Alternative Models of Reality

Malcolm,

Ideas of multiverses where other laws of nature (represented by other equations) exist and/or other physical outcomes (represented by other numeric values for the variables in the equations) exist are only for wimps who can't face up to the real world. Sorry, but there are NO universes where the koalas didn't get burned in the bushfires, people didn't die, and landscapes didn't get razed.

I have no respect for the ideas of people like Max Tegmark and Davis Deutsch, and the "mainstream" in their ivory towers, dreaming that other worlds exist while their own world burns. I wish they'd grow up!

Re numbers:

1) Numbers (equated to variables representing categories of information like relative mass or position) are what physics uses to represent potential and actual outcomes. When you assume that multiverses exist, you are assuming that a different universe exists for every different number i.e. a new universe springs into existence for every possible numeric value for every category of information, for every point position in the universe, for every moment in time.

2) Clearly, something exists at the micro-level which underlies our numeric symbolic representations: you've got the category and the number to account for. And clearly, the micro-world is not advanced enough to be doing set theory, which requires sophisticated processing steps; so realistically, numbers can only be derived from relationships, in the same sense that laws of nature are relationships, but where the numerator and denominator categories cancel out. Don't tell me you believe in Platonic realms, which are another cop-out for those who are not willing to face the real world.

Feedback on ten questions...

First of all, physical reality is made up of changes in matter action and space and time emerge from those changes. However, the universe is a wavefunction just as a photon is a wavefunction as well. The universe wavefunction is what we call quantum gravity relativity and the photon wavefunction is what bonds matter.

"How might one go about modelling our observable universe as a subsystem of the wavefunction of the universe, Ψ(U), which is itself a subsystem of the wavefunction of a multiverse that is the superposition of all possible universes, Ψ(Ψ,U)?"

The universe is a wavefunction, but is all that we can know about. We cannot know about the multiverse...

"1. This model would assume universal entanglement and gross nonlocality ala Bohm & Hiley."

For wavefunctions, entanglement, superposition, and nonlocality directly follow.

"2. Its wavefunction realism however, would assume that Ψ(U) mathematically describes an abstract continuum of constantly evolving information rather than an external spacetime reality of physical structures."

The matter action universe is discrete and not a continuum.

"3. The observable universe is to be modeled as a single 'world particle' in flux which is the instantaneous product of the intersection of the four fundamental force vectors."

The universe is made up of a finite number of particles. Forces emerge from the acceleration of light.

"4. The world particle is also an instantiation of one relative state vector of the branching wavefunction of the multiverse."

It is not possible to measure anything outside of the universe.

"5. The world particle exists in multidimensional Hilbert space."

Physics uses dimensions to fill in the blanks. There are only two dimensions needed: matter and action. Along with quantum phase, matter and action wavefunctions make up physical reality.

"6. The world particle has as many degrees of freedom as needed to encode the observable universe. Its degrees of freedom with respect to the multiverse would be non-finite."

Degrees of freedom are like fudge factors...none are needed for matter action.

"7. This encoding would be a function of the world particle's entanglement entropy."

Entropy is a classical notion that helps physics cover up for what it does not yet know. Universe decay drives the arrow of time, not really entropy.

"8. The world particle exists only for a Planck second before it is annihilated in a new alignment of the four force vectors that form a new world particle."

There is only one fundamental fundamental particle. It is the acceleration of light that leads to all forces...

"9. The speed limit of entangled information (such as a photon) is to be derived from the speed of the four vector flux, as in 1 bit (world particle) per Planck second."

The speed of light only accounts for one time dimension. The very slow acceleration of light is the second time dimension. There are two dimensions of time in matter action.

"10. Space and linear, calculable time would also be relative properties

derived from this world particle flux."

Yes. Time and space both emerge from the acceleration of the universe particle flux along with all quantum exchange forces. Quantum wavefunctions with phase make up all of physical reality...

@Steve Agnew: "physical reality is made up of changes in matter action"

So, just to be clear, this notion of the "matter action universe" is your own personal metaphysics of science? While I have no time to delve into it please feel free to correct any of my probable misconceptions regarding the basic physics and mathematical formalism of my own proposed model. I am not a physicist, I am merely an itinerant philosopher.

SA: "The universe is a wavefunction, but is all that we can know about."

I thought that, strictly speaking, our actual observable universe is all that we can know as we are its observers. The wave function of the universe on the other hand, at least in the Everettian sense, is precisely what we can't know as we're already entangled in/as one of its relative state vectors--Wigner's friend has no possible perspective external to their relative entanglement in Ψ(U).

SA: "We cannot know about the multiverse..."

Not directly in a many worlds / relative state sense, where our actual observable universe is simply our experience of one branch of a constantly branching many worlds multiverse.

But what about inflationary bubble universes? They're just an extension of our own observable universe but accelerating away from our accelerating horizon--at least as far as I understand inflation. Tegmark makes an argument that the observed finetuning in our universe is evidence for that kind of what he calls Level I multiverse.

Then there's his Level IV multiverse that I read as the superposition of all possible universes, its wave function would describe the mathematical regularity of any and all states. One cross-section of this wave function would be our universe, another might describe a universe that evolves negative entropy over a reversed Planck second before annihilating itself. Obviously ours is easier to be alive in, observe, and know about, so we can't know/observe the whole multiverse in that sense.

However, this notion of a Level IV multiverse does change how we might think about and conceive of our observable universe as a subsystem of its wave function. I think its truth or falsity as a multiverse theory will probably rest on how effective it might be as a fundamental concept for any future metaphysics that actually succeeds in making some sense of a quantum mechanical worldview.

SA: "2. The matter action universe is discrete and not a continuum."

I was just referring to the way the Schrodinger equation is a continuous differential equation so wave functions evolve as continuums, mathematically at least, or as I might say their evolving potential is a continuum. Our actual, observable ('matter action' or otherwise) universe does appear to be fundamentally discrete though. Which is to say our observations of physical phenomena are discrete. Schrodinger himself was rather erudite on this apparently fundamental relation between the mathematical continuum and the discreteness of atomism / quanta.

MR: "3. The observable universe is to be modeled as a single 'world particle' in flux which is the instantaneous product of the intersection of the four fundamental force vectors."

SA: "The universe is made up of a finite number of particles."

Yes, or empirically observable physical stuff as I like to say. The 'world particle' would be the unitary flux of forces that at any moment in the evolution of the wave function of our universe gives rise to our fundamentally discrete observational experiences. Observations in this sense are higher order phenomena emergent on that Planck magnitude flux. So you can experience your observable universe of discrete particles where that discreteness emerges from the continuum of Ψ(U) of which the observer is a subsystem.

The 'world particle' is thus a model of our observable universe with an observer as its entangled centre.

SA: "4. It is not possible to measure anything outside of the universe."

Yes, more or less by definition if you mean trying to measure something not in our observable universe and thus by definition non-observable. The 'world particle' isn't something we might observe though as in this model it simply is the observable universe described as a unitary observational flux. I'm looking for a possible collaborator who might be able to mathematically model that flux of forces as an evolving set of entanglements.

SA: "5. Physics uses dimensions to fill in the blanks."

Hilbert Space is a multidimensional mathematical tool and as far as I know exceptionally useful for quantum calculation. As I understand it, Ψ(U) evolves in Hilbert Space following the Schrodinger equation. But here the 'world particles' dimensionality describes the total possible entanglements that might constitute it at any moment, and presumably by definition those entanglements would be defined by the wave function of its observable universe.

SA: "7. Entropy is a classical notion that helps physics cover up for what it does not yet know."

Yes, it's a measure of 'uncertainty' which as I understand it can also be used as a measure of randomness / regularity in data sets according to Shannon's notion; or as a measure of the overall energy density of a physical system, which also means its dis-orderliness according to the Boltzmann notion; whereas Von Neumann's entanglement entropy is a measure of the degree of entanglement in a system. And thus entropy in general can also be thought of as a measure of the complexity of any set, structure, or system ... more or less.

So then, I understand the 'world particles' degrees of freedom in Hilbert space as a function of its complexity in terms of its entanglement entropy. That entanglement would also define the scale of its observable universe: Would its holographic entanglement entropy define the boundary limit of that universe as a function of the surface area large enough to encompass it? This would be a spatial volume derived from HEE rather than from an external classical spacetime.

These are just some of the metaphysical 'picture' concepts I'm playing with based on a rather specific philosophical concept of the observer / observable universe. Please feel free to correct my language in your own terms!

You have impressive detail about a diverse number of sometimes quite complex notions. Yes...matter action is the only way that I can explain the observations of science and also unite quantum gravity with quantum charge. It bothers me that no one else seems to be able to unite gravity and charge since matter action does it so well.

I hope this will be useful to you and I do encourage your further endeavors. Matter action does explain the nature of physical reality but I really cannot claim to have the only solution to the universe and matter action may indeed have some fatal flaw that is not yet apparent. After all, there are lots more people smarter than I am out there so why should I be the only one with unification?

The notion of a wavefunction is simply an expression of the quantum nature of matter. All matter oscillates and when matter oscillates in phase, it can bond. The phase coherence of matter oscillation can persist even with separation and that is entanglement. Exchange of light photons is how matter bonds and so light exchange is the glue of both charge and gravity.

You bring up the notion of the universe as a wavefunction, with which I agree. In fact, the universe wavefunction is how matter action quantum gravity relativity works. There is no way to measure and therefore know anything outside of the universe. In fact, just as you point out, there are even many things even within the quantum universe, i.e. mysteries, that we cannot measure and therefore cannot know as well. Quantum entanglement is at the root of things that we cannot know and yet entanglement does affect our lives and so you are right in your surmise about entanglement.

The multiverse and multidimensional stringy and loopy notions are all interesting religious beliefs just like reality as a simulation by some master simulator. Since there are no measurements that affirm or deny these religions, I prefer to avoid them. My preference is to keep things that science measures separate from religious beliefs about the mysteries that do exist. Philosophical discourse is about questions and mysteries that really have no unique answers and yet there are many questions that may in fact have answers that we just do not yet know. Therefore philosophy does provide a useful discourse distinct from the measurements of science the beliefs of religion.

Inflationary bubble universes emerge from the notion of inflation, which is a patch to the make big-bang universe singularity consistent with the uniformity of the CMB. Since matter action is already consistent with the uniformity of the CMB, matter action does not have any singularities like the the big bang or the patches like inflation.

The fundamental notion of a singularities in spacetime is what spins many narratives and also spoils many notions of unification. Since matter action is made of discrete particles, there are no singularities since space and time both emerge from discrete matter action. Black holes are singularities in spacetime but black holes are just pure phase in matter action. Black holes are the ultimate destiny of the matter action universe and not really a singularity.

Matter action supposes that the universe is made up of a very large but finite number of aether particles. Matter, space, time, and motion then all emerge from the actions of those particles, what we call change.

Boy, you bring up quite a cornucopia of notions. The notion of finetuning makes no sense in matter action since matter action is a cycle of universes where many constants vary together, not individually. There are just two constants for each universe cycle: aether particle mass and action constant, i.e., Planck's constant. All of the other constants derive from just these two along with the dimensions of matter and action with quantum phase.

The universe collapse is the half cycle outcome that emerges from a half cycle precursor that is an antiverse expansion of antimatter. This is the causal set of precursors and outcomes from which space and time then emerge.

It is true that the Schrödinger equation is based on continuous space and time. However, the Hamiltonian step operators are the discrete basis for quantum electrodynamics (QED), which is actually how things work. Discrete operators form the bases of the Hilbert spaces that you mention, but do not elaborate on. It is important to limit the complexification of things by bringing in too many complex terms. It is better to use as simple language as possible for civilians and save the complex math for the technicals...

You mention four force vectors but this means you are in spacetime. All spacetime forces emerge from particle exchange of quantum field theory and so matter action forces are all exchange forces, not vector forces. Vectors emerge from space and time.

Physics often uses extra dimensions to fill in blanks of knowledge. Matter action has just the two dimensions of matter and action and along with quantum phase, is consistent with measurements. Matter and action are a Hilbert Space, but there is no need in matter action for another 8 to 48 dimensions to unite gravity and charge. All that is necessary to unify gravity with charge is to include the acceleration of light along with the speed of light. Then the bonding of charge is a result of photon exchange and the bonding of gravity is due to biphoton exchange. All matter, after all, is the result of photon exchange bonds with complementary and entangled photon emission. This entangled biphoton exchange is the basis of quantum gravity relativity.

Thanks for mentioning holographic entanglement entropy, HEE. I had not even known that this was a big deal until you mentioned it. Of course, it is quite a complex notion and involves lots of quantum field theories, anti de Sitter spacetime, and so on. These are all notions that might unify gravity and charge in spacetime, but matter action already unifies gravity and charge. So HEE is just a lot of complexity just like stringy and loopy and antiverse and singularity that matter action does not need.

Hi All,

My name is John B. Wilson - I just joined this discussion at the recommendation of Zeeya Merali.

I have been working on the connection between SR and QM for many years now.

SRQM - The RoadMap

Using Special Relativity (SR) as a starting point, then noting a few empirical 4-Vector facts, one can instead *derive* the Principles that are normally considered to bethe Axioms of Quantum Mechanics (QM). Hence, [SR竊'QM]

Since many of the QM Axioms are rather obscure, this seems a far more logical and understandable paradigm than QM as a separate theory from SR, and sheds light on the origin and meaning of the QM Principles. For instance, the properties of SR can be "quantized by the Metric", while SpaceTime & the Metric are not themselves "quantized",in agreement with all known experiments and observations to-date.

The SRQM or [SR竊'QM] Interpretation of Quantum MechanicsA Tensor Study of Physical 4-Vectors

or: Why General Relativity (GR) is *NOT* wrong

or: Don't bet against Einstein ;)

or: QM, the easy way...

I would appreciate any comments...

Thanks,

John

I have had this idea for some time and worked on it a lot over the years. My fire on it died long ago. Recently I entered one of the FQXi contests and noticed reference to this thread. So, I thought I would give it a shot.

I began this when I was eleven years old. A library was a few blocks from where I lived. There I found a book titled ABC of Relativity by Bertram Russell. I read it several times. Now, some 60 years later, I offer my conclusions about what that has led me to.

It is this: the universe consists of photons. The purpose of this post is to begin to convince you this is true. Special relativity is the most proven theory in physics. We normally explain it mathematically but have no clue how it works. This post suggests a mechanism. I maintain that special relativity is the end of a thread that unwinds the rug called quantum mechanics.

I present this task by going over a history of my involvement with the subject. This is to bring up issues with the subject that would otherwise appear out of thin air. It also serves to show it did not occur to me on a dark and stormy night.

As mentioned, I began with ABC of Relativity. I managed to get a degree in physics from Wayne State University in Detroit. MI in 1969. For many years I pondered special relativity and quantum mechanics while earning a living as a contract programmer working on embedded computer systems. Sometime after retiring, I found myself living in a flat above a barbershop in Cornel WI. It had a small bedroom and a large kitchen. I had a computer set up in the kitchen.

At that time I resolved to understand special relativity. Having developed great skill as a programmer and with the belief anything could be modeled with software, I charged ahead. From my class in theoretical mechanics, I thought of creating a coordinate system that would support Einstein's postulates. Then, the idea was to transform that system to a rectangular system and see what the result would be. My starting point would be the Lorentz transformation. My plan was to somehow form a coordinate system around that in software.

So I began to establish a unique coordinate system. Along with the Lorentz transformation I pondered the second postulate of the theory: the speed of light is constant for all observers. This triggered my imagination to visualize a fluid coordinate system. That is, if I were in the middle of a fluid system of coordinate points, I might see them moving relative to me in a constant way. Then it hit me. If I took any point of view in this system: all points would appear to move at a constant speed. The reason is that to measure speed, I would compare the speed of one point to another point.

To clarify: this model consists of points moving at a same constant speed in many directions. Then a point of view moving through this system would see all points moving at the same speed regardless of the velocity of the moving point of view.

I eventually decided that what I had was a model demonstrating a mechanism of special relativity. Then I invested a great deal of effort learning Latex and submitting a paper to the American Physical Society of this subject. I eventually got a response saying I was silly.

I spent a long time trying to see what was wrong with the concept. As I went back and forth over this, the thought occurred to me that if this model were accurate: how would it manifest in reality? The answer to me was that the points are photons. For this to be true, the universe must contain only photons.

Again, I thought for a long time.

Perhaps my biggest problem was how could these point-photons coexist with all the other junk in the universe? Some time passed before I convinced myself that all that junk consisted of photons. As a result of this lengthy pondering I arrived at a set of requirements to fulfill this idea. Perhaps these are postulates.

First, all matter in the universe consists of photons.

Second, the speed of all photons is the same.

Third, photons are dimensionless. That is, they have no height, width, or depth.

Fourth, there is no field around photons enabling photons to interact with each other at a distance.

Fifth, photons interact with other photons when occupying or about to occupy the same position in space.

Sixth, observation depends on detecting photons at the precise point of view position.

Eventually I decided to consult more knowledgeable people. I had a couple friends from some other thread of life that held high positions in the physics community. If I hinted at my idea, they would have nothing to do with it. I found some sites on the internet about physics concepts that invited comments. The ones I contacted discounted the concept and told me why. However each criticism indicated a weakness in the concept but at the same time indicated a change making it workable.

After some time, a Photonic Universe package morphed into what I thought was a workable theory.

In an effort to show the practical side of this, we can build a photon clock and observe its operation in this fluid universe. Assume we can make a clock with two mirrors and a photon bouncing between them. At a rest state relative to the observer, time is equal to the number of bounces up and down. Now assume the clock moves relative to us. The photon, to remain part of the clock, must move up and down at an angle. This means the photon travels farther than when the clock is not moving. As the speed of the photon is constant, the moving clock seems to show time slower than when not moving. The vertical, horizontal , and motion at an angle form a right triangle and the Pythagorean theorem can be used to show the relation between the moving time and not-moving time. The result is a time dilation equation or the Lorentz transformation.

The point here is that assuming we live in a photon universe, the Lorentz transformation suddenly appears.

I showed one of my papers presenting this to an acquaintance and he responded that the business with the bouncing photon was described elsewhere (For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_dilation, 2020) and my material was an old hat with no value.

My claim is that everything consists of photons and the bouncing photon experiment shows the mechanics of special relativity in all matter. The ramifications of this idea are extensive. Many questions emerge but I believe each has an answer. I have found the answers are more profound than the initial assertion.

As an exercise I went through a textbook from my junior year at the university about modern physics (Concepts of Modern Physics, Arthur Beiser, McGraw-Hill, 1963). Each chapter introduced some aspect of physics. With each aspect the Photonic Universe package explained what was going on: the first chapter of course was about relativity.

The essence of this concept is that the universe is somewhat like a box containing a perfect gas. Instead of tiny balls reflecting off each other, photons are interacting with more complexity emerging into what we observe around us. A key factor is emergence of something simple into something that bears no resemblance to that from which it came.

JBW: "The 'measurement' of a property does not 'exist' until a physical setup is arranged.... This makes way more sense than the subjective belief that a particle's property doesn't exist until it is observed, which is about as unscientific and laughable a statement as I can imagine."

Strictly empirically speaking these statements are more or less equivalent, depending I guess on how you might choose to interpret the term 'to exist'.

It is correct that measurements of particle properties are only potential measurements until the physical setup is ready and the actual observational event takes place. The difference here is between potential and actual measurements, where the former can still be said to 'exist' in the potential sense. Potential events still need an actual physical setup, a world or an environment, in order to be a potential event. That is to say, their potentiality is derived from the actual observer's world they might take place in.

But likewise for the "assertion that particle 'properties' do not 'exist' until measured." A particle's properties are only potential properties until they are actually measured and become the actual observed properties. This is simply an empirical fact of the matter.

In both cases the 'existence' is potential until it is actualized. And this is true whether or not we're talking about classical particles with discrete properties or a superposition of non-commuting properties. The actual event of any potential observation / measurement is what makes any potentially measurable properties ... actual.

But it seems to me that you want to assert something more about that potential existence--that while potential events don't really exist until they happen, a particle's potential properties do really exist independently of whether they are observed or not. Would that be correct?

If so then this is a much stronger metaphysical claim concerning the 'real existence' of an unobserved particle and its properties, and I take it you lean more towards the realist side of Einstein's position as opposed to 'laughably unscientific' notions concerning what can or cannot be said about the non-classical reality of quantum properties? You would include for example a Many Worlds interpretation in your 'laughable quantum mysticism' category?

As a radical empiricist, all I can say is that a particle's classical or non-classical properties exist only in the potential sense until an actual observation is made, and that that potentiality is what is 'real' most especially where a quantum superposition is concerned. Which I take it is where we might diverge, as from this perspective no actual properties can exist independent of our potential empirical observations. Simply put, there can be no empirical evidence for the reality or otherwise of an unobserved particle's properties, and observation is the key to this historical conundrum!

JBW: "Particles and their properties 'exist' as independently of human intervention or observation."

So here I would prefer to say that particles and their properties can only 'exist' as potential observational events that by simple definition are dependent on the possibility of human or other sentient observation. Which is to say, any actual observable universe such as ours, requires an actual observer at its centre. With no actual observers there are only potential observable universes. And these last exist for us only as pure potentiality.

Steve Agnew: "I hope this will be useful to you and I do encourage your further endeavors."

Thanks for your patience and open minded replies. I came here to bounce some metaphysical ideas around with physicists and adapt my terms and logic to that discourse ... you are very useful indeed Steve!

SA: "You bring up the notion of the universe as a wavefunction, with which I agree.... Quantum entanglement is at the root of things that we cannot know and yet entanglement does affect our lives and so you are right in your surmise about entanglement."

I have a quite specific philosophical model in mind for the observer-observable universe that treats these two not as a dualism but as a unity where you can't conceive of one apart from the other, and I would like to think entanglement as the physical basis for that unity. But this doesn't mean there's a classical physical observer on one end and its observable universe on the other, somehow connected by entangled quantum systems. I'm trying to think of the whole as an entangled system such that the wave function of the observable universe is the universe observing itself. Any notion of the observer being merely one's own subjective individuality here would then be weakly emergent on a fundamentally universal physical phenomenon, that of the wave function of the observable universe and its constantly evolving observational subsystems.

So I think for this model to work, the observer must be defined not as just an isolated physical system, an individual body with sense organs and a physical memory (Everett's automaton), but rather the observer is nothing more than its sensory observations. From this perspective, the wave function of the observer is defined by its constantly evolving observational entanglements with its observable universe. And the total set of possible observational entanglements is described by the wavefunction of that observable universe.

For us humans this observational flux includes one's body senses, but also vision, audition, and the chemical senses. For example, when you look at Achernar in the night sky you become physically entangled with its photons incident on your retina, and that entanglement spanning 140 light years proceeds through to the electrochemical excitation of brain states and whatever cognitive behavioural outputs that may ensue. Unknown to you as you gaze is the faint radiation from the CMB filtering through the atmosphere and incident on your body thus also entangling that physical form and its environment with the horizon of our observable universe. So too with the laboratory setup just at much closer range, there is a sensory flux associated with the somatosensory, audio-visual and chemical sensory inputs, and these flux of physical entanglements together make up the totality of the observational environment within the lab, subject also to the earth's gravitational pull and the other fundamental interactions keeping it all bound together the right way up, so to speak. From this observational perspective the observer and its environment / universe are a constantly decohering / entangling whole.

And as such, there can be no definite physical boundary between this observer and its environment--the whole set of entanglements is the 'observer' in the sense of an ongoing observational event, a flux of entanglements. It's this entangling flux of observation that I want to model as the 'world particle'. As an observational event it has a duration, such as an eyeblink for example, within which time we can observe say the alarm indicating the laser has emitted a photon in the lab. At 1/10 of a second there's a still a world of information that can be conveyed, and assuming the Planck second is a physical limit there would be about 1043 Planck level observational events comprising a single eyeblink.

SA: "You mention four force vectors but this means you are in spacetime. All spacetime forces emerge from particle exchange of quantum field theory and so matter action forces are all exchange forces, not vector forces. Vectors emerge from space and time."

I was more thinking of the four fundamental forces / interactions (strong, weak, EM and gravity) as vectors in the 'world particles' Hilbert space. Is this not an appropriate terminology?

The 'world particle' would then consist of the intersection of these fundamental forces, with the sum of their vectors defining the eigenstate of the 'world particle' at any Planck moment. This momentary eigenstate would be the product of the total entanglements constituting the observer's observable universe before it annihilates and is reconstituted in the next Planck second with the next set of constantly evolving entanglements. It's this series of Planck level events that makes actual the evolution of the observer's physical observational environment, on the order of 1044 times every second.

SA: "It is important to limit the complexification of things by bringing in too many complex terms. It is better to use as simple language as possible for civilians and save the complex math for the technicals..."

I totally agree! And this is absolutely true of philosophical discourse, where there are as many philosophies as there are philosophers to debate them. And we're always talking past one another by using the same terms but in fundamentally different senses. What I would like to do here is find our lowest common metaphysical denominators and work up from there which is why I'm deliberately trying my best not to introduce any technical terms from the philosophy of mind in favour of this world particle 'picture'. From a physics perspective I'm sure it is looking rather more like a cartoon?

Hi Malcolm,

Thanks for reading some of my paper, I really appreciate it.

SR-->QM, QM derived from SR

I definitely lean more towards the realist side of Einstein's position.

"But it seems to me that you want to assert something more about that potential existence--that while potential events don't really exist until they happen, a particle's potential properties do really exist independently of whether they are observed or not. Would that be correct?"

I wouldn't call the properties "potential". The properties are always there. What "state they are in" is the potential. A particle possesses the property of spin as an actuality. It exists. Which direction the spin is pointing is the potentiality. An observer can only find out by doing a measurement.

I agree with you that "observation" is the crux of what measurement is all about. However, I assert that "existence" is apriori to "observation". One cannot observe without oneself existing first, nor can one observe something which does not already exist. The potentialities you mention are the "information" that observers can obtain about physical systems, and that information is limited by the non-zero commutation rules one obtains from the mathematics.

I have been coming at the measurement question in QM from a different perspective than most. I started with the axioms of SR, which are really just a limiting-case of GR, and then went looking for what I needed to get the rules of QM.

As it turns out, there are only a very few empirically-observed facts that are required. One then gets the Klein-Gordon RQM Equation, of which the Schoedinger QM Equation is just the non-relativistic limiting-case.

Superposition is indeed about potentialities, which is partial information about a system. When one performs the actual measurement, the resultant is always in only a single actual state.

I have been coming to the conclusion that the type of equation on has plays a role in whether one is talking about actualities and potentialities.

JohnAttachment #1: SRQM-RoadMap.png

I agree that we and the universe exist together as a whole, but be careful of the term dualism. Dualism has a long history in philosophy and is defined in about as many ways as there are philosophers. Usually people disparage dualism because of the soul separate from body or mind distinct from body and so on.

A wavefunction has both phase and amplitude but a classical particle has only intensity, which is the wavefunction squared. Gravity is a very tiny force that does not seem to have quantum phase while charge and other forces are 1e39th greater and have phase and show interference and entanglement.

When we are in phase, we bond and when we are out of phase, we conflict or scatter. Entanglement is all about phase correlation, but that entanglement can therefore be either bonding or conflicting. Since we bond to this universe and not another, we are in phase and entangled with this universe just as you say.

It is useful to think of light exchange as the glue that binds or indeed scatters all matter. An electron bonds to a proton by exchanging a photon in a hydrogen atom. An observer bonds to a measurement by exchanging a large number of photons. Remember that we get both phase and amplitude with each photon, but we shine on the measurements just as it shines on us and also affects whatever we measure as well. Light exchange is what bonds us to the universe and results in the noncommuting matter and action operators (or position and momentum or many other pairs).

Matter and action are both wavefunctions with quantum phase and therefore show entanglement. Matter and action are a Hilbert space and so you seem to be okay with that term. Be careful with the term annihilate since creation/annihilation operations are what make quantum field theory work.

The collapse of wavefunctions is really no mystery since the quantum fluctuations of charge also result in gravity fluctuations. The noise of gravity fluctuations seems to be more than sufficient to explain wavefunction collapse...

Hi there John,

"Proves that the 4-VectorPotential A is more fundamental than

e and b fields, which are just components of the Faraday EM Tensor"

I fully agree, its a pity that this is not more well known as well as the Ahranov-Bohm experiment that experimentally verifies this.

"These ideas lead to the conclusion that the wavefunction is just one observer's state of information about a physical system, not the state of the physical system itself. The "collapse" of the wavefunction is simply the change in an observer's information about a system brought about by a measurement or, in the case of EPR, an

inference about the physical state."

I think this is important. I was wondering a few years ago whether sheaves might be important in this context as they, speaking mathematically, glue local objects into global objects.

"Quantum information (qubits) differs strongly from classical information, epitomized by the bit, in many striking and unfamiliar ways."

Just like quantum physics from classical physics! Have you come across quantum logic? I came across it many years ago and I dismissed as not really being logic. But theres some intriguing results I've come across using paraconsistent and intuitionistic logic that revived my interest.

"The QM Schrodinger Equation is not fundamental. It is just the low-energy limiting-case of the RQM Klein-Gordon Equation. All of the standard QM Axioms are shown to be empirically measured constants

or emergent properties of SR. It is a bad approach to start with NRQM as an axiomatic starting point and try to generalize it to RQM, in the same way that one cannot start with CM and derive SR."

I'm not so sure about that. Obviously it's more effective and efficient but I think when we look at the broader picture about how we teach students, then there are other isues to think about.

I mean that it's *pedagogically* useful to demonstrate how people thought about NRQM on their way to RQM. After all, physics isn't a deductive science and we can only demonstrate the inductive method by showing how it has been used. Obviously this has to be used with some discretion othwerwise its just gets too burdensome.

(I also think that people are mistaken about mathematics as a deductive science. It's just as inductive as the other sciences, but of course in a different way. After all, Euclid didn't deduce his axiomatic system).

"Don't bet against Einstein ;)"

I wouldn't either ...

As for superluminal signalling, personally speaking, I think there is more there than correlative effects.

I recently came across this article in Nature that put a lower bound of at least four orders of magnitude than c!

Whatever it is, it's definitely very fast. I find it hard though to believe that its instantaneous...

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07121

Warm wishes,

Mozibur Ullah

Dear Al Schneider,

"Eventually I decided to consult more knowledgeable people. I had a couple friends from some other thread of life that held high positions in the physics community. If I hinted at my idea, they would have nothing to do with it."

Did they at least explain that you were in the right ball-park? The standard model is a progressive elaboration of Maxwells equations which explains light. It goes by in several steps:

1. The Yang-Mills equation generalises Maxwells equation by showing how there is something called a gauge group involved. In Maxwells equation this is just U(1), which is basically a circle.

2. The weak force is then given by specialising the gauge group to SU(2), which without even knowing what it is, and just going by the name can be seen to be a generalisation of U(1).

3. Similarly, the strong force is then given by specialising the gauge group to SU(2), which again going by the name can be seen to be a generalisation of U(1)

So your intuition that the world is basically made up from light is correct. No doubt the 'high-ups' want to see more mathematical detail. But often there is a lot of mathematical papers with a lot of mathematics without there being anything said.

Actually the notion of a gauge group got me confused when I was learning high energy physics. I came from a mathematics background and the way the two different communities - mathematicians & physicists - spoke about it was different. Oscar Wilde said England and the USA were two nations divided by a common language. Likewise for mathematicians and physicists ...

So 'let there be light' is basically correct.

Someone ought to tell the Vatican.

I can't resist adding here that there is a school of philosophy called Illuminationism which was founded by an Iranian philosopher called Suhrawardi. Apparently both Roger Bacon and Robert Grossteste were influenced.

Warm Wishes

Mozibur Ullah

Hello, thanks for sharing your ideas. But if I can, why do you consider that we have only photons like primordial essence, we need a balance for our standard model, it is with this cold Dark matter encoded in nuclei that I have reached even this quantum gravitation. This matter is also encoded in nulcei for me and this cold permits to balance, like a balance between heat and cold, electronagnetism and gravitation, order and disorder,entropy and negentropy, matter anti matter. The fact to consider only photons seem an error, of course the GR and SR are correct but not sufficient at my humble opinion, we need to superimpose a deeper logic. It d be very odd to consider that we have only these photons like main primordial essence, I consider 3 main series of coded spherical volumes in my model and these 3D spheres, one for the space , and two fuels , the photons and this cold dark matter and when they merge they create our tologies, geonetries, properties of matters with fields, energy and particles. I don t understand why many thinkers consider that we have only photons really,

Regards

Dear Steve Duforney

I said that the idea that the universe is made up of photons 'is in the right ball-park' and I explained why. This doesn't mean that there isn't more to consider. For example, in string theory gravitons arise as the resonances of closed strings.

Regards

Mozibur Ullah

Hello,

I like the ball park :) logic I consider that the foundamental mathematical and physical objects are 3D coded series of Spheres, one for the space , the primordial code and two fueld, the åphotons and the cold dark matter, that permits to have a balance between entropy negentropy, matter anti matter, cold heat, electromagnetism gravitation, order disorder....So I don t consider that all is made of photons, and I don t consider these strings like foundamental objects like if all was made of fields. The gravitons of spin 2 are an extrapolation of strings to explain this quantum gravitation, this weakest quantum force, but there are problems of quantification and renormalisation, I have reached it in considering this cold dark matter encoded in nuclei, and that respects this newtonian mechanics when you consider different distances and mass due to these main codes in this space and these 2 fuels, photons and cold dark matter,

Regards

Hi all, new member here, just joined tonight.

Although I don't have a background in Physics, I find it very fascinating and often inspiring to read books on physics, cosmology and other sciences which include consolidated knowledge, ideas and modern discussions on various matters.

I would have liked this post to be under "The Nature of Time" but I couldn't add a new post there. It could fit here as well however, I think. These are thoughts on life and implications of how spacetime seems to be understood in Physics. You may also see it as a query which I haven't had the chance to discuss with people that know a thing or two about the current understanding of the universe, to say the least. So I apologise in advance for any layman misconceptions and if there are gross errors below, or smaller ones, I would be grateful if they were pointed out.

At some point I became familiar with the concept that the past, present and future all exist simultaneously, if we consider spacetime as a 4D block. So in this context all moments are equally real. But later, while reading further about worldlines of conscious beings as described in Max Tegmark's "Our Mathematical Universe", it became easier to distinguish between the perception of time by a human observer and the nature of time as it could theoretically be observed from outside the 4D block.

So as humans, we seem to experience a time flow, as measured by our clocks, one moment at a time and perceive the world as 3D sections at each moment; which led me to explore, what should that imply from a person's perspective, at the marginal moment where they experience the end of their life, the moment where for everyone else consciousness definitively ceases to exist (assuming it doesn't survive the physical death). It occurred to me, that if the above are valid, i.e.

1) in spacetime all points in space exist and all moments in time are equally real;

2) we only perceive a "present" moment and none of the past or future;

Then right after the moment of our death, we should find ourselves being born, back to the past; and since we don't have much self awareness until we are around 4 years old, we wake up in our little beds, obviously without any memory that we lived or will live but only the awareness that we're alive at that moment. Which it seems to me it is a consequence of the two points above, because our consciousness and therefore sense of self and experience of existence, have a certain worldline in spacetime, which is not erased after our death. In that case, it wouldn't be oblivion that awaits us but just an existence within a certain timeframe.

And on top of that, perhaps we wake up at random versions of our life due to all possible timelines being potentially (also) real?

Well, these were my thoughts. I'm thankful for having the opportunity to express them, I hope they make sense.

Regards,

Anastasios

Discussion with David Chester of the quantum gravity research team with Garreth Lisi, Ray Ascheim, Klee Irwin, .... The problem about the strings is really philosophical at my humble opinion.

David Chester s answer

Steve, the only reason I'm interested in strings is because others are. Branes are the way to go, that's what Witten by unifying string theory with supergravity in M-theory. Supergravity has branes. You always talk about spheres, yes, there is Bott periodicity for n-dimensional spheres.

Einstein created multiple theories of gravity, including metric-affine gravity. Tesla should have studied that theory. Tesla had an idea for what gravity was. By the 1990's it was shown that there is a form of symmetric teleparallelism that is equivalent to GR. This gives a canonical energy-momentum tensor...

The problem isn't Einstein or Witten. The problem is everyone not studying their work in full detail.

My answer

David Chester, You have not well understood what I told, the problem is philosophical, we cannot affirm that we have a 1D string at this planck scale and a main Cosmic field like if all was fields, the GR and its details is not the problem, I like this GR , I say that we have probably a deeper logic than this photon like main primordial essence. the Bott periodicity is well and the n dimensional spheres, but that has nothing to do with my 3D coded spheres sent from the central cosmological spheres., I prefer to formalise them with the Clifford algebras, the problem so in that the thinkers forcus only on strings, photons and GR and forget to Think deeper. Tesla was good but he considered also that all was made of fields, can we affirm this ? no , nobody can affirm this and all now they try with tese fields and strings or points to explain the emergent geometries, topologies, matters due to fields. For me it is a fashion and I prefer my 3D coded spheres , particles like main origin, I don t want to change the works of thinkers, they make all what they want, but ne logic, these 3D coded Spheres seem more logic and that respects the wave particle duality and the fields and the energy distribution. I suggest to the thinkers to Think beyond the box and change their philosophies and don t forget to doubt, me I doubt and if I am false I will accept but nobody can prove me that I am false with my philosophy of spherisation and these coded spheres , we don t see this planck scale and we don t know how this universe transforms the energy in matters. You are persuaded, me also lol so we could converge but I find very odd that the persons consider only this GR and photons and strings, is it a business or a blockage in the mind or lobbies ? I don t know but that seems very odd for me, the coded particles are better for me and explain the evoluttion, not the fields because there is a big philosophical problem about this consciousness aand the evolution with these strings and fields like origin of all. Sorry for Witten and the teams working about this but I see like that andd I am frank, never these roads shall explain this quantum gravitation. Don t be persuaded but doubt like I make, we must prove after all what we extrapolate like assumptions, but nobody can prove these strings and the branes or Mtheory or fields, the same for me and my coded spheres. But see well the generality of sciences, all seesm made of coded particles ....3D coded spheres for me , not need to have a 1D towards a 11D. Friendly

Witten has not reached this quantum gravitation, he has not renormalised and quantified it , and he has not proved these strings at this planck scale and this 1d main Cosmic field, sorry. Maybe many confound his field medal for a good work about the mathematical rankings of fields , with his theory, he has well worked I recognise, but is it a reason to accept his exterapolations and assumptions ? My theory os the theory of spherisation, an evolution optimisation of the universal 3D sphere or future sphere with quantum 3d Spheres and cosmological 3D spheres, I don t consider extradimensions, for me it is just a mathematical Tools, we have a pure 3D at all scales, if this universe has chosen the 3D and the 3D spheres, maybe there are reasons, don t complicate the general simplicity of this universe, don t forget the Words of Feynmann in all humility, one day we shall see all the truth and we shall say all, oh my god, how is it possible that we have not seen a thing so simple Before? it is maybe for me because the thinkers have forgotten the generality and the simplicity in focusing on details. It was evident for me, I have found this universal link in ranking a littlee bit of all, animals, vegetals, minerals, maths, physics, Chemistry, evolution, biology and you know how I have had this simple humble Eureka, due to a page of biology where we see the evolution of hominid Brains since the lemurians, we see this relative spherisation also, it was for me incredible, the spheres can create all Shape and geometries and not need to have an external field to create these geometries and topologies, the codes are inside the particles for me and they can be deformed these sspheres simply.

Think well about all this even if I know that it is difficult to change a line of reasoning, I know that Lisi has worked about this E8 and that QGR team works with this but please forget your prison and Think deeper, I know that you have a business als...Voir plus

Can you prove that all what I tell is false? No , the same for me , we cannot affirm but see well the general philosophy and the nature around you, the universe at all scales is very simple and logic....Even Einstein was clear about these photons and GR , he has never told that they were the only one piece of puzzle ....

I have asked on FQXi to have Witten to discuss, Hooft, Susskind, Baez and Connes, together we can with these 3D spheres coded and with the Clifford algbras make an incredible revolution if we formalise this space and the two fuels, I wait , I hope they shall come on FQXi, they are good mathematician and that can be relevant in complementarity in forgetting the vanity

lol how the thinkers can affirm that the way to go are the branes lol and these strings and the correlated philosophy about how this universe transforms the energy ??? is it a joke, who can affirm ? they speak to God dear David Chester? Me I want well but it is odd for me all this. Is it the lobbies of strings the problem or the Vanity or what , a lack of generality and simplicity?

Hi Mr Kampaktsis, welcome to this wonderful platform,

I am not a specialist of this time, but for me I see it like a pure universal duration correlated with a pure entropical irreversible Arrow of time. I beleive strongly that it is like an universal general Clock of evolution. I don t beleive that we can check it really , we cannot for me travel in time because respecting the evolution andencodings of informations, we could have a problem os mass equivalence if we travel in the past or the future. But we know that with the relativity we can decrease our internal Clocks in travelling at c, so we can go in a kind of future but the problem is that we cannot return at our present. An other thing about this time respecting this general relativity is that we see our past more we observe far in the space, for example we see our sun 8M20sec in late, it is good tool to observe the universe and its evolution, we can better understand the evolution of this universe. But I consider it purely irreversible and it cannot be checked for me, but of course it is just my opinion.

Best Regards

I study the Clifford algebras and Bott periodicty for these spheres and I try to find a conjecture unifying the two different philosophical interpretations about this main origin of our universe, my 3D coded spheres or the fields, it exists probably something there to unify, not easy I must say.

the periodicity in the homotopy groups of classical groups, which proved to be of foundational significance for much further research, there is convergence with the K theory but I am interested to converge with the 3D coded spheres like primoridal essence as well as the stable homotopy groups of spheres. The quaternionic symplectic group becomes interesting for the homomorphism i from the homotopy groups of orthogonal groups to stable homotopy groups of spheres, now in inserting the good number for these finite primordial coded series of 3D spheres, that can become very relevant with the Clifford algebras. This poincare conjecture also becomes relevant and an intrinsic Ricci flow more the lie groups, derivatives and algebras, and the topological and euclidian spaces, an universal partition exists in logic with these motions of 3D spheres, their rotations and oscillations more the 3 main finite series thjat I have explained, one for the main space, this gravitational aether and the two others, the fuels, the photons and this cold dark matter.

The Hopf fibrations on 2D surfaces of My 3D spheres permit to rank a lot of quasiparticles under excitations, these finite primordial finite series of 3D spheres more these hopf fibrations on their surfaces can permit to rank and discover many quasiparticles. The phonons, polarons,magnons,plasmons, excitons, are just a small part of all these rankings.

The rankings with the Hopf fibration on 2D surfaces, more the motions rotations of these 3D finite series, one for the space, and the two fuels can show us an universal partition if it is well utilised, see these relevances for the ranking of all these 3D spheres with the angles of rotations, sense of rotations permiting to balance and di fferenciate this negentropy and entropy with the cold and heat, the photons and this cold dark matter encoded also, in fact we can rank many things, the particles, the fields and quasiparticles with the volumes of these finite primordial series having the same finite number than our cosmological finite serie of spheres ,more the fact that this space disappears with the gravitation space aether, the main codes and the two fuels. We can rank the motions, the volumes, the 2D surfaces with these hopf fibrations, the densities due to synchro, sortings, superimposings, the moments, orbital and spinal rotations, the mass, this and that, in fact the combinations are infinite.