us by extrapolations the limits of our perceptions with an infinity which appears due to these limits at the universal scale ,a little if I said ,we are babies of the Universe and thus it is logic to perceive an impossibility to see a limit .
It is the real answer of the relativity and the evolution point of vue inside a physical system with its specific thermodymical laws .The infinity is a confusion about our pure physical limits .That implies of course thus the confusions due to the potential of creativity of our mind .The imaginaries beleive what they has an infinity but is it logic ,I think no evidently if we accept these realities .
A physical universe is the main part of the puzzle ,the maths must be pragmatic and correlated at this harmonic road in this pure physicality with its limits and specificities.The constants due to our relativity are a reality too and must be considered ,the present takes all its sense in this logic .The maths permit to extrapolate behind these actual constants ,it is thus logic to see decoherences but all that looses its senses ,its real sense about the constants and irreversibilities .The system in the physicality always must insert the 3D and this constant implying constants ,the time .This parameter is the main piece of the relativity about the perception and thus the real datas or equations about the actual system .Only the evolution and thus the analyze of the past and the present thus to extrapolate the future ,but for that the physicality needs reals maths inside the closed system ,here the universal sphere.These tools ,the maths take only their sense about the physicality if the balance is made with the biggest harmonization .
To utilize the maths and the methods without a finite referential ,will imply always thus the confusion .
The physicality is more foundamental than maths because there only the reals exist .The imaginaries are thus humans in conclusion .
Regards
Steve
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 8, 2010 @ 20:16 GMT
Steve,
You said "The physicality is more foundamental than maths because there only the reals exist. The imaginaries are thus humans in conclusion."
Many of my models are based on crystalline lattices that exist in Nature. They are fundamental, not imaginary. If Nature uses a structure once, she might use it again. Is a sphere really more fundamental than a buckyball? Nature can make a buckyball with a mere 60 atoms of Carbon. In contrast, a perfect sphere is a mathematical abstraction that can never be perfectly attained in this world. Try polishing a piece of wood or marble into a perfect sphere.
Our most significant differences lie in multiple dimensions. I introduce extra degrees-of-freedom and call them new dimensions. You introduce new degrees-of-freedom and call them spin. If I am correct, then part of hyperspace is a 3-brane that mirrors 3-D space such that it is easy to confuse the two different concepts. Note that on page 10 of my book, I obtained a 3-dimensional momentum space density of states. This is a hyperspace effect, not a spacetime effect. The numbers can trick you if you mix up cause versus effect.
Have Fun and continue to evolve!
Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 9, 2010 @ 04:01 GMT
I am going to try to get to the matter of the associator and its implications for physics by Sunday.
Cheers LC
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 9, 2010 @ 12:01 GMT
Hi dear Ray ,
I don't say what all your tools are imaginaries ,but you know if only one imaginary is inserted and implies decoherences thus even with one ,that implies an error .
I d like insist on the whole of my theory ,my theory of spherization says in very simple resume what the numbers of one quantic system is the same for our cosmological spheres .....the mv constant is important for the link ,the rotating spheres ,quantic or cosmologic are linked inj a pure constant .
After tyhe evolution and the time constant builds the gravity with the polarisation.And all that in a finite universal sphere probably with an evolutive volume .An other point is the existence of the center of the universe where all turns around .
Dear Dr Cosmic Ray ,please where do you see the c60 ,the crystals are just a mineral ,a physical tool .
The spherisation ,these spheres are foundamentals ,it is like that in fact with or without the ideas of humans ,even if I didn't find this theory ,an other will have found because it is evident what the universe is a sphere like all ,the physicality had need to have this universality correlated with the rotating spherisation ,that implies a specific system in evolution with its coded informations of becoming in the main central main spheres,probably the biggest volume due to the ultim fractal and its divisibility .
Like I said before ,I don't encircle these extradimensions and their rules in the physicality .The cause of the mass too is bizare for me and others things .
Your superimposings about the entanglement too implies confusions for me .I don't understand why people wants have decoherences ,reversibilities,.....the system is invariant in all localities in the 3D in my opinion .
Friendly
Steve
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:10 GMT
Although he begins with the External Reality Hypothesis (ERH) that claims reality actually exists outside of us humans, it appears to me self-evident that Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH) is in the realm of meta-physics. For example:
"Mathematical structures do not exist in an external space or time, are not created, or destroyed..."
can be replaced by:
"God...
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Although he begins with the External Reality Hypothesis (ERH) that claims reality actually exists outside of us humans, it appears to me self-evident that Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH) is in the realm of meta-physics. For example:
"Mathematical structures do not exist in an external space or time, are not created, or destroyed..."
can be replaced by:
"God does not exist in an external space or time and is not created or destroyed..."
with no significant change in 'provability'. With this (negative) definition of mathematical structures, Tegmark goes on to state in his Mathematical Universe Hypothesis that "our external physical reality is an abstract mathematical structure."
The closest dictionary meanings that link these two words are:
Reality = actual fact
Abstract = insufficiently factual
So what he is saying is:
(MUH) => (ERH)
abstract is real
or
insufficient fact = actual fact
This has exactly the same sense as:
"This statement is false."
That is, it's nonsense.
Thus, on the face of it, Tegmark's basis appears to be nonsense. This leads me to wonder if Tegmark has written a Sokal Hoax for physicists! The idea that he is all the while laughing up his sleeve almost prevents me from responding to his paper, but I will do so anyway.
A Mathematical Universe?
If I believe in God, my friend John believes in the flying spaghetti monster and Tegmark believes in 'mathematical structures' existing outside of space and time, these are called meta-physical beliefs. They are non-physical and cannot be tested by physical means. These beliefs cannot be proved or disproved physically.
Ignoring my belief and John's belief, let's look at mathematics "in" the physical world. One aspect is Wigner's appreciation of "the unreasonable effectiveness" of math in physics. Another is Kronecker's remark that 'God made the integers, all else is the work of man.' Tegmark quotes Wigner and Kronecker. In the 1970s these (and similar) quotes inspired my dissertation, 'The Automatic Theory of Physics', in which I present 'natural numbers' as artifacts, created by 'counters' and subject to 'logic', where both counters and logic are physical devices that can be implemented via silicon, proteins, or neural networks. Based on these numbers we can derive rational numbers, then, using the concept of limits, we can derive irrational numbers, and all the rest of mathematics. Nowhere in this process do we need to step 'outside space and time'.
This process serves us two-fold: first, using thresholds or triggers on the counters, we can make 'observations', that is, obtain mathematical 'data' that 'represents' a physical system. Second, we can mathematically process this data via clustering algorithms to obtain a 'feature set' and create a corresponding 'feature vector'. Through the use of pattern recognition algorithms we can derive equations that represent the dynamical data changes, if any. These become the 'laws of physics' subject to further change or confirmation by additional observations.
I developed this scheme in 1979 and 30 years later (April 2009) Science has just published two papers on 'Automating Science' based on the same theory. In this scheme mathematics is an artifact, created in the physical universe.
Physical reality -> counter/logic -> mathematics
The reality of this approach is easily demonstrated. Tegmark, on the other hand, wants to invert the scheme as follows:
Abstract mathematics -> physical reality
He cannot possibly demonstrate this (according to his own definitions) any more than I can demonstrate that God, acting outside of space and time, created the physical universe. These are effectively religious beliefs, but one (his) is apparently taken as serious physics commentary, so I will try to analyze it here.
To summarize: Mathematics, as described above, is an artifact used to describe or map the territory of physical reality. In contrast to this Tegmark claims that physical reality is mathematics.
In order to make this claim he wishes to get rid of human 'baggage'. He doesn't define baggage but seems to consider it to be the concepts or interpretations that physicists typically associate with the features of the physical universe based on observations, claiming that:
"For a description to be complete, it must be well-defined also according to non-human sentient entities (say aliens or future super computers)..."
Since my Automatic Theory of Physics uses a (non-sentient) robot to derive the laws of physics from measurement data (observations) my approach satisfies Tegmark's basic requirements for the External Reality Hypothesis. The robot works with math only, it has no human baggage.
But Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis is a horse of a different color. It states:
"Our external physical reality is a mathematical structure."
In fact, in his abstract he goes further to state that:
"Our physical world is an abstract mathematical structure."
Recall that he defines a mathematical structure as an abstract, immutable entity existing outside of space and time, being neither created or destroyed.
One would think that the conversation would terminate at this meta-physical point, but it does not.
So where do we go from here?
---Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality continued in next comment:
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:17 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
Although I believe we are in the realm of religious argument, Tegmark makes a number of statements that appear to be recognition of potential problems in his argument, so we consider these next. I will list these problems below and then treat each one in detail [ER = external reality, MU = mathematical...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
Although I believe we are in the realm of religious argument, Tegmark makes a number of statements that appear to be recognition of potential problems in his argument, so we consider these next. I will list these problems below and then treat each one in detail [ER = external reality, MU = mathematical universe].
A. Other rational explanations than MU
B. Uncomputable ER
C. Embarrassing if TOE
D. Insufficiency - ER has properties not described by MU
E. Unpredictable ER
F. Non-observable MU
G. Non-consciousness MU
H. Unsymmetrical ER
The following comments will address each of Tegmarks potential trouble spots.
(A) Other rational explanations than MU
Tegmark says Wigner argued that "the enormous usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious", since "there is no rational explanation for it". Tegmark claims the MUH provides this missing explanation, since "I know of no other compelling explanation for this…than that the physical world is completely mathematical."
The Automatic Theory of Physics provides the rational explanation. In a nutshell, I describe the way that any set of measurements can be clustered to form a feature space and then entropy-based pattern recognition principles can derive 'physical laws'. The ability to derive mathematical descriptions, using only physical devices, from any set of physical observations (without baggage) provides the rational explanation Wigner and Tegmark are looking for. [An updated edition of The Automatic Theory of Physics should be available on Amazon shortly after these comments are published].
(B) Uncomputable External Reality
Tegmark says: "There are only two possible origins for random-looking parameters in the Standard Model Lagrangian like 1/137.0360565: either they are computable from a finite amount of information, or the mathematical structure corresponds to a multiverse…"
In 'Chromodynamics War' and elsewhere I derive the fine structure constant from straightforward equations, based on the simple assumption that there is a limit to the curvature of a field in space-time. In this theory the limit of curvature of the gravito-electric field produces black holes, and the limit of curvature of the gravito-magnetic field produces charged particles. The alternative is that there is no limit to field curvature, in which case every vortex will end as an infinitely dense 'point'. Our universe appears to exhibit more charged particles than infinitely dense points, so we assume the limit applies, in which case the fine structure constant falls out rather simply.
Tegmark first asks whether parallel universes are within the purview of science or merely silly speculation. I believe silly speculation, since they are by definition unobservable and not measurable. He then claims his Level 3 model of the multi-verse is the rather uncontroversial cosmological standard model. Uncontroversial it may be within a certain class of physicists, but it is nevertheless a meta-physical belief that differs not a whit from a Jesus-based or a flying spaghetti monster universe.
Anyone who has "evidence for" rather than "belief in" such a multi-verse should respond here.
---Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality continued in next comment:
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:23 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(C) Embarrassing Theory of Everything
Tegmark says a TOE must address Wheeler's embarrassing question:
"Why these particular equations, not others?"
My essay addresses this as follows: unless one believes, as Tegmark appears to, that math somehow exists 'outside' of space and time and yet derives...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(C) Embarrassing Theory of Everything
Tegmark says a TOE must address Wheeler's embarrassing question:
"Why these particular equations, not others?"
My essay addresses this as follows: unless one believes, as Tegmark appears to, that math somehow exists 'outside' of space and time and yet derives the 'laws of (space-time) physics', then one must assume that the laws of physics are derived from the universe interacting with (operating on) itself.
Ask, as Tegmark and others do, why our laws of physics are so simple. My approach is the opposite of Tegmark's. He believes that the laws derive from mathematical structure outside of time and space. As I develop elsewhere, this idea of law is an anthropomorphic hangover from the 'King' and modern science has driven the king (God) concept out of physics, retaining only the king's 'laws'. I reject this anthropomorphism. I believe that the laws of physics are built into the universe, as did Wheeler. If we then start with one thing, the primordial field, then any law that the field follows must derive from self-interaction. That is, if we presume a mathematical operator, D, whose operation describes the evolution of the field (i.e., the universe) then the operation on the field G is described by D (dot) G while the interaction of the field G with itself is G(dot)G. If these are identical, then
D(dot)G = G(dot)G
This is our Master equation of the universe. It does not come from outside of space and time. Of course we do not know what form the operator D has, but it is not difficult in the real world to show that the Master equation is isomorphic to Newton's equation and hence we assume that D is the familiar divergence operator. This grounds us in reality.
Although Tegmark claims that, if a Theory of Everything is one day discovered, then Wheeler's embarrassing question remains: why these particular equations, not others? But Wheeler also claimed that the laws must be built-into the universe and NOT derive from outside of space and time. It seems clear that Wheeler would prefer the above approach to Tegmark's mathematical structure outside space and time.
Could there in reality be a fundamental, unexplained ontological asymmetry built into the very heart of reality, splitting mathematical structure into two classes, those with and without physical existence? Tegmark states that his theory implies that in his Level 4 multi-verse of 'all mathematical structures exist' as physical realities.
In fact, this question is only important for Tegmark's theory. If math is merely descriptive of real relations, then whatever math best describes physical reality is appropriate. Descriptions of non-physical relationships are still mathematical, but there's no 'ontological asymmetry' problem! The self-consistency of the physical universe is real, while the ability of this universe to mentally or logically construct limited 'truth systems' (limited by Godel) is simply a measure of the almost miraculous open-endedness of the universe.
But, to avoid this threat to his belief that mathematical existence and physical existence are equivalent, Tegmark concludes that, "In the context of the MUH, the existence of the level IV multiverse is not optional."
Yet our highly encoded Master equation allows us to derive both cosmology and particle physics (see essay). Instead of embarrassing, it is self-evident that built-in laws of physics MUST derive in this fashion.
(D) Insufficiency - ER has properties not described by MU
Tegmark states: "If...one could argue that our universe is somehow made of stuff perfectly described by a mathematical structure, but which also has other properties that are not described by it...then Karl Popper would turn in his grave, since these properties would make the universe non-mathematical by definition, having no observable effects whatsoever."
In his abstract and in his paper, Tegmark comments on human consciousness, and says his theory has implications for consciousness, but then he claims it is not necessary for a theory of physics. I do not agree with this claim. My FQXi essay exhibits the Master equation that describes our physical universe. The C-field described by this equation represents the field of consciousness, defined as awareness plus free will (volition).
Neither awareness nor free will is a mathematical structure--yet these properties have observable effects, watch me raise my arm.
---Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality continued in next comment:
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:30 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(E) Unpredictable External Reality:
Tegmark realizes that true randomness in the laws of physics would be a severe problem for his Mathematical Universe Hypothesis.
Since Darwin, people have been looking for schemes to which everything can be reduced. The Darwinian scheme depends on randomness, which...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(E) Unpredictable External Reality:
Tegmark realizes that true randomness in the laws of physics would be a severe problem for his Mathematical Universe Hypothesis.
Since Darwin, people have been looking for schemes to which everything can be reduced. The Darwinian scheme depends on randomness, which basically means that things happen "for no reason at all". But this doesn't fit well into a 'structural' scheme, so Tegmark banishes randomness from his mathematical universe. In fact, "a convincing demonstration that there is such a thing as true randomness in the laws of physics...would therefore refute the MUH."
This is probably Tegmark's strongest statement concerning refutability, so it's worth expanding upon.
The essence of his argument is that if such randomness exists, then things 'happen' for no reason at all. And the essence of mathematics is that logic, through the concept of 'implication', provides a 'reason' (cause) for every happening. To examine this, we must bring 'consciousness' into the equation. This is legitimate since Tegmark, in his abstract, claims that the MUH has implications for consciousness, hence we assume that 1.) consciousness exists, and 2.) consciousness has implications for the mathematical universe.
In my FQXi essay, 'Fundamental Physics of Consciousness' consciousness is 'awareness plus volition'. In the simplest sense, awareness in its essence is 'built-in' to any multi-body physics.
Either two (or more) bodies are somehow 'aware of' each other and interact, or they do not. A physics of non-interacting bodies (free particles) is an interesting toy physics but is not sufficient for our reality. In the same sense, the essence of awareness is implied by observation. To observe something is to somehow be aware of it. The real trick is 'self-awareness', as described in Gene Man theory via the C-field, which both has mass (E=mc2) and is aware of mass. But this 'self-aware' field also acts on mass (see essay).
The combination of awareness and volition is consciousness.
There are those who declare volition (free will) to be an illusion. I don't argue with these zombies (their own technical term for this theory) as it does not describe my reality.
My reality is one of consciousness, and the most fundamental theory of consciousness (insofar as it can be described in 10 pages) is given in my FQXi essay, A Fundamental Physics of Consciousness.
In this theory volition replaces randomness as the source of unpredictability. Tegmark does not consider volition (free will) but does state that "A convincing demonstration that there is such a thing as true randomness in the laws of physics...would therefore refute MUH".
Because the essence of randomness ('for no reason at all') is unpredictability, then volition, as a randomness substitute refutes MUH. This is consistent with:
Consciousness gives rise to math.
Math does not give rise to consciousness.
ANY existence of free will is sufficient to refute Tegmark's MUH. So it boils down to whether Tegmark and his defenders are 'zombies', for whom free will is an illusion. If so, then MUH again descends to the level of religious claim, since proof for or against free will is not only lacking, but will likely always be lacking.
(F) Non-observable Mathematical Universe
Tegmark concludes that "MUH follows from ERH that there exists an external physical reality completely independently of us humans...the opposite of physics where human-related notions like observation are fundamental."
I confess to not understanding what he's talking about here, although I assume that he is addressing the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, specifically, the collapse of the wave function. Else he is saying that the concept of observation does not even apply. In physics this means the measurement and recording of information from 'experiment'. If he is throwing this away, then he has left the realm of physics, not just humans. If aliens or other sentient entities do not in their appropriate way 'observe' (measure) the physical universe then "we're not in Kansas any more, Toto". So he must be referring to the collapse of the wave function above.
But as I state in my essay and elsewhere, there is a quantum interpretation that involves neither 'collapse' or 'many-worlds' and is compatible with reported non-dispersing Bohr wave functions and with entanglement.
(G) Non-conscious Mathematical Universe
Finally, I remark that in his abstract, Tegmark claims that MUH has implications for "broader issues like consciousness" but he never touches on these implications or even discusses consciousness, except to say in his notes that an understanding of consciousness is NOT necessary for a theory of physics. As far as a working theory goes, he is surely correct, but as far as ultimate physics (as in the recent essay contest) then he is almost certainly wrong. And since his theory that the physical universe is an abstract mathematical universe is certainly an ultimate theory, then he is inconsistent to a fatal degree.
---Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality continued in next comment:
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:36 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(H) Unsymmetrical External Reality:
Tegmark says: "...the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis implies that any symmetries in the mathematical structure correspond to physical symmetries..."
If this is the case, why are there no right-handed neutrinos? And why has QCD only approximate symmetry?
I also...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
(H) Unsymmetrical External Reality:
Tegmark says: "...the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis implies that any symmetries in the mathematical structure correspond to physical symmetries..."
If this is the case, why are there no right-handed neutrinos? And why has QCD only approximate symmetry?
I also make the case that the non-symmetrical modified set of Maxwell's gravito-electro-magnetic equations, not his symmetrical set, describes reality. I suspect there are other examples, but these are a good starting point.
In 'The Chromodynamics War', chapter 114, 'Conservation or Symmetry?', I state that "conservation implies symmetry" whereas, since Noether, physicists have tended to believe that "symmetry implies conservation". Since "the MUH implies that any symmetries in the mathematical structure correspond to physical symmetries" I believe this is potentially proof that MUH is wrong.
Similarly, "Wigner and others have explained that to a large extent, symmetries imply dynamics". I believe it is more correct to say that conservation laws imply dynamics and conservation laws imply symmetry. But symmetry does not imply physically realized conservation laws.
Symmetry is a mapping, conservation is the real territory.
Maps derive from the territory.
Territory does not derive from maps.
This is the essence of the MUH mistake.
Thus on all of the points where Tegmark realizes there might be a problem, we show there is an alternate approach to the problem.
From the above, it may be apparent that I view the Mathematical Universe hypothesis as silly, and the logical response to this would be, then why do so many well known physicists seem to take MUH seriously. I discuss this below.
The Mathematical Universe begins with considerable attention being paid to the 'baggage' that the observer in physics brings to the party. This is supposedly banished by hypothesizing an external reality completely independent of us humans. One supposes that this is meant to banish 'consciousness' from the scene, although the only reason to even consider an 'external reality' is that we humans can agree that we observe (and are conscious of) the same objective phenomena.
This is followed by hypothesizing that 'mathematical structure' exists outside of space and time. This is surely just as legitimate as considering the universe to exist in the 'mind of God', but no more scientific. I do not believe in Tegmark's 'god', his 'mathematical structure'. Is there only one super-structure or are there Cartesian, cylindrical, radial, etc? I believe that mathematics is an artifact and have written several books demonstrating this point.
Nevertheless, let us ignore humans. Does this mean that there is no consciousness? Tegmark continually refers to birds and frog 'observers'. Is this baggage? Are they conscious? I think so. Can he, without consciousness, describe any universe with mathematics?
I can show Tegmark how to start with a physical world and derive math as an artifact. He has not succeeded in showing me how to start with math and derive a physical universe.
Existing in a physical universe, manifesting consciousness, he draws map after map after map, and claims, 'all is maps'. Aside from the declaration of equivalence, there is no explanation of how the physical universe comes to be. There is even less 'explanation' of consciousness.
He claims that a 'key prediction' of MUH is that physics research will uncover regularities in nature. I showed in 1979 and Science published in 2009 how automata can derive the equations of physics from observations. No MUH needed or implied.
Tegmark thinks resistance to his simplistic idea is due to 'vanity'. Not much of an argument.
In his abstract, Tegmark claims MUH has implications for consciousness, but his paper fails to address consciousness.
I believe that to discuss physical reality -- the very conception of which is based on conscious observation and awareness, whether this is called 'baggage' or not -- and to equate this reality to 'mathematical structure' (outside time and space) which is a figment of his consciousness, without any real consideration of the nature of consciousness, is missing the point. I agree with Penrose and others that any 'ultimate' physics must take consciousness into consideration.
My theory (sketched in my essay and expanded in 'Gene Man's World') begins with consciousness as an innate feature of the universe and derives the Master equation, the quantum flow principle, Newton's equation, Maxwell's gravito-electro-magnetic equations, and all known particles, as well as provides an inflationary force for cosmology.
My theory offers an alternative to Tegmark that explains far more without postulating any meta-physical entities such a 'mathematical structure' or 'parallel universes'. It does not depend on any undiscovered particles or principles, and it explains dozens of physical facts that are otherwise mysterious today.
And, most important, it predicts no new particles will be found at the LHC.
What does Tegmark predict?
---Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality continued in next comment
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:40 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
There also appears to me to be 'practical' problems in his formulation. Let us assume for a moment that Tegmark is correct --- a mathematical structure is physically real:
Which mathematical structure 'is' the hydrogen atom?
A Cartesian structure?
A cylindrical structure?
An elliptical...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
There also appears to me to be 'practical' problems in his formulation. Let us assume for a moment that Tegmark is correct --- a mathematical structure is physically real:
Which mathematical structure 'is' the hydrogen atom?
A Cartesian structure?
A cylindrical structure?
An elliptical structure?
A radial structure?
A structure in some other coordinate system?
How do you choose, or are they all the same?
I once needed to evaluate an integral (representing a physics energy) by expanding it as an infinite series over 3 indices. Being young and gung-ho, I expanded it in all eight possible ways. Seven of these series were infinite, but one of the expansions truncated after a finite number of terms (all following terms contained a zero multiplier). Which of these eight structures 'was' the physical energy?
Tegmark mentions 'pi in the sky', which I take to be a reference to the Platonic belief that pi 'exists' somewhere outside time and space. I believe that the physical universe is so constructed that we can measure pi to an arbitrary number of places and compute it even further, but pi does not 'exist' as a mathematical structure.
Tegmark discusses the question "Is reality a computer simulation?"
Although my books on Computer Design and The Automatic Theory of Physics lead me to dismiss the 'universe as computer' arguments, I'd like to point out that it has been realized for decades that algorithms and data structures are merely tradeoffs of time for space. That is, one can save space at the expense of time by computing a value algorithmically, say the cosine of an angle, or one can save time by fetching the value from a (pre-computed) table of cosines at the expense of the 'space' required to store the table. As Tegmark says, "it (the universal computer) could simply store all the 4-dimensional data, i.e., encode all properties of the mathematical structure that is our universe. Individual time slices could then be read out sequentially if desired..."
This model cannot accommodate 'free will' and hence is only of interest to Zombies. The rest of us can dismiss this without looking any further. Please spare me the "it's an illusion" responses. If you believe that you have no free will, you shouldn't be arguing with real conscious beings.
Tegmark gives a convention for encoding any finite mathematical structure, involving arbitrarily many entities, as a finite sequence of integers. He also claims that infinite mathematical structures can be encoded as a finite-length bit string. I contend that these bit strings can be implemented in physical logic (silicon, rtc). Thus the physical universe, in and of itself, can produce any mathematical structure that Tegmark wishes to use. I can (and have) explained how one designs physical structures that instantiate mathematical structures. Can Tegmark explain how mathematical structures instantiate, ie, reify, physical structures?
It's important to realize that Tegmark is arguing meta-physics, not physics, and physicists who argue meta-physics can not automatically claim expertise or authority that they may have in other fields as applicable to meta-physics. However Marcel-Marie LeBel's essay in the last FQXi contest, "Physics Stops Where Natural Meta-physics Starts", makes a beautiful case for logic as a natural meta-physical requirement.
The question is, is physical behavior logical? And, if so, does this imply an abstract realm of logic, or is logic simply 'abstracted from' reality?
By creating real structures that (always!) implement logic one can show that the physical universe is logical in its behavior; to counter this, one must create an illogical physical structure. Via the use of logic circuits, one can then create mathematical machinery, of which counters are the most elemental, with adders, subtracters, and comparators at an equivalently basic level. Per Kronecker, all of mathematics arises from these physical structures.
Thus one can demonstrate that math arises from physical reality. How will Tegmark demonstrate that physical reality arises from (is) math?
This is so simple. Why do a significant (greater than zero!) number of physicists have difficulty grasping this fact?
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 00:45 GMT
---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
If it's so simple, why do a significant (greater than zero!) number of physicists have difficulty grasping this fact?
My guess is as follows. Math, since Plato, has existed in the minds of man, and the conscious mind has been the ultimate mystery. When Newton and Leibnetz invented calculus, they increased the...
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---Continuation of Klingman analysis of Tegmark's theory of reality:
If it's so simple, why do a significant (greater than zero!) number of physicists have difficulty grasping this fact?
My guess is as follows. Math, since Plato, has existed in the minds of man, and the conscious mind has been the ultimate mystery. When Newton and Leibnetz invented calculus, they increased the power of logical description tremendously. Because physical reality behaves logically, the logical mental models (math) corresponded sufficiently well that, in some sense, the logical behavior of the model could be pushed further than physical experiment had gone, and thus the math 'predicted' physical behavior, found to be true when experiment pushed reality as far as the model had been pushed. This is a consequence of physical reality being logical in nature.
Centuries after Newton and Leibnetz invented calculus, most new physicists tend to feel that they had 'discovered' calculus, as if it had always been there, (outside of space and time) implying pre-existence. Considering the confusion of most physics students, faced with learning mechanics, optics, acoustics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and sophisticated math tools, it's not surprising that the young physicist is confused.
But Tegmark is not a young physicist, and the Platonists who have entered essays on FQXi are not young. What explains their Platonic beliefs?
As a graduate student I chose the smartest adviser I could find, and was surprised to find that he had no idea at all how computers worked. I'm sure this has changed significantly, yet theoretical physicists are not typically computer designers, and so have less feel for how logic is implemented in the real world, whether silicon, protein, or neural networks. In addition, even fewer have more than a fuzzy understanding of consciousness, yet without consciousness how does one consider meta-physical aspects of mathematics?
Another factor concerning Platonism: For almost a century physics has been based on 'point' particles and 'fields' (as many as needed!) and after convincing oneself that a 0-D point has reality, it's not much of a stretch (pun intended) to believe a 1-D string has reality, and then that reality has 26 dimensions (or so). As I explain in great detail in 'The Chromodynamics War', the belief in 'electric-analog' colors as opposed to Rutherford's 'magnetic-analog' strong force has resulted in QCD not making any physical sense at all. And the confusion from Noether's results (symmetry implies conservation rather than conservation implies symmetry), combined with required techniques of particle physics, (looking at 'points' from 'infinity') led to symmetry and gauge theories. The net effect is that theorists have absolutely no physical feel for ultimate particle interactions but unlimited mathematical tools to explore them.
As a result of this history, physicists have no physical understanding of particle interactions, treating them as 'fields' in Lagrangians. For every new phenomena requiring explanation, physicists propose another 'field'. No one knows how many or even which fields are real and the tools don't care. The math has become more real than reality to them, and their prestige comes from mathematical sophistication, not from physical explanation.
Yet Alfred Korzybsiki's definition of sanity, in essence, is the ability to distinguish the map from the territory.
To actually conceive that the map gives rise to the territory illustrates the total confusion reigning in physics today. I expect that failure to find the Higgs or any other of the proposed particles will cure this by forcing at least a few physicists to investigate a theory that does make physical AND mathematical sense -- a reality that is logically self-consistent and answers many questions that today are simply mysteries.
The above arguments separate into two classes, those dependent upon consciousness, and those dependent on 'non-conscious' physical reality. For discussions of consciousness I have assumed that my essay, 'Fundamental Physics of Cponsciousness', is correct. This will surely be challenged by tegmark's defenders. Knowing this, I still believe that presenting an alternative explanation is better than simply arguing against MUH. But the 'physico-logic' arguments above do not depend upon my theory. They are easily demonstrated. To repeat:
I can demonstrate that math arises from physical reality. How will Tegmark demonstrate that physical reality arises from (is) math?
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 05:59 GMT
Lawrence,
Looking forward to it. By the way, the algebra of observables is non-associative (but power associative).
Also I have just discovered this paper: http://www.dinahgroup.com/content/jglta/v2_n4_2.pdf and it seems that I was right to speculate that lack of associativity implies hidden unobservable states. This in turn means that the Born rule is broken as well. I will need some time to digest this paper.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 12:56 GMT
Hello dear Mr Klingman ,
I liked a lot reading your posts here .Thanks for this relevance .
It is well sais these words"Yet Alfred Korzybsiki's definition of sanity, in essence, is the ability to distinguish the map from the territory."
Like what the topology is essential .
Best Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 10, 2010 @ 13:56 GMT
Florin,
I have read some papers by Vladimir Dzhunushaliev on nonassociative quantum mechanics. One can interpret equation 3.1 as an associative ordering on channels determined by an S-matrix. Since the associator returns the set of states with a sign change
[φ_i, φ_j, φ_k] = φ_i(φ_jφ_k) – (φ_iφ_j)φ_k = C_{ijk}^lφ_l = -φ_i(φ_jφ_k)
nonassociative structures imply a phase ambiguity in a Taylor expansion. So this is an indication of shadow states or something similar in the S-matrix.
He does appear to be saying that the Born rule needs to be generalized in some fashion. I will try to return to this later today, maybe after I have fully read this paper.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 11, 2010 @ 19:51 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
Have you seen this article?
Quantum Criticality in an Ising ChainThe golden ratio 1.618 is based on the geometry of the pentagon. It is funny that speculators are proposing that this is experimental evidence for Lisi's E8 TOE when Lisi never specified the E8 pentality symmetry (that I've been talking about for months). This is the kind of experimental evidence that El Naschie could use to further his claims of E-Infinity (order of 685~(10*1.618*1.618)^2).
This gives me hope that I'm on the right path pursuing the pentagonal Spin(5)~Spin(4,1). I think a transition occurs that changes the system from a hexagonal Spin(6) tiling to a buckyball tiling composed of hexagonal Spin(6)'s and pentagonal Spin(5)'s.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 00:47 GMT
Double-triple thanks for this. I heard D. A. Tennant interviewed on NPR the other day, and spent time trying to look for this. And here it is, and I am an AAAS member, but hand not checked my AAAS email.
I really am going to try to get to the nonassociator quantum mechanics, maybe tonight.
Cheers, LC
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 17:17 GMT
Here is an overview of nonaxxociators and what might be called quantum homotopies.
The ordered S-matrix defines each vertex, or particle, and its neighbor. In a linear chain a general state is an S-matrix channel of the form
|φ) = |p_1,…, p_i,…, p_j ,…, p_n)
This state or S-matrix channel is related to but distinction from the channel
|φ’) = |p_1,…, p_j,…,...
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Here is an overview of nonaxxociators and what might be called quantum homotopies.
The ordered S-matrix defines each vertex, or particle, and its neighbor. In a linear chain a general state is an S-matrix channel of the form
|φ) = |p_1,…, p_i,…, p_j ,…, p_n)
This state or S-matrix channel is related to but distinction from the channel
|φ’) = |p_1,…, p_j,…, p_i,…, p_n).
The particles or vertices p_i and p_j have been exchanged, and a certain ”relationship” structure to the amplitude has been fundamentally changed. The S-matrix is written according to S = 1 - 2πiT, so two states or channels |p_1,…,p_n) and |q_1,…,q_n) are related to each other by the S-matrix as
(p_1,…, p_n|S|q_,…,q_n) = (p_1,…, p_n|(1 - 2πiT)|q_1,…, q_n)
= (p_1,…, p_n|q_1,…,q_n) - 2πi(p1,…, p_n|T|q_1,…, q_n)
For the (-| the in channel and |+) as the out channel p_n and q_1 are neighbors, and are neighbors through the T-matrix. This eliminates an open vertex in the chain. The vertices or particles p_1 and q_n are the open elements in the chain and defines the ”anchor” for the chain, and are thus defined as neighbors in this manner. Hence this process defines a complete linear chain, which is similar in its structure to a gauge-”Moose,” which is a cycle of gauge fields on a compactified space, such as a Calabi-Yau space. Each element pi defines a particle or vertex according to a set of quantum numbers. Thus each p_i is defined by a vector space V , which is some Hilbert space. The linear chain here is an ordering on a total Hilbert space H = \otimes Vi. This construction is based upon relationships between p_i and p_{i+1} by bilinear operation of the form [-; -] :V x V - -> V , as a product structure for position exchange. To define physical states this bilinear operation must obey the Jacobi identity. This requires the vector space be k-equipped so the bilinear operation is an isomorphism on the vector space H = k x V, where the modulus |k| is the number of elements in the chain. This gives the isomorphism,
Y:H x H - -> H x H
Y((x; p) otimes (y; q)) = (x; p) otimes (y; q) + (1; 0) otimes (0; [p; q]):
The application of Y otimes id on H x H x H then gives
Y otimes id((x; p) otimes (y; q) otimes (z; r)) = (x; p) otimes (y; q) otimes (z; r) +
(1; 0) otimes (0; [[p; q]; r] + [[q; r]; p] + [[r; p]; q]):
This isomorphism on the three spaces is the Yang-Baxter equation. If the permuted double commutator sum vanishes, which is the Jacobi equation. The elements p; q; r as momentum operators D = ∂ + iA, defines Jacobi identity the conservation law
cycle[[D_a, D_b], D_c] = ε_{abcd}D_eF^de = 0:
The Yang-Baxter relationship is defined in the S-matrix by the following observation. Consider the optical theorem S = 1 - 2πiT and the projection of the density matrix according to
Ρ’ = SρS^† = ρ + 2πi[T, ρ],
The neighborhood rule tells us the commutator is between elements of the |-) and the (-| with regards to the transition or T-matrix, which is a neighbor exchange rule. The Yang-Baxter equation describes braids, which are compositions of paths. In general this theory must be extended to compositions of loops. The S-matrix acts upon a loop composed of (-| and |-) to define the composition of two loops (-|-) with 2π(-|T|)i. Homotopy is the mathematical theory for loop topology. For a topological space (X; p) the loop space ΩX is defined by the continuous map
φ:[0; 1] - -> X,
with the compact open-set topology on the endpoints φ(0) = φ(1) = p. Here the vertex or particle p is considered to be the base point of the map. The composition or multiplication of points obeys the rule,
π_1 - -> ΩXxΩX1 - ->ΩX,
Higher homotopies exist for spaces with larger dimensions, where the ordering of homotopies determines the vertices of associahedra. A braid is a (ab) ¡ (ba) edgelink, and an associator is a(bc)¡a(bc) for fields defined on the vertices . The associators with three elements define two hexagons, which link vertices in associator by commutation of the elements in parentheses. Braid links between the commuted vertices defines the general system of associators plus commutators. The associahedra K_4 for four elements is a pentagon. In three dimensions the Stasheff polytope K_5 or associahedra. This polytope is constructed from pairs of three hexagons glued into ”tents,” which are then attached to form a solid with three squares arranged π/3 radians from each other. This polytope may also be constructed by gluing two tetrahedra together and truncating the vertices in the same plane. Similarly, to the system with three letters copies of these associator exist with commutative links between vertices.
A system of commutators and associators is extended to the K_4 pentagon of associators. At each vertex of the above pentagon with associators for the elements a; b; c; d has six possible commutator variations. This each pentagonal vertex is identified with a hexagon, for a net 30 independent vertices. The convex polyhedron with 12 hexagons, which share a vertex with an adjacent hexagon, and possesses a pentagonal symmetry is the truncated icosahedron: The K_4 elements are mutually related by a braiding (commutation) around alternate hexagon, half of the twelve in total, and are connected by cross links through the polyhedra. This obeys the icosahedral group as an octahedral with quivers of vectors at each vertex. The octahedra has Im(5); m = 3 group structure, which does not tessellate a flat three dimensional space, but will tessellate a hyperbolic space in three dimensions. The four dimensional extension of this is the 120-cell, called the hyperdodecahedron or dodecachoron, which is a polychora with 120 octahedron boundaries, 720 pentagons, 1200 edgelinks and 600 vertices, and Schl¨afli index {5, 3, 3} . The dual is the 600 cell, with 120 vertices which define a group under quaternionic multiplication. This group is sometimes called the binary icosahedral group, which is a double covering of the icoshahedral group. The symmetry group of the 600-cell is the Weyl group H_4 ~ {3, 3, 5}, a group of order 120^2 = 14400.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 17:46 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
WOW! It will take at least a week for me to digest this information, but everything seems to be coming together.
You said "Higher homotopies exist for spaces with larger dimensions, where the ordering of homotopies determines the vertices of associahedra. A braid is a (ab) ¡ (ba) edgelink, and an associator is a(bc)¡a(bc) for fields defined on the vertices . The associators with three elements define two hexagons, which link vertices in associator by commutation of the elements in parentheses. Braid links between the commuted vertices defines the general system of associators plus commutators. The associahedra K_4 for four elements is a pentagon. In three dimensions the Stasheff polytope K_5 or associahedra. This polytope is constructed from pairs of three hexagons glued into ”tents,” which are then attached to form a solid with three squares arranged π/3 radians from each other. This polytope may also be constructed by gluing two tetrahedra together and truncating the vertices in the same plane. Similarly, to the system with three letters copies of these associator exist with commutative links between vertices."
This looks like the permutohedron of type A3. I want pentagons with a triality symmetry, so I'm thinking more like a dodecahedron (H3 - has the basic triality and pentality symmetries, but doesn't explain hexagons morphing into pentagons) or a Carbon-60 buckyball.
I've been trying to get rid of a cold for the past week. I need a clear mind to focus on these ideas.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 18:21 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
Thanks for the information. It will take some time to fully digest it though.
Thanks again,
Florin
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 18:31 GMT
The business of quantum homotopies might feed into the idea of E_∞, by El Naschie. I must confess at this point I don’t know what is meant by this. Yet the question did occur to me whether E_8 has some Bott periodicity structure. We might think of there being 3 SO(8)’s in there, and these have certain structure involved with Lim_{n->∞} SO(n), with Z and Z_2 homotopies and with cyclicity of 8. I studied this in depth years ago, so maybe with some review I might be able to think about this some.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 19:14 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
El Naschie's E-Infinity has an order of 685.4~(26.18)^2, which is remarkably close to the K12' order of 684 that I've been playing with, and it contains the golden ratio 2.618=1.618^2 that is currently a hot topic. He and I shared some ideas a year-and-a-half ago.
My interpretation is that K12' is the first "Wigner-Seitz" primitive cell of a finite-sized lattice. If we take the limit towards an infinite lattice (in all directions) then we may need to also include fractal-sized contributions, and this may explain the differences between my discrete geometrical ideas with K12'=684 and his fractal geometrical ideas with E-Infinity=685.4.
Unfortunately, El Naschie is occupied in the lawsuit with Nature, his publications have drawn considerable critism recently, and I have been ignored by arXiv probably because of my associations with El Naschie and Lisi.
The occurance of the golden ratio 1.618 requires pentagons (I addressed this in more detail on
my blog site), but does not require fractals. This is part of why I keep looking at the Carbon-60 buckyball.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 12, 2010 @ 21:41 GMT
Dear Physicists,
As I understand Lisi's E8 paper, he has 20 'holes' that seem to imply new particles. I claim that new particles are relevant to any search for a correct theory of physics. Since our essays were written in October 09, there have been about 12 issues of Physical Review Letters published which report on the continuing search for 'new physics'. The result is: Nothing New, but tighter constraints have been established. Of course the LHC has not yet come online, but I do wish to point out that prediction is far better than post-diction, and also to point out that my theory predicts that No New Particles will be found, Nada, Nil, Nothing. This is not based on a 'safe bet' or 'contrarian' approach. The reason for this prediction is that my theory explains ALL of the currently known particles and appears to have no mechanism for producing new fundamental particles. (The explanation for all current particles is laid out in "The Chromodynamics War".)
This means no Higgs, no axions, no right handed neutrinos, no SUSY, no WIMPs, no extra dimensions... ALL of the known particles come from my treatment of the primordial field that I assume as basic. I believe that Marcel-Marie LeBel offers a well reasoned argument for such an approach (although I differ from his interpretation of the character of this field.)
I would hope that the purveyors of other theories would clearly and distinctly state just what predictions they make. After all, it really won't be long before the LHC tells us who is correct. I believe that everyone pushing a theory should predict now, not wait until the results are known, and then attempt to 'match' these. The fact that mathematics is, for all practical purposes, infinite, says that we can always match what we know to be true. This is what Fermi meant by his 'elephant' analogy.
I can understand the excitement of new mathematical formulations, especially if one takes seriously Tegmark's Mathematical Universe hypothesis (I don't), but to a relatively unbiased observer the conversations on this thread appear to be wild thrashing and flailing, looking here, looking there, for the magic bullet that will capture "reality". Unless one has a theory that predicts what this reality will look like, what's the point? This is not to criticize those who merely find joy in exotic mathematics, but it is to ask what, as physicists, is the measure of success. If predictions no longer have significance, what does?
I hope it's not considered to be in poor taste to point out that predictions are still important in physics, and to ask physicists to state their predictions while they are still "pre"-dictions.
It's fun to state predictions, try it.
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 13, 2010 @ 02:13 GMT
There are some problems with the basic E_8 theory of Lisi. One of them is that he frames the graviton with other fields in a way which is in conflict with the Coleman-Mandula theorem. The other is there are some triality conditions he imposes which are not mathematically justified. The idea is bold and as a first attempt worth its effort. I will say that the theory lacks supersymmetry, which is a consequence of the C-M violation.
Axions are a CP violating particle associated with QCD. It has been a question as to why weak intereactions have CP violations and not QCD. I am not commmitted to the idea of the axion, but there are some reasons to suppose they might exist.
Ray,
I am still not sure about E_infinity, but this seems to suggest some sort of generalization of Bott periodicity. Maybe the Bott periodicity computes the continued fraction for the golden ratio.
Cheers LC
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 13, 2010 @ 06:33 GMT
Dear Edwin,
You claim that your theory “explains ALL of the currently known particles and appears to have no mechanism for producing new fundamental particles.”.
Now this is a bold claim, and I took a closer look at your essay entry (assuming that this is the theory you are talking about).
On page 8 you state: “The key equations (with constants suppressed) are…” and list 4+4 equations. Now the 4 G+C equations are inconsistent.
Take curl C = dm/dt +dG/dt and div G = -m
Apply div on first equation and you get an incorrect “continuity equation” where mass is not conserved. If however the first equation is div G = +m, continuity is restored.
Now take divG = -m (or +m) and curlG = 0. It is easy to get Poisson’s equation for G with m as a source. All OK, but this is just like electrostatics and violates special relativity (just as Newtonian gravity does) because any change in the position of mass would have to be propagated with infinite velocity to the rest of the universe.
You also attack Tegmark's Mathematical Universe hypothesis. If I understood your argument correctly, it is: map is different than territory. In other words, marks on paper describing reality are not reality itself. I do not disagree with this, and I suspect neither does Tegmark.
First, math does exist outside space and time. The fact that the sum of the angles in a flat triangle is 180 is true now, was true in ancient Greece, and was true at the moment of Big Bang. Mathematical results are only waiting for mathematicians to discover them, but they do exist independent from our reality.
Then you ask: “How will Tegmark demonstrate that physical reality arises from (is) math?” Now this is a question for Tegmark, and I cannot answer it. What I can do however is present how I answer this myself in a slightly different setting, which is do not look for similarities between math and reality (like Tegmark), but look at the differences.
Regards,
Florin
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 13, 2010 @ 13:40 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
Bott periodicity with fractal sphere packing may be the key. I suggested something similar to this to Steve Dufourny nearly a year ago, but he didn't consider it 'foundational' enough.
I'm not trying to prove El Naschie's ideas at this point. I'm trying to discover how spacetime connects with hyperspace and supersymmetry. But it would be interesting if a minor calculation could convert my discrete geometrical K12' into El Naschie's fractal geometrical E-Infinity.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Anonymous wrote on Jan. 13, 2010 @ 21:13 GMT
Dear Florin,
Thank you for investing the effort in my essay required for your above response.
These are of course vector equations and I have written them symbolically to emphasize the dependence on mass m and charge q. Unfortunately, my discussion of the symbolism was deleted due to the ten-page limit. I actually considered this problem but then decided that it would be evident...
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Dear Florin,
Thank you for investing the effort in my essay required for your above response.
These are of course vector equations and I have written them symbolically to emphasize the dependence on mass m and charge q. Unfortunately, my discussion of the symbolism was deleted due to the ten-page limit. I actually considered this problem but then decided that it would be evident from the analogous Maxwell's equation. That is, knowing that the curl B = j = qv implies curl C = j = mv. In fact, the 'standard' equation is in the middle of page 4:
curl C = p plus dG/dt
You'll find that if you apply div to both sides you do get continuity (for either sign).
Your next point is that any change in the position of mass would have to be propagated with infinite velocity to the rest of the universe.
By the above equation, any change in position of mass will induce a local C-field circulation.
We now have a moving mass, a circulating C-field, and a change in the gravitational field, as described by the equation on page 4. Because the fields interact with the moving mass and with their own mass, the situation is more complex than electro-magnetics. Although the equations look the same, the mass fields are Yang-Mills and hence non-linear. Tajmar's experiment shows that the C-field dipole does not fall off as quickly as the analogous magnetic dipole, and a Lenz-law argument can be made that this implies curl G = 0. (Other arguments imply the same result.)
At the nuclear level, where the C-field has its greatest effect, the non-linearity rules, while at greater distances, such as those involved in entanglement, I am still analyzing the situation. There are grounds for believing that the C-field is super-luminal, but I haven't convinced myself yet. Entanglement experiments may answer this question.
In the 'linear' regions the formal similarity to Maxwell's equations provide very useful qualitative analogies. In the 'non-linear' regions, the Yang-Mills effects provide the behaviors desired for particle physics. Ray Munroe is in process of reading the detailed particle physics analysis. If you are interested, I would be more than happy to send you a copy. Or you may wish to wait for Ray's opinion. Whatever you like.
As I state in my Tegmark remarks. To claim that math does exist outside time and space is essentially a religious statement. Replacing math with God is just as provable. Some people believe God exists, some don't.
You believe math exists outside time and space. I don't. I don't believe there's a 'pi in the sky' nor do I believe that there's '180 deg in the sky'. When you create a triangle -- in the sand, or in your brain -- then the angles always seem to be (approximately) 180 deg. When there's no sand and no brain, I don't conceive of there being 180 degrees. It's meaningless to me. It seems to mean more to you. I don't need it in my world model, so I Occam's razor it away. It's not missed. I don't argue with people who claim God created the universe, nor do I argue with those who claim math created the universe, unless they call it physics.
You believe that mathematicians discover math. I believe they create/invent it. The relations that led to math are obviously those in the physical world, and I agree with Marcel-Marie LeBel that the physical world is logically self-consistent, which "allows" us to build real physical systems that instantiate logic. Such circuits can create integers and we're off and running.
Tegmark begins with Wigner's statement concerning "the unreasonable effectiveness of math". In 1979 I began my dissertation with the same quote, and the goal was to 'answer' or 'solve' this problem. I did then and am about to republish the dissertation as "The Automatic Theory of Physics".
After the mind develops the logico-mathematical 1, 2, 3, and 4 dimensional concepts and techniques, it's easy to extend this to Hilbert space, etc. Also to create non-physical constructions, such as Klein bottles.
I have read several times your statement about looking for the differences. Based on what I've said above, I'm not sure it makes any sense, but I will continue to try to understand what you're saying.
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 13, 2010 @ 21:15 GMT
Florin,
I turn my back on my computer and it takes my name away...
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 14, 2010 @ 04:00 GMT
Dear Edwin,
Continuity equation for electromagnetism is: partial rho/partial t + div J = 0
From your equation curl C = dm/dt + dG/dt take the div and get div dm/dt + d div G/dt = 0 Combined with divG = -m and calling dm/dt = J you get
div J - dm/dt =0 with a wrong minus sign. To fix continuity you need:
curl C = dm/dt – dG/dt if div G = -m. The other option is to keep the curl C equation, but change div G equation into: divG = +m. Now the second case corresponds to repulsive gravity, and the right way to fix the equation is curl C = dm/dt – dG/dt while keeping div G = -m. (last time I gave you the wrong advice on which equation to change)
About the instantaneous change, yes, C evolves and it is affected by G, but your equations are decoupled and G depends only on m, just like in Newtonian gravity. The criticism was about G, not C.
About mathematics, you state: “You believe that mathematicians discover math. I believe they create/invent it.” Then here is a simple question: was Pythagoras theorem valid before Pythagoras? Or was 1+1 not equal with 2 before humans discovered it? Mathematics is an abstraction, which by its very meaning means that it does not depend on its representation, be it for example marks on paper in Chinese, German, or English. As such it exists outside space and time, it is timeless. Compute e = 1+1/1! + 1/2! + 1/3! +… on a PC or on a Mac, here or on Mars, in this universe or in another universe. The answer is the same regardless of its representation. Nobody invented e or pi, the mathematicians only became aware of their properties.
Now consider the unreasonable effectiveness of math in physics and the “why those equations” questions.
Can we find an answer rooted only in mathematics? No, because mathematics is abstract and one cannot write the equations of our universe on paper, say fly and a new universe will form. We have to distinguish between the map and the territory.
Can we find an answer rooted only in nature? No again, because this is only a circular explanation: it is this because it is this and we see it in experiments.
Do we have another option? Yes. Compare mathematical properties of nature which are universally valid in nature, but not universally valid in the world of abstract mathematics. I have found 3: truth, composability, infinite complexity. Now select from the infinite world of abstract mathematics those and only those structures which satisfy those 3 principles. The answer is (so far): quantum mechanics, space time in 3+1 dimensions, electroweak symmetry. So here is an answer to “why those equations?”. I hope more will follow. Is this math based? Yes, the consequences are pure mathematical theorems. Is this reality based? Yes, the 3 principles have to pass all past, present, and future experiments. What we have is in fact a recipe for axiomatizing physics.
Regards,
Florin
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 14, 2010 @ 09:21 GMT
Dear Florin,
Your electromagnetism continuity equation is of course correct. My last post indicated that the appropriate 'mass current' is j = p = mv = mdr/dt and so
div p = m div v = m div dr/dt = m d(div r)/dt = m d(3)/dt = 0
which is correct for a 'perfect fluid', hence dm/dt = 0 is the correct continuity equation.
My essay assumes that the Master equation applies...
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Dear Florin,
Your electromagnetism continuity equation is of course correct. My last post indicated that the appropriate 'mass current' is j = p = mv = mdr/dt and so
div p = m div v = m div dr/dt = m d(div r)/dt = m d(3)/dt = 0
which is correct for a 'perfect fluid', hence dm/dt = 0 is the correct continuity equation.
My essay assumes that the Master equation applies to the whole universe, and hence ideally will represent both cosmological and sub-nuclear realms. It is typical to use perfect fluids in cosmology, and the recent RHIC results show a 'perfect fluid' (instead of the QCD-predicted 'weak quark gas') so that I believe that this is the appropriate assumption to make. In reviewing my essay I find that I did not have room for the tensor formulations, but I feel that the Maxwell equations formulation is the most 'intuitive' as far as drawing analogies between the electromagnetic equations and the Yang-Mills mass-based formulation.
Recall that Einstein attempted to solve for the "C-field dipole" in General Relativity, but was unable to. So I must say that I depend more upon intuition and special case solutions than claiming that I have solved ALL of the equations in ALL of the realms of the physical universe. Nevertheless, these equations are, I believe, correct and lead to both significant explanations and predictions.
Note that in typical applications, cosmological or sub-nuclear, only one of the terms on the right applies. For example, the dG/dt term has little significance for elementary particle problems.
Since I've spent the last year working on particle physics problems, I have not had recent occasion to use the dG/dt term and have ignored its sign. If you are still bothered, I will go back to the cosmology work and reconfirm the sign.
My approach differs from many here. I believe that the last century has developed reasonable tools and techniques for treating particles as 'points' with source and detector at 'infinite' distances. This has been useful for discovering both the particles of which our world is built and the way these 'point' particles interact. But the cost of this has been a mathematical nightmare, and today physicists are completely confused, as will be seen to be the case when the Higgs fails to show at LHC. But today we know the basic particles, and I believe that it is appropriate to "physically" understand the particles and their interactions. My theory does this, at the same time explaining numerous current mysteries (that I've listed).
Florin, it is not a question of whether the Pythagorean theorem was true before Pythagoras. It is a question whether the Pythagorean theorem was true before the physical universe existed, at which point it would be "outside time and space". I claim not. The relationships existing in the physical world ARE reality. Once man's brain is capable of abstracting these relationships, they become mathematics. It is the central thesis of my essay that the universe does not "obey" the 'laws of physics'. The universe ACTS and interacts with itself, hence the Master equation. From observations of these actions and interactions we derive the 'laws of physics'. My 1979 "Automatic Theory of Physics" and the April 2009 Science publication of "Automating Physics" in both of which a robot derives valid laws of physics from visual observations demonstrates how laws can be automatically generated.
Thus it's probably valid to state that man "discovers" some of these relationships (by measuring circumference/diameter) and "invents" other math, such as calculus. But the reality is a physical universe, interacting with itself to evolve its current state and instantiating relationships that underlie math..It is the physical relationships that underlie math, not math that underlies physics.
What does it mean to say 1 plus 1 = 2 if there is no universe? It means absolutely nothing to me. The words form a grammatically correct sentence but the concept is nonsense (to me).
Yes, e has an expansion, but e is also the relational basis of natural growth, and that is the physical reality (or at least one physical reality).that makes e 'real'. Once the limiting process was "invented", then a number of fascinating relations were "discovered" but neither e nor the expansion has any meaning if there is no universe.
I do see how you can 'believe' that math exists when no universe exists, just as many believe that God exists when no universe exists. But neither is provable, and the case for math makes no sense to me, nor appears necessary for my theory. Marcel-Marie LeBel's argument leading to a monistic universe is my starting point, and I reject dualism which is the minimum that Platonic ideas require. Because I can physically derive logic circuits and counters and other math circuits in silicon, and exhibit protein and neural equivalent circuits, I can physically construct every mathematical structure that is computable, and I do not worry about the rest.
I do however begin to see what you are talking about with 'differences' as the basis for axiomatizing physics. It is not clear to me why the existence of mathematics "outside time and space" is necessary for your approach to be correct. Why do you think it is?
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 14, 2010 @ 13:37 GMT
Ray,
The fractal structure is not due to how spheres pack into unit cells, but how the cells tessellate the space or spacetime. A hyperbolic space may be tessellated by dodecahedra, and in four dimensions by dodecahechoria (120/600 cells). The fractal structure comes from the geodesics in this space. They have a self-similar branching pattern given by a modular function. The self-similar or repeated pattern of branching paths is a fractal, and the Laplace-Beltrami operator in the two dimensional version, the Poincare disk, has a chaotic dynamical interpretation.
Cheers LC
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 14, 2010 @ 14:34 GMT
wawww ,in fact maths or physics ,I am deseperated ,I think never The mathematicians shall change their points of vue .
In all case ,your discussions on this thread are very relevants about this foundamental problem in fact .
We see just differently afetr all ,but hihihi the physicians are right hahaha
the war against mathematicians ,hihihi afetr star wars ,maths wars ,
A nice war ,it is the most important .Let's go the physicisians ,the hour is serious hihihi
Laugh is good for health after all .
Take care dear friends ,mathematicians or physicians
Steve
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 15, 2010 @ 15:49 GMT
Dear Edwin,
One can imagine a recursive ontology structure: our reality contains a PC with a simulated reality and inside there is another PC with yet another simulated reality ad infinitum. This is possible because a universal Turing machine can simulate another universal Turing machine. Moreover, the “laws of reality” at each level could be different. Math is valid in each of those ontology, and according to your argument, (an) ontology is required to be able to speak meaningful about mathematical theorems. But which ontology? Any higher level ontology will do the job, and therefore there is no 1-to-1 correspondence required between math and reality. Applying Occam’s razor, no ontology is really needed to have valid math theorems. Ontology is required only for the existence of mathematicians, but not for the existence of the Platonic world of math. (This is like sqrt(2): a limit which requires an approximation series, but ultimately independent on it.)
The second point I want to make is that reality is made out of relational structures. If one forbids the supernatural and metaphysical, then reality is fully comprehensible and this means there is a dualism between reality and math, each one completely describing the other.
So how is reality made out of relational structures? One may think the universe is a giant mathematical theorem (Tegmark’s approach), but this runs into contradiction with Gödel’s theorem. He circumvents the problem by requiring reality to be computable, but this goes against the observed infinite complexity of reality and against free will. I say that our universe is made out of many mathematical relationships, some playing a backbone role (like quantum mechanics and relativity), others only a limited role. Please see my essay: “Heuristic rule for constructing physics axiomatization.”
Regards,
Florin
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 03:37 GMT
Dear Florin,
I agree that one can imagine a recursive ontology. And if one has no sense of the real, then one might as well do so.
As I state in my essay, I sense gravity and I sense consciousness. I do not sense dozens of quantum fields nor do I sense a recursive computer.
Many people report states of consciously being "one with the universe". Last year a book, "My Stroke...
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Dear Florin,
I agree that one can imagine a recursive ontology. And if one has no sense of the real, then one might as well do so.
As I state in my essay, I sense gravity and I sense consciousness. I do not sense dozens of quantum fields nor do I sense a recursive computer.
Many people report states of consciously being "one with the universe". Last year a book, "My Stroke of Insight" described a neuro-anatomist's personal experience of a stroke, from which it took her eight years to recover. She, like many mystics throughout history, and many who have experienced LSD, report a 'merger' with the universe, as the mental boundaries dissolve. Several times in my life I have experienced this state of awareness, in which reality is experienced as a seamless perfect fluid with no boundaries, existing in the external NOW. It is not a state that is useful for achieving our daily tasks and surviving in a complex environment, but it is an ontological challenge of the first order. Therefore, I do not go in search of what I can imagine, rather I search for understanding of reality as I experience it. This seems to me to be the most ontologically productive approach. In the 1970s I developed computer design expertise to answer the question of how a robot (computer) can derive "laws of physics" from counters, adders, and logic. The computer does not 'understand' the laws, but it nevertheless derives them from observations. This approach, beginning only with physical hardware, and based on visual observations of dynamic systems, creates the 'description of behavior' that we know as the 'laws of physics'.
Next, I asked how, from a monistic, NOT a dualistic,universe these laws could come to be. My essay outlines the answer, based on thousands of pages of detail (referenced in the essay).
Having spent decades trying to 'figure out' consciousness, and giving others a chance to figure it out, I arrived at the conclusion that consciousness is an innate characteristic of the universe. It is NOT something that 'emerges' from structure. Math emerges from structure! Consciousness has been here since the beginning (and perhaps before?).
No one else has explained consciousness. FQXi member David Chalmers is close, in that he believes it is a 'dualistic' phenomena that exists essentially in parallel with the physical universe, but that is as far as he goes. He's quite famous for just going that far.
You state that no ontology is needed for having valid math theorems. I believe that you are basing that on your recursive proposal.
I reject all ideas based on multiple universes, multiple layers of recursion, multiple dimensions, etc. I've analyzed what I believe is the driving force behind these approaches elsewhere.
In my ontology ONE perfect universe that presents me, a local conscious maximum, with everything from particle physics to cosmology, with humanity in between, is so far beyond any 'multiple' idea that I wonder why people look there.
My sincere hope is that the failure to find the Higgs will make new physicists, those not yet so heavily invested in the Standard Model, look for an integral approach that makes sense. It exists.
Carl Sagan used to go on about 'big numbers'. Big numbers mean nothing to me. Unity and a unitary explanation are my holy grail. Another equation, another field, another particle, another dimension, another universe adds no value that I can see. There is originally ONE, and interacting with itself, there may come to exist a limit or dividing line that brings TWO into existence, and Peano's axiom takes care of the rest (figuratively speaking).
As for your comment that "reality is made out of relational structures", I agree, with the caveat that these derive from the unitary physical universe. But I do not agree that there is a dualism between reality and math, each completely describing the other. Math does not completely describe either awareness or free will. Math only describes the *interaction* of the consciousness field (awareness plus volition) with mass. Moving mass induces a circulation in the local consciousness field, and the local consciousness field exerts a Lorentz-like force on moving mass, as explained in my essay. But the conscious awareness and conscious volition (free will) are NOT completely described by mathematics, which is why Tegmark denied 'randomness' and ignored consciousness (with implied free will). Either destroys his basic premise.
Florin I read your essay twice or more in October and just printed it out to read again, because it is presently not clear to me why you must have the dualism in order to axiomatize physics. You may also wish to read the comments on my thread, some of which extend the remarks I've made above.
I very much enjoy this back and forth. Thanks,
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 08:57 GMT
Dear Florin,
your approach to describe/explain reality is interesting and worth (in my opinion) to be examined further. I am sure your approach will gain some of the higher prices here in the contest (in my opinion), but nonetheless, i have some critics about your lines of thought.
Firstly, the assumption of a recursive simulation of reality, where each instant of the recursive whole...
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Dear Florin,
your approach to describe/explain reality is interesting and worth (in my opinion) to be examined further. I am sure your approach will gain some of the higher prices here in the contest (in my opinion), but nonetheless, i have some critics about your lines of thought.
Firstly, the assumption of a recursive simulation of reality, where each instant of the recursive whole is equipped maybe with different physical laws, but with the same maths/logical relations, presupposes maths as the ultimate reality of it all. This is not only a recursive "simulation"-argument, but literally a recursive argument in the sense of a circular argument. Because it presupposes to know exactly, what ultimate reality is - namely the platonic realm of maths - and then puts a part of this maths into a PC. This argument is then repeated at every instant of this recursive "simulation" and i doubt that it is more than a thought-simulation, a Gedankenexperiment.
Secondly, the implicite assumption of the whole Gedankenexperiment is, that an exclusively mathematical procedure can prove the exclusiveness of mathematics.
Not only this line of reasoning is suspect to me once more, not only because of its obviously recursive, circular argumentation, but also because it presupposes each and every world that is thinkable to be a universal turing machine (here the circle closes by identifying maths + infinity = universal turing machine).
Thirdly, i assume that the whole argument breaks down, if one would eliminate "infinite complexity", means the component that makes your simulation linearly infinite (ad infinitum, you would say). Surely, in none of the simulated worlds must exist some sort of conscious beings. As you stated above, it needs a free space for "free will" (whatever it embraces) and hence for consciousness. I think your assumption of the "observed infinite complexity of reality" that you stated above is once more a circular argumentation, because no one has yet proved this infinite complexity in nature. Once more, in this context the concept of infinity seems to only be a free space, a spaceholder for unknown things (our search for ultimate reality) - and a circular argument to reinforce the infinite simulation of realities - in the sense of mathematical infinite complexity in a platonic realm. Maths may be infinite complex, but i doubt that nature is so, too. At least not in a mechanical, mathematical sense. But if not in this mathematical sense, then there is no reason to assume that reality and maths can completely describe each other.
The "result" of sqrt(2) may be infinite, or at least the procedure to calculate it may be infinite. If all physical constants would be infinite, the whole argument would break down because a simulation of reality on a PC with infinite physical values is only traceable in imagination - not in time. Therefore a world with time in it cannot be produced out of such a procedure. Your claim is that our world is the only world, the exclusive result of infinitely many mathematical relations which only allow one ontology to come into existence - ours. So the question which of the infinitely many "simulated" realities can serve as an ontology, is answered circularly by the person who constructed these lines of reasoning. Yes, i know, the latter can't be otherwise - but those lines of reasoning are nonetheless circular because they exclude all other possibilities (possibilities that ALSO can be imagined) for the aim of the exclusiveness of maths.
Fourthly, assuming that your considerations are the truth and reality is a "recursive ontology structure" (i think it is so and i will make my remarks to that later), then the next circular argument that is tacitly interwoven into your structure of thoughts is following: To overcome the problem that in any exclusively mathematical system there is no room for a proof of non-mathematical ingredients, you try to prove exactly this by inventing the "recursive ontology structure", based on mere mathematical observations of the non-denumerable infinity that can serve as argument that there is no 1-to-1 correspondence required between math and reality.
What you have done is to justify the - obviously true - observation of consciousness, free will, the existence of mathematicians etc. by substituing these "non-mathematical" ingredients by "non-denumerable" ingredients/ontology. That is indeed a "recursive ontology structure". The question is, does this structure only exist in your imagination or is it indeed the truth? My assumption is that you are somewhat right with your claim that there could exist such a recursive ontology strucure.
I assume that the "ontology"-part of this structure is consciousness, the recursivity is self-consciousness and reflection (not only in a logical sense, but also in an emotional sense) and the fact that it is structured in such a recursive way is that it is able to quasi-differentiate itself continuosly on the basis of the ability to pass "duality" on to every instant of this differenciation-process (because the "mechanism" for this division is simple and universal: 1:2 = 1+1 = conserving the form, not the content, because on the right hand side of the equation every "1" is again 1:2; you can read it from right to left, there's not time-direction in it). Duality in this sense means nothing more than each side of this duality describes the other side. "Desribing" also in the meaning of defining. Without this process, there aren't definitions possible. What would remain seems to us as an undefined "thing", not able to percept itself or something else. But that could only be a consequence of duality, our left side of the brain. Because when we percept something, we almost always differentiate something logically. In my opinion logics/maths comes from a timeless/spaceless consciousness, not comparable to human consciousness, but nonetheless vital.
The reason for the overwhelming consistence in nature and logics has its roots in the exact self-similarity of the described differentiation-process. Connectivity is only possible if the parts aren't really separated from each other and i assume that the reason for all this is that the above described formal procedure with which the quasi-differentiation works is conserved under every instant of the whole process. We cannot think rationally without opposites, and therefore all opposites/logics/maths has to form out of the same source.
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 14:58 GMT
You can sense the other gauge fields. The visual experience of light is the EM field. The weak and nuclear forces are not as directly experienced, though some people did live to tell about in Hiroshima and Nagasaki --- one man who died recently experienced both! Other ways to experience the EM field, or its source is to put a (v battery to your tongue. If that is not enough I always thought urinating on a wall socket would be adventurous.
Cheers LC
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 20:19 GMT
Years ago, we had a Dalmation that urinated on the electric fence. That was one stupid dog. My two rescue-shelter mutts are much more intelligent.
Dear Ed,
I know that Florin brought up some mathematical questions regarding your essay. I did not double-check your math. If Florin thinks he sees something wrong, then you should double-check it. What I liked about your ideas was that you tried to model these fields of Consciousness and Gravity. I used your paper as an example of what the physics community expects of Frank (who has no math or concrete modeling in his writings). If your fundamental idea is robust enough, then you should be able to 'tweak' the math to make everything work correctly.
Regarding 'Big Numbers', I don't make such a big deal about "Billions and Billions of stars" (I met Sagan back in the early 90's), but I do think that Dirac's Large Number - the relationship between 10^40 vs. electromagnetic to gravitational couplings vs. size of Universe to size of atom - is relevant mathematical physics that is not yet fully understood.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 20:22 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
I mention in my essay that we sense at least a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Those of us with sight experience colors and shades. Almost everyone experiences infrared on their skin. For this reason the electromagnetic equations are included in my theory, and the mechanism whereby charge and these fields come into being is explained.
While certainly the atomic radiation 'happened to' some humans (as it does when one has an x-ray or MRI scan), nevertheless one does not 'experience' it in the sense that I refer to.
The C-field appears to accomplish everything that the 'weak' and 'strong' forces are believed to do, so they may be a false map. The failure of the Higgs to appear will further call these into question.
I recall someone in high school being talked into urinating on the spark plug of a running jeep, and yes, he did 'experience' electromagnetic phenomena directly.
In my theory the electro-magnetic fields are 'derived' and hence secondary in some sense. They do not exist 'at the creation' but come into existence only after the perfect radial symmetry is broken.
So although we do experience various EM phenomena, gravity and consciousness are sensed in a wholly unique manner that I believe must be somehow represented in any 'theory of everything' worth the name.
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 16, 2010 @ 20:38 GMT
Ray,
I told Florin that if he still had a problem, after my last explanation, that I would reconfirm the sign of dG/dt in the cosmology work I've done. He did not say that he still had a problem, so I assumed it was now considered ok. The equations are derivable from linearized General Relativity. It is only the curl G = 0 and the kappa constant that I add to the equations. The kappa value was worked out by me and measured by Tajmar, and seems to be real. The curl G condition also seems to be supported somewhat by Tajmar's results (although that's not quite as certain as the kappa is.)
As for 'large numbers', there are almost infinite numbers to play with, so that, in my view, there simply *must* be coincidences similar to Dirac's observation. I don't think it's very significant, but of course I could be wrong. I see no reason that the sizes of atoms and universes should have the same ratio as forces. In 'Chromo War' I explain the particle size, and the size of the universe seems to change over time.
Ed
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 01:16 GMT
Dear Ed,
I too enjoy this back and forth, and I wish I had more time than once a day to reply. About consciousness, I am not an expert in this area, and I cannot offer any meaningful comments.
You state: “I reject all ideas based on multiple universes, multiple layers of recursion, multiple dimensions, etc.”
About multiple universes, you need to answer the following...
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Dear Ed,
I too enjoy this back and forth, and I wish I had more time than once a day to reply. About consciousness, I am not an expert in this area, and I cannot offer any meaningful comments.
You state: “I reject all ideas based on multiple universes, multiple layers of recursion, multiple dimensions, etc.”
About multiple universes, you need to answer the following question: why is our universe is happening only once? We know that different epochs in the history of our universe are vastly different and we also noticed that it is nothing special about us: Earth is not the center of the solar system, our sun is not the center of our galaxy, etc, etc. This is the (generalized) Copernican principle. If true, why is our “unique universe history” so special?
I also (for now) reject multiple dimensions, but the math behind it is solid and should not be dismissed easily.
”My sincere hope is that the failure to find the Higgs will make new physicists, those not yet so heavily invested in the Standard Model, look for an integral approach that makes sense. It exists.”
Higgs physics is not at all clear, there are many possible alternatives. Not finding Higgs will continue to keep us in the dark. Only a positive detection can narrow the possibilities.
“Math does not completely describe either awareness or free will.”
Now this is partially wrong. I do not know about awareness, but I do know about free will. In fact free will is equivalent with the ability to decide what to measure in quantum mechanics. There is even a “free will theorem” in QM. In classical mechanics there is no free will. QM allows for free will because the dimensionality of a composite Hilbert space made out of 2 separate Hilbert spaces is larger than the sum of their original dimensionality (see Segre embedding). This allows for entanglement and freedom of measurement (measurement is nothing but the entanglement of the system with the measuring device).
For the math-reality duality I recommend reading “G. McCabe, The duality of the Universe arXiv:0805.3664 (2008).” and the references therein. The read is a bit too technical, but the gist goes like this: We can discover math, and therefore the information content of math is already part of our reality. In reverse, our reality is made only out of mathematical relationships and math completely describes reality. Now this is all just a big assumption and McCabe and Tegmark are trying to find consequences out of it. The route McCabe is taking is representation and category theory in math. This may lead somewhere, but category theory is not yet as developed as set theory to act as the complete foundation of math. Set theory is relatively more intuitive, but is directly at odds with QM. Therefore the road of finding similarities between math and reality is very hard. In contrast, the approach of investigating the differences is much easier and much more fruitful.
Thanks,
Florin
PS: I did not realize you were waiting on another comment about your equations. My criticism still stand: one sign in wrong, and one component have instantaneous change because in fact your equation is just the old fashion Newtonian theory of gravity.
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 02:35 GMT
Dear Stefan,
Thank you for your kind words, we’ll see the outcome on Tuesday.
You state:
“Firstly, the assumption of a recursive simulation of reality, where each instant of the recursive whole is equipped maybe with different physical laws, but with the same maths/logical relations, presupposes maths as the ultimate reality of it all. This is not only a recursive...
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Dear Stefan,
Thank you for your kind words, we’ll see the outcome on Tuesday.
You state:
“Firstly, the assumption of a recursive simulation of reality, where each instant of the recursive whole is equipped maybe with different physical laws, but with the same maths/logical relations, presupposes maths as the ultimate reality of it all. This is not only a recursive "simulation"-argument, but literally a recursive argument in the sense of a circular argument. Because it presupposes to know exactly, what ultimate reality is - namely the platonic realm of maths - and then puts a part of this maths into a PC. This argument is then repeated at every instant of this recursive "simulation" and i doubt that it is more than a thought-simulation, a Gedankenexperiment.”
You are absolutely right, this is nothing but a simple thought experiment to prove that ontology is not needed for the existence of the Platonic world of math. Therefore you do not need to read too much into it. Maybe another way of putting it is in the language of computer science, in the C++ language for example. In C++ one has classes and their instances. The program exists independently of its instance being executed on a computer. In C++ there are even virtual classes which are never instantiated to anything.
You also say: “Secondly, the implicite assumption of the whole Gedankenexperiment is, that an exclusively mathematical procedure can prove the exclusiveness of mathematics.”
Indeed this is true as well. I do eliminate the metaphysical and supernatural, and what is left? Only mathematics.
“I think your assumption of the "observed infinite complexity of reality" that you stated above is once more a circular argumentation, because no one has yet proved this infinite complexity in nature.”
Now this is wrong (as in a mathematically way wrong). Jochen Rau has proved that infinite complexity demands orthogonal groups SO(p,q). The proof is rather complex and uses advanced differential geometry and Lie group theory.
“My assumption is that you are somewhat right with your claim that there could exist such a recursive ontology strucure.”
The proposed recursive ontology is based on the mathematical fact that a universal Turing machine can simulate another universal Turing machine.
I cannot offer any meaningful comments about consciousness, but my gut feeling it is that it is not relevant to physics. Our universe existed well before humans, and consciousness is an emergent property. The way we do physics today is still rooted into looking to breaking up the whole in individual pieces (see the accelerator experiments), and not on emergent complexity from simple rules.
“The reason for the overwhelming consistence in nature and logics has its roots in the exact self-similarity of the described differentiation-process.”
Bingo. See the composability principle. There are only three possible self-similarity composability classes: elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic. We know what the first 2 correspond to (QM and classical mechanics). It is not clear what the third class corresponds to in nature (hyperbolic QM). It is not occurring in our universe, but it may play a role in a hypothetical multiverse reality.
Florin
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 05:32 GMT
Florin,
Thanks for the reply. I'd like to address the sign issue, and reply to your other questions later.
The derivation of the curl C = dG/dt on page 3 of my essay assumes right handed C-field. The actual C-field circulation is left-handed, so that introduces the negative sign that you desire. In most applications I take this into account, but you are correct that it makes a difference in the equation. When I derived these equations in 2006, I did not know the handedness of the C-field, and since the continuity equation for the 'perfect fluid' yields zero correctly, I missed that formal hint. It was only later when I realized that the C-field vortex is the Z boson that I was sure of the handedness, but the dG/dt term is not used in the particle physics applications, so I ignored it. Thank you for holding my feet to the fire. I do remember a sign problem in a cosmology calculation. I hope this fixes it. (Ray, thanks for keeping the issue alive.)
As for Newton's equation and instantaneous change, why would not the same logic apply to Coulomb's equation, since they are formally equivalent. Just as moving charge induces a magnetic circulation, the moving mass induces a C-field circulation, from dG/dt = p - curl C. In fact the change in gravity alone induces C-field circulation. And the change in gravity implies a change in gravitational energy with equivalent change in gravitational field mass. The non-linearity of the fields interacting with the mass and with each other seems to argue against instantaneous propagation. of the G-field. It's not clear to me why this implies infinite velocity any more than Coulomb's law (plus the other EM equations) does.
Stefan - it's nice to see you jump in. I always appreciate your comments.
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 07:58 GMT
Dear Florin,
thanks for replying.
My gut feeling is, that your approach is thought-out very well and i haven't any doubts that it is also the case with your mentioned and used mathematical tools, like orthogonal groups SO(p,q), elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic classes etc. It seems to fit all well together and if one can indeed succeed by singling out certain exclusively unique mathematics for our universe, this would be a great result and of deep philosophical importance. I cannot comment on any of the mathematical tools because i am not an expert in this area, but i don't doubt in any way that you have the deep understanding of these tools to draw the right conclusions out of them.
My only doubt was, that for eliminating an ontology of ultimate reality one had to presuppose that physical reality is indeed "only" a universal turing machine. If the latter would be true, i am not sure if this would mean that an exclusively mathematical procedure can indeed prove the exclusiveness of mathematics. I understand your approach in this way, that if one could obtain indeed physics axiomatization, then this result could serve as a strong indicator that an exclusively mathematical procedure can prove it's own exclusiveness by comparing it to the timless content of the platonic realm and at the same time prove the exclusiveness of this platonic realm of mathematics - by comparing it with the maths of our physical world.
I understood your example with the different PCs, emulating different worlds/ontologies, as an example of the impossibility to fix a certain ontology onto our *physical* universe,if it would be indeed "only" a universal turing machine. The precondition for the physical world to be a universal turing machine is, that the physical universe and the laws within are consistent, coherent and universally true (that's a necessity, but not sufficient). But does your Gedankenexperiment also apply to the *Gödel-restricted* realms of mathematical, infinite landscapes/systems/frameworks? Means, to deduce out of the concept of a universal turing machine that the platonic realm of maths doesn't need an ontology? Or have i to understand it in that way, that every platonic consistent system/framework/part can be understood as a turing machine within its own area?
Eugen - nice to met you again here. Very interesting discussion here, as always on fqxi! Wish you all the best for the contest results!
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 22:02 GMT
Dear Florin,
You state, "I do not know about consciousness, but I do know about free will" "Free will is equivalent to the ability to decide what to measure in QM... there is a 'free will theorem' in QM"
I would not say 'equivalent', but the sense of your statement is correct. Without getting too far into semantics, I question whether one can 'not know' awareness and 'know' free...
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Dear Florin,
You state, "I do not know about consciousness, but I do know about free will" "Free will is equivalent to the ability to decide what to measure in QM... there is a 'free will theorem' in QM"
I would not say 'equivalent', but the sense of your statement is correct. Without getting too far into semantics, I question whether one can 'not know' awareness and 'know' free will. They are, I believe, inseparably intertwined. If as you state elsewhere, you believe that "consciousness is an emergent property" then it is Darwinian, and two things follow: Awareness would have no survival advantage without free will (the ability to act on this awareness) and free will is meaningless without awareness. By this I mean that 'having a math model or theorem for 'free will' is not what I mean by 'know'. Know is for me personal experience; it is the territory of reality. Math and theorems are maps.
In reply to Stefan, you state that "consciousness is an emergent property". This is your belief, and it is the consensus belief, but Climate-gate has recently focused attention on the fact that science is not consensus. It was the consensus belief in the middle ages that "flies emerged from rotten meat". I believe that 'emergent consciousness' is similarly mistaken.
The fact is that no one, anywhere, has developed a model or explanation for how conscious awareness and volition can arise from 'stupid' material. I have written a number of chapters on this -- far too much to go into here. But recall that I define intelligence as 'consciousness plus logic', i.e., the evolution (emergence) of logical hardware is required for intelligence to develop. Intelligence is required to create calculus, even to develop ideas of past and future (based on recall and projection of information stored in the logical machinery).
I am not trying to convert you from your beliefs -- only about twenty percent of the FQXi authors appear to take consciousness seriously as something that physics must deal with. But your statement "consciousness is an emergent property" is so strong and unqualified, I felt the need to throw in a little qualification.
You do state that your gut feeling is that it is not relevant to physics. Depends. At the particle physics level you are absolutely correct. Although I show (Chromodynamics War) how the C-field can explain particle families, provide an intuitive understanding of the mechanism of the weak force, and also provide the quark confinement associated with the strong force, I do not believe that awareness or free will have any significant part to play here.
I do suspect that awareness comes into play in entanglement, and I believe consciousness provides the biophysics explanation for the first living cell, which otherwise is infinitely unlikely to ever occur.
But it is cosmology where consciousness may come into its own. As I show in my essay, the C-field provides an inflation mechanism that is more 'real' than any of the imagined fields currently proposed. Not only is this a 'dark energy' source but the energy of the C-field also offers a dark matter explanation. And the C-field, as I explain in 'Gene Man's World' provides an explanation for Zwicky's 'flat rotation curves' so that a messy MOND is not needed.
Klingman post continued:
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 22:11 GMT
Continuation of Klingman post:
But I'd like to address your question, "why is our universe happening only once? ... Earth is not the center of the solar system, our sun is not the center of our galaxy, etc. etc." You may be unaware that the WMAP measurements, circa 2003?, in analyzing various polar distributions, quadrupole, octupole, etc, expected to find uncorrelated directions for each...
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Continuation of Klingman post:
But I'd like to address your question, "why is our universe happening only once? ... Earth is not the center of the solar system, our sun is not the center of our galaxy, etc. etc." You may be unaware that the WMAP measurements, circa 2003?, in analyzing various polar distributions, quadrupole, octupole, etc, expected to find uncorrelated directions for each pole. They were amazed to find one axis that appears to be correlated with the solar system to 99.996 percent. One of the FQXi members, Glen Starkman, wrote a fascinating article in Scientific American in 2005 about this axis.
And to quote Wiaux, "The correct explanation of these unexpected correlations of the low-l features of the microwave background with each other and with the solar system is currently not known."
Why haven't you heard of this? For obvious reasons, physicists are embarrassed to talk about solar system-centric phenomena. There was a three year period of silence, but recently Science has quoted cosmologists, "It's there, everyone agrees." With their superb wit, the cosmologists have named it "the axis of evil". And they ask, "Is it significant?"
How could an unexpected solar-centric axis of the universe be significant?
And how could the Pioneer orbits, that appear to show a 'flat rotation curve' behavior in the vicinity of the Earth that is six times greater than that seen in other galaxies and galactic clusters, be significant?
Florin, In July 2008, A Physical Review Letters paper by Clarkson, Bassett and Lu, "A General Test of the Copernican Principle" addressed the problem obliquely by saying, "It is ever more clear that this matter must be settled observationally without theoretical bias." (One might even say theological bias, as it is quite clear that the 'multiverse' was created for theological reasons, as an alternative explanation for fine tuning.)
Now if one were to ascribe these unexpected and unexplained phenomena to the consciousness field, then there appear to be two possibilities: Either the Earth is, by pure chance, located on the axis of the 'major C-field vortex of the universe' and is thereby preferentially positioned for life to emerge, or the emergence of life on Earth has so strengthened the local C-field that its inflationary aspect has effectively imprinted on the CMB.
Florin, the point is that the C-field at least qualitatively makes sense of unexplained mysteries at the particle level, the atomic physics level, the biophysics level, the human level, and the level of the universe.
As Planck stated, "theories are never abandoned until their proponents are all dead. Science advances funeral by funeral."
Nothing has changed since Planck, except that there are perhaps a thousand times as many proponents. That is why the failure to find the Higgs is so important. Perhaps the last, best chance to get physics back on the right track! If physicists ignore the significance of new discoveries and keep on the old path, I predict a long, frustrating, dry spell for physics. Because the C-field qualitatively and in some cases quantitatively explains these phenomena, I predict no Higgs, no SUSY, no axions, no WIMPs, no right-handed neutrinos, no new particles. They are not needed if the C-field is real (as Tajmar and others seem to experimentally prove). If the failure of these to show at LHC doesn't wake physicists up, we're lost.
The odds that the physics community, embedded up to their ears in a scientific establishment that does not like major change, is most unlikely to look in new directions. We'll just 'tweak here, tweak there' and go on publishing and writing grants. As the UC Berkeley philosopher was advised, "It's OK to work on consciousness, but get tenure first."
That is what makes the FQXi contests so praiseworthy. It is perhaps the only serious physics community, with serious scientists as members, that is open to publishing new ideas, and for that it deserves high praise indeed.
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 22:15 GMT
I wrote more on nonassociativity in physics on the site involving
warp drives. This is in keeping with trying to illustrate something about how nonassociative principles might operate in physics. If you (Ray, Florin etc) are interested you could reply here. I am not entirely pleased with the intellectual level of discussion on the warp drive site, or frankly most of the blog sites.
LC
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 17, 2010 @ 23:56 GMT
Dear All,
I checked out the warp drive thread enough to find Ray Munroe's statement:
"Could we control tachyons inside a gravitational bottle? It would be the gravitational equivalent of using a magnetic bottle (such as a tokamak) to confine plasma. If we could contain tachyons thus, we may be able to release them such that we can steer our spaceship. Could we envelope our spaceship with a tachyonic field and trick Gravity into thinking that the entire spaceship is a tachyon? And could we steer such a spaceship?"
I've noted on his thread that this 'gravitaional bottle' forms an explanation for the confinement of quarks, currently attributed to 'the strong force'. It also provides a mechanism for sustaining the 'cigar shape' of deuterium, whereas QCD would predict a six quark 'collapse' to some spherical combination. And it also can explain the negative 'core' of the neutron, whereas all QCD predictions call for a positive core. All of this follows from viewing the C-field as the rotational aspect of the G-field.
Hopping around the threads and essays certainly proves that there is no end of 'wild' speculation. For this reason it seems more important than ever to PREDICT things. To my knowledge there is no place where one may go to find various predictions for the LHC.
I would invite those who make predictions to place them here. It would be nice to see just what is predicted for LHC (or WMAP-follow-ons, etc.) before the results are known and explained 'post-dictively'.
If one can't predict anything, what exactly is the point of intellectual analysis. Is it to see who can describe the universe best by looking in a rear-view mirror?
If predictions still mean anything in physics, let's hear some.
Sincerely,
Edwin Eugene Klingman
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 01:10 GMT
Dear Ed,
I will reply in turn to each message. Let’s start with:
“As for Newton's equation and instantaneous change, why would not the same logic apply to Coulomb's equation, since they are formally equivalent.”
Indeed, but the E and B fields are linked by Maxwell’s equations, and a change in one induces a change in the other and vice-versa. In your equations C depends on G, but G does not depend on C and this is the problem. G depends only on the mass distribution and when that changes G changes everywhere with it instantaneously.
Regards,
Florin
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Edwin Eugene Klingman wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 01:19 GMT
Florin,
Thanks... But changes in the G-field are linked to the C-field, thereby extracting energy from G. Why is this insignificant?
Ed
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 01:47 GMT
Dear Stefan,
You state: ”My only doubt was, that for eliminating an ontology of ultimate reality one had to presuppose that physical reality is indeed "only" a universal turing machine.”
This is not what I was saying. A universal Turing machine (UTM) violates the third reality principle: “infinite complexity” because the algorithmic information content is limited by the program running on the UTM.
“Or have i to understand it in that way, that every platonic consistent system/framework/part can be understood as a turing machine within its own area?”
Something along those lines, but a bit more general. The platonic world of math is a collection of axiomatic systems. Each axiomatic system exists on its own. In math there are many types of logics which go beyond an UTM ability.
The UTM usage in my argument should be understood in two ways. First, we fully understand the UTM theory and we have a rigorous framework of discussion free of conflicting interpretations. That is, the usage of the UTM adds clarity. Second, different ontologies do not have to be like our own universe’s ontology. In other words, there is an ontological democracy. And indeed, some ontologies are much more interesting and richer in content than other ontologies, but there is no objective value that can be attached to one ontology vs. another. To be able to make judgments about various ontologies, is to have a meta framework in place, and this simply does not exists. The only thing we can use is infinite complexity vs. finite complexity.
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 02:28 GMT
Dear Ed,
Please understand that my ideas are still evolving. My models definitely have a five-fold 'pentality' symmetry that is relevant to the golden ratio (file attached). The fifth vertex corresponds to 'scalar fermions'. These scalar fermions can be chromo-tachyons that obey the strong force, or lepto-tachyons that obey the Electro-Weak forces. They might even be related to the Higgs (research in progress). I don't have a gravitational bottle - it sounds like a worm hole or black hole. I haven't studied the interactions of gravity and consciousness closely. My model also has a triality symmetry. Like Lisi, I think the triality symmetry has to do with three generations. However, there is a possible color triality as well. In my models, the apparent three-fold color triality becomes a four-fold color quartality of (red, green, blue, white). H4 has a four-fold quartality symmetry, and E8 has an eight-fold octality (4x2?) symmetry. Lawrence Crowell also has a triality symmetry.
I agree that it is relevant to state our predictions prior to the LHC's results, however a robust enough idea can be adjusted to fit the data. I am still trying to understand these weird scalar fermions.
Have Fun!
Ray
attachments:
1_goldenratio.pdf
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 03:42 GMT
Dear Ed,
>“free will is meaningless without awareness”
I disagree. Even a frog has free will, but it does not have awareness.
>“'emergent consciousness' is similarly mistaken”.
Not that I am an expert, but can we explain consciousness in reductionism fashion? When a piece of the brain dies, the other parts can take over and consciousness looks to me to have a...
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Dear Ed,
>“free will is meaningless without awareness”
I disagree. Even a frog has free will, but it does not have awareness.
>“'emergent consciousness' is similarly mistaken”.
Not that I am an expert, but can we explain consciousness in reductionism fashion? When a piece of the brain dies, the other parts can take over and consciousness looks to me to have a “holographic” property. The brain function resembles the best a spin glass, and awareness looks something that is much more than the sum of its parts. In this way I meant it as emergent.
>“I define intelligence as 'consciousness plus logic', i.e., the evolution (emergence) of logical hardware is required for intelligence to develop. Intelligence is required to create calculus, even to develop ideas of past and future (based on recall and projection of information stored in the logical machinery).”
Intelligence (or smartness) looks to me as the ability to create information (reduce entropy) in a given environment. To invent calculus, you need something more: creativity. By algorithmic information theory, it is impossible to create the new axioms required by a new mathematical area, e.g. calculus. What you do to beat this theorem is to take fragments from different axiomatic systems, and try to extrapolate and see what is consistent in a survival of the fittest approach. Creativity is therefore requiring being able to make connections between separate independent areas.
>“I do suspect that awareness comes into play in entanglement, and I believe consciousness provides the biophysics explanation for the first living cell, which otherwise is infinitely unlikely to ever occur.”
I do not know how to precisely define awareness, but entanglement is well understood and refers to basically a composite system and the fact that one subsystem is correlated with the other. A naïve idea would be a left and a right glove. One person has one in a box, while another person has the other one in another box. When observer A opens his box and finds the right glove, he knows that when observer B opens his box it will be the left glove. But this is naïve because in QM in addition to this, entanglement means that there is no factorization possible between the two subsystems. The root cause is that the size of the Hilbert space of the composite system is larger than the product of the sizes of the subsystem’s Hilbert spaces. The extra degrees of freedom arising out of adding amplitudes and not probabilities is responsible for the lack of factorization and the weirdness of QM.
>”But I'd like to address your question, "why is our universe happening only once? ... Earth is not the center of the solar system, our sun is not the center of our galaxy, etc. etc." You may be unaware that the WMAP measurements, circa 2003?, in analyzing various polar distributions, quadrupole, octupole, etc, expected to find uncorrelated directions for each pole. They were amazed to find one axis that appears to be correlated with the solar system to 99.996 percent. One of the FQXi members, Glen Starkman, wrote a fascinating article in Scientific American in 2005 about this axis.”
I was just not aware of this, I will look into it.
>“And how could the Pioneer orbits, that appear to show a 'flat rotation curve' behavior in the vicinity of the Earth that is six times greater than that seen in other galaxies and galactic clusters, be significant?”
I am not an expert in the Pioneer anomaly, so I cannot comment.
>“The odds that the physics community, embedded up to their ears in a scientific establishment that does not like major change, is most unlikely to look in new directions.”
“That is what makes the FQXi contests so praiseworthy. It is perhaps the only serious physics community, with serious scientists as members, that is open to publishing new ideas, and for that it deserves high praise indeed.”
This is correct. And FQXi does fill a very big gap in this respect.
Regards,
Florin
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 03:59 GMT
Dear Lawrence,
I read your post, but I am still having difficulty to make the connection with the S matrix. On the other hand, I have an idea of how to obtain supersymmetry from quantions, it will take me quite some time to finalize it (I hope my intuition is right and it will work out until the very end).
I finished the 12 GR lectures and now I am seeing all the other Susskind’s classes. The mystery of his approach is solved: he lectures continuous education classes with no final exam. Those classes would have been good as preparation for a qualifier: you can just listen to them without taking notes and getting insight into things which escaped notice the first time when you are busy absorbing the new material.
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Florin Moldoveanu wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 04:07 GMT
Ray,
“Like Lisi, I think the triality symmetry has to do with three generations.”
Is this right? Is not triality related to the interaction vertex in Feynman diagrams: one fermion line emits a boson line, and continues as a fermion line? Equivalently, this has to do with the gauge symmetry (for example the A_mu in electromagnetism acts as a connection). But the gauge symmetry of the standard model is independent of the generations and therefore triality should have nothing to do with it.
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 08:35 GMT
Dear Edwin,
sorry for having confused your first/second name in my last post, i was just too deep absorbed in my lines of reasoning... By the way - interesting issue, the wmap measurement and the correlation of the axis to our solar system. I have to read more about it.
Dear Florin,
thanks for your clarifications. Yes, i wondered, if our physical universe would be indeed only a UTM, how could one then ever reach out of this area to the platonic realms of maths? To reach out to new information, one has to consider that at least our ontology/universe isn't a "closed system" in the sense of finite information content. In that way i understand infinite complexity in your approach as ingredient for creativity, free will and consciousness.
As you can imagine, my own approach differs from yours when it comes to the nature of the essence beyond time and space. For me the essence isn't maths, but awareness/consciousness. But not in a human sense of self-awareness. From outside of this awareness, for observers like us, it looks like consciousness could serve as the ultimate ontology, but the question that follows out of this intendation is automatically "What is the cause/root of that awareness?".
From inside of it this question doesn't make sense, because this awareness/source of ultimate reality is simultaneously the source of all opposites - and therefore the source of all questions and answers. By the very first differentiation of that awareness - by exploring the idea of conscious/unconscious for the purpose of some interior intentions, it created the question about identity/difference and the following self-similar differentiation process generates the answer to this idea/question.
This process may be infinite. It may generate infinitely many sub-conscious entities that have to transcend the initial idea of self/not-self to come back to the inital awareness with a richer knowledge of its ontology - in the meaning of quality of experience. This experiences heighten the complete initial awareness. Though this initial awareness doesn't need an explanation of its own ontology, because it's essential awareness is self-evident in each instant of it, it needs to explore its own quantitative meaning and its possible borders to enrich its quality of experience. In this sense, experience is the only "ontology" and it is subjective/interior.
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Stefan Weckbach wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 11:36 GMT
Max Tegmark has mapped the octopole CMB on a sphere and it looks quite beautifull
here.
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 12:31 GMT
There I am happy dear Mr Tegmark ,yes the universe is a sphere in evolution .
But I don't see my name, it is not serious ,I have the habit .
You are going to have the nobel price dear Mr Tegmark and his team .
Congratulations for this splendid disovery ,the universe is a sphere .
PS Mr Tegmark ,you have forgoten the universal center where all turns around .An other poit is the variability of the volume of this universal sphere .A specific dynamic exists since the begining .Expension and contraction .
Regards
Steve
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 12:33 GMT
Serious error ,the center ......
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Ray Munroe wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 14:08 GMT
Dear Florin,
I suspect that in Lawrence's full blown 26-D model, that one octonion is the initial fermion, one octonion (and the global G2 triality operator) is the interaction boson, and the third octonion is the final fermion. This may be related to Mohammed Sanduk's 'Three Gear Model' essay.
But at some level of decomposition, I expect the generational structure to 'make sense'. I am convinced that if there are 3, 4, 5, or etc. generations, then there must be a symmetry that enforces that reality. There seem to be two triality symmetries in Lawrence's 26-D model: one buried within E8 (240 roots = 8x(2x3x5)), and one connected to the global G2 (12 roots = 2x(2x3)). Thus, we could have a generational triality and an interaction vertex triality.
Dear Steve,
Tegmark's map is impressive, but he has non-spherical results mapped on a spherical map. Is that really spherical in evolution? My truncated icosahedon (soccer ball) is more spherical.
Have Fun!
Ray
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 16:20 GMT
The space of the universe is probably R^3, or Euclidean space which extends indefinately. THe CMB represents a radial distance out, and as observed with photons also a time in the past, when the universe ceased to be radiation dominated and became matter dominated. The CMB is then a region of a past spatial surface, with geometry or topology R^3, which intersects our past light cone.
Cheers LC
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 17:20 GMT
The space don't expand indefinately.The radial disdtance must be with the universal center and furthermore this radial distance is variable in time.
The rotations too must be inserted .
The light cone is not sure .
The evolution and the increase of mass by complexification too must be inserted ,ps the complexification here is the mass and its evolution ,not the complexs in maths ,it is totaly different .
The thermodynamic must be too inserted .The pression and the volume are foundamentals and if the rotating spheres ,quantics or cosmologics are correlated ,thus the mass becomes relevant .
The centers must be too inserted with their variabilities of volumes.
The number too of the entaglement ,quantic or cosmologic is the same ,the serie is specific .
An other point ,all these centers (quantic or cosmologic)turns around the universal center .
The fractal is a specific finite serie .
Regards
Steve
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Lawrence B. Crowell wrote on Jan. 18, 2010 @ 20:49 GMT
A flat spatial surface (flat on average) is one where the holographic principle works with the Bekenstein bound. There is a bit of background here that I don't want to get into for brevity's sake. The universe still is expanding, as points on a spatial 3-surface keep sliding apart, where any frame at any given point will see distant points slide away at velocities which "approach infinity." Already we observe galaxies with z > 1, which means these are frame dragged galaxies on a comoving frame which has velocity > c. However, there is a cosmological horizon present which precludes any idea of FTL transport on a closed path --- to somewhere and back for instance. Similarly, any particle which passes the event horizon of a black hole is moving faster than light relative to a distant observer.
Cheers LC
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Steve Dufourny wrote on Jan. 19, 2010 @ 18:57 GMT
Hi all ,
I am not a supporter of the flat universe.I prefer an spherical finite space wher k takes its real sense about the referential.The bottle of Klein ,Moebie,the torus etc etc all is a question of topology.
Dear Lawrence the problem is not about the infinity or about the quantity of matter.In fact the holographic principe is the opposite of the Luminet principle if I understand well.
My opinion is what, in this two systems, the center ,the topology finite, the constants are not considered, furthermore the rotation of all around this center too must be inserted.
If not all is perceived differently by extrapolations.
A flat universe is not logic on the line time and too about the evolution and complexification of the mass.
Thus you understand I am not a supporter of an accelerated expansion and a flat Universe.I can undertand we can perceive some different steps since the primordial universe.The rotations thus are foundamentals like spheres and thus the past perceptions are more like that.
The system is variable since the begining and thus the FDC(CMD) must have many adaptations correlated with the real toplogy, evolutive furthermore.
PV ..nRT ...RT....density ....the temperature takes all its sense.....
Regards
Steve
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dan burton wrote on Jun. 16, 2010 @ 20:51 GMT
The human term ‘number’ and the concepts of a counting system are descriptions of difference between topologically whole areas. ‘Two fish’ decribes two discreet entities within a set ‘fish’. What we call number theory is the detailed analysis of how areas of difference within topologically whole entities organise efficiently within that entity.
The differences described however are not the...
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The human term ‘number’ and the concepts of a counting system are descriptions of difference between topologically whole areas. ‘Two fish’ decribes two discreet entities within a set ‘fish’. What we call number theory is the detailed analysis of how areas of difference within topologically whole entities organise efficiently within that entity.
The differences described however are not the result of human numbering, human numbering is a classification of already existing areas of difference within a given set. A number of fish existed, in an awful lot of discreetly different ways, before the human number system. If we insist that the different areas only existed as areas of discreet difference after they were perceived to, we are what is commonly termed ‘creationist’.
It is accepted that the universe (by definition) is a topologically whole entity. Physics is the analysis of the areas of disceet differences, and how they interact, combine and divide within the topologically whole universe. In physics these areas of difference, and the way they ‘organise’ are treated as the results of naturally-occurring phenomena. Physics has always used mathematical tools to analyse these ‘physical’ areas of difference, and many words have been written about the miraculous coincidence that the language of mathematics is so well suited to do such analyses.
but instead of numbers being miraculously suited to describing the universe; what WE call number is how the universe ‘describes’ its differences.
the relationship between the ‘naturally-occurring areas of discreet difference in the topologically whole universe, and their behaviours’ and ‘human numbering system, number theory and mathematics’ is the equivalent of the relationship between ‘the naturally-occurring force between masses’ and what we call ‘the theory of gravity’.
relationship N->n
equivalent to
relationship G->g
where the capital letter represents a natural phenomenon and the lower-case represents the human analysis of the natural phenomenon.
The implications are that the naturally-occurring processes that we call ‘number theory’ will result in the naturally-occurring processes that we call ‘quantum mechanics’ and further to all other naturally occurring processes that we eventually call ‘physics’.
If the universe IS a topologically whole entity, and everything within that universe is composed of various fractions of the whole: then inflation is in fact division and subdivision. The expansion is in the ‘numbers’ ie the discreetly different areas within the whole.
it is not a set of sets, which is then a set of set of sets… the set of sets is absolute by definition and any introduction of further sets merely shows subdivision of the original.
[inserted note for Prof Schiller, with added lolz --> the term 'discreet difference' is used to indicate that although there may well be a continuum of difference it's only when such differences are discreet that they interact as differences. i love my analogies, so think of a magnet. there is a continuum between N and S (the physical object is a whole unit), and the differences in polarity gradually converge to the grey areas where we can't tell if it's more N than S or more S than N... but when the interactions of each pole are examined, we see they act in discreetly different directions. The continuum isn't discreetly different, so it isn't analysable through number. As soon as we're analysing using number we're separating it into discreetly different interactions. A curve on a graph is a continuum, but as soon as you wish to examine the value of a point on that line, you are separating it discreetly from the continuum of line before and after./note for prof schiller]
It is eminently testable as it predicts that ‘number theory’ and ‘quantum mechanics’ will become increasingly converged (ok, all areas of physics… but I say quantum mechanics because it’s at the narrow end of the decreasing complexity).
the prediction is: more and more ‘coincidences’ such as the riemann-zeta function will be ‘discovered’ at the LHC and other high-energy early-universe particle experiments. (In fact anywhere all naturally-occurring topological wholes being subdivided over time, when analysed mathematically should show evidence’s of ‘strange’ similarities between each other, whether it’s in physics, biology or any other field).
still with me?
:P
[oh... and if space, energy and matter really are just expressions of naturally-occurring mathematical functions governing the discreet fractions of a single existence... then shouldn't there be a new unit of existence? how about: Subatomic-To-Universal-Functions ... :D ]
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