Thanks Lawrence, I hope to find some more time now. I see you have an essay up, that's great. In fact quite a lot of essays already.

Sylvian, thank you for your detailed points. These are all interesting things and I will give my responses one at a time. Overall I would say that these are things where different people have very different opinions and have been the subject of interesting debates. I recognise that my opinion is not likely to be the right one on everything but for the purposes of argument I will put my best case in defense of how I see them.

On fine-tuning in chemistry: First let me correct a few misunderstandings. When I said that "Almost every natural occurring element of the periodic table plays some essential role in the making of multicellular life form." I did not only mean that every element is incorporated into biochemistry. Silicon has only minor roles to play in biology itself but it forms rocky planets without which life as we know it would not exist. I also did not mean to imply that every element is used in proportion to its abundance. Some elements are used in only very trace amounts but the role they play is still very important.

Now it is true that there are not enough free parameters in the standard model to fine-tune every element to a specific role. That is not how it works. The coupling constants are however fine tuned to control the richness of chemistry. Small differences would mean different numbers of elements with different properties and we can expect chemistry and abundances to vary quite dramatically and perhaps even chaotically as the parameters change. It is very difficult to work out what chemostry would really be like with different values of constants and even harder to try to work out what forms of biochemistry may be possible based on different sets of chemical elements. Perhaps science and computation will make that possible one day but another thing that will happen (hopefully) is that we will get an idea of what other lifeforms exist in the universe. If the fine-ytuning idea is right then there should be exactly one major form of biochemistry on which complex life can be based. If we find that there are two different types of biochemistry that lead to sophisticated lifeforms then the fine tuning argument is wrong. I don't think we will.

Christophe, the attraction towards universality is a feature of complexity theory and self organisation. Think about the theory of strange attractors in chaos theory for example. I dont think we fully understand why it works that way but it does.

I don't think a chimpanzee is qualitatively different from us. he is just a little less intelligent. It is not us that reach universailty, it is a feature of mathematics that arises independently of us. The only role we play is in establishing a selection criteria in that the solution to the equations of universality which is actually realised has to be able to support us. This is the anthropic principle and it applies to some extent to chimpanzees too.

Of course the details of modifications of chemistry would be very hard to find out but the main principles of dependence with respect to the fundamental constants are clear.

As for nucleosynthesis, we have this:

A fine-tuning of constants is needed for the Triple-alpha process: " 8Be + 4He has almost exactly the energy of an excited state of 12C ".

The ratio of nuclear to electrostatic strength of interaction between protons (the latter being essentially given by the fine structure constant), gives the approximate weight of the most stable element (iron)

As for chemistry with given elements, only 2 physical constants seem involved:

The fine structure constant gives the average speed of electrons compared to the speed of light, which may result in relativistic effects but as far as I know the consequences on chemistry are quite small. One of the main effects I heard of is that it gives the color of gold, due to the properties in the excitation of innermost orbitals, that of electrons having higher speed, closer to the speed of light because they come close to the nucleus. Generally, the fine structure constant determines the intensity of the photon emission/absorption processes, and also the wavelengths of photons, in case that matters.

More importantly, the electron-to-proton mass ratio determines the width of the Heisenberg uncertainty on the distance between atoms with a given bond in its ground state. Namely, this distance uncertainty is proportional to (k.m)-1/4 where k is the rigidity of the bond and m is the ratio of the mass of the atom to that of the electron.

In the case of covalent bonds (k close to 1) this uncertainty is quite small anyway (such as 0.1 邃ｫ), since m is so big, despite being put to the power (-1/4).

The sensitivity, then, may come for weaker bonds (small k), especially the inter-molecular bonds (including the lateral degrees of freedom) packing small molecules into solids or liquids, however I'm not sure how much it stands as compared to the role of temperature, which should be the main factor in many cases (letting the ground state of the bond unlikely and thus irrelevant). This latter uncertainty on position is proportional to sqr(T/k). Where temperature happens to produce a significantly bigger position uncertainty of a given bond than the Heisenberg uncertainty of the ground state (even twice bigger may suffice), the sensitivity to the mass ratio becomes insignificant.

For details and explanations, I gathered in my site some relations of dimensional analysis that give the orders of magnitude of a number of phenomena out of the fundamental constants of physics.

But I do not see there a point to consider fine-tuning done for a specific biochemistry that would exclude other forms of biochemistry. Instead, I see the possibility of biochemistry as a very general property of chemistry, that is its ability to develop complex molecules with complex reactions. As soon as complex chemistry is possible in general, I do not see a point why the specific efficient combinations should be unique. Just take an example : without leaving this Earth, Arsenic in significant amounts is toxic for most organisms, however a few species of bacteria have a different biochemistry that tolerates it, and even uses it, to thrive where it is abundant.

Dear Phillip,

I thought your essay was well done and very interesting. I am not sure that I understood it all, but I agree that the concept of universality is critically important (no pun intended) to understanding the underlying *process*, which I think we perceive as dualistic aspects of reality. I emphasize process because my life experience (my "lazy process" that includes graduate education (physics, math, electrical and nuclear engineering, medical physics, and national security/ strategic studies) and as a nuclear submariner and clinical medical physicist) has given me a perspective that is more focused on process (especially the unity of space and time as opposed to the differences). I don't recall learning about universality in my statistical mechanics class, so I have to look it up, but from what I just read on line, it seems to be an excellent direction for continued research.

Scientific writing has never been one of my strong points, and I've struggled with putting my ideas in a format acceptable to scientific journals, so allow me to express my sincere gratitude to you for vixra. If I never succeed in getting it published in a journal, at least I now have a chance to share my philosophy about the unity of space and time, especially my space-time-motion model (see http://vixra.org/abs/1402.0045) with people who are much smarter and knowledgeable than I. My only hope is that it will be useful in the quest for understanding the importance of unity (the metaphorical center of the ring) as a foundational concept. I believe that the entire world (not just physics) is in crisis because science has proven the utility and power of reductionism yet failed to recognize the importance of concepts such as unity and universality (except physicists like David Bohm and Fritjof Capra).

I took a very different approach to presenting space-time-motion unity in this essay contest, because the guidelines emphasized "Original and Creative" ways of pushing forward understanding "in a fresh way or with new perspective". So I invite you to read and comment on "Doctors of the Ring - The Power of Merlin the Mathematician to Transform Chaos into Consciousness."

Best regards,

Ted St. John

    Thank you for your comments. I am glad you like the central idea of universality. I look forward to reading your essay

    Sylvian, thank you for these detailed and interesting points. The only thing I would add at this point is that the fine structure constant does not just affect the chemical bonds. It also affects nuclear stability because the electrostatic repulsion is balanced against the strong force. A small change would have a profound affect on which elements are stable.

    I think it would be interesting nut hard exercise to work out the chemistry and nuclear properties of elements as constants vary. Until someone does that I am not sure what the real situation is.

    Hello Philip,

    I got what I expected. A nice and interesting submission. Looked to me more of a review of the topic. Although your Bio says you are a theoretical physicist, my understanding of your essay seems to make you look more like a 'physical mathematician' than a 'mathematical physicist'.

    I have need for some clarification and to learn more...

    You talk of Space as being 'emergent'. What does this mean in simple terms?

    You also talk of vacua, are you taking vacua and space as synonymous or different?

    Then, I challenge you with the question: Since you say the elephant is not to be envisaged as something that existed before the big bang and also ask "How do we exist?", can what exists perish? If not, why not? If yes, can you make out a list of what exists, so we can apply the doctrine of perishability on them?

    Best regards,

    Akinbo

      Hello Philip,

      I very much enjoyed reading your essay and I am very much in agreement with your view that we are ready for a paradigm shift in fundamental physics.

      My own feeling is that the unification will not come from trying to extend existing models to include gravity but rather by understanding how gravity provides the right model for understanding all fundamental forces.

      I hope you will take the time to read my essay which is titled Solving the Mystery and give me your comments.

      With best regards

      Richard Lewis

      7 days later

      "You talk of Space as being 'emergent'. What does this mean in simple terms?"

      If you were to write down a full mathematical model for the standard models of physics as we knoe them at the present time the first thing you would do is define a 4D spacetime geometry, then you add the particles and their dynamics. When we say spacetime is emergent we mean that at a deeper level that is not how it is done. Instead we would start with some mathematical structure that is not defined in space time, like a network of connected nodes or a matrix. These objects are then subject to some kind of mathematical rules that tell us what weight is given to each configuration. When we study the complex system this provides we would find emergent phenomena which look like the laws of physics we are familiar with including spacetime. This is what we mean when we say that spacetime is emergent. It would only have an aproximate existance that fades away of we examine it very closely.

      An good analogy to this is the surface of a liquid such as the sea. We know that at a microscopic level the sea is just a collection of molecules that interact and when we right down a mathematical mode for this we do not define a surface, just the properties of the molecules, but under the right conditions a liquid surface is formed. The surface is an emergent geometrical phenomena with its own macroscopic dynamics. This does not mean that spacetime is made of something like molecules or that it has to exist within some other geometry. The way it emerges is probably very different but the principle of emergence is the same.

      The ordering of meta-physical aspects is more imposing subject of talk.

      Sincerely,

      Miss. Sujatha Jagannathan

      Thanks Philip,

      That analogy was very helpful in understanding the mysterious adjective "emergent". Unfortunately you point out that the analogy does not go all the way down by saying, "This does not mean that spacetime is made of something like molecules or that it has to exist within some other geometry". If you had not put up this red flag, I would have wanted to interrogate your position to see or bring out any illogicalities therein, if present.

      Nevertheless, if I may use the opportunity to do some 'dialectic':

      - is it only space-time that can be entitled to the adjective "emergent" or can space itself before being wedded to time by Minkowski also have a claim to the title "emergent"?

      - In your model, is a length infinitely divisible into positions or is there a finite limit to the number of positions available on a given length?

      - When gravitational waves travel, it is said that spacetime is distorted with alternate lengthening and shortening of a given length orthogonal to the direction of wave travel. If I am right, can something that is not made of anything discrete vibrate? Don't you think that the coincidence of gravitational waves and light travelling at c , may suggest that perhaps they are similarly propagated and share a spectrum, just as the finding that light travel at same velocity as the electro-magnetic waves predicted by Maxwell and verified by Hertz resulted in the classification of light as belonging to the spectrum of electromagnetic waves.

      You may not like my essay being a hard-core physicist but please take a look when you can spare the time. The ideas are directly opposite to your viewpoint. Also you probably find confusing my other questions about what exists subsequently perishing so I spare you the agony, worrying what I mean.

      All the best in the competition. And God bless your idea of setting up your non-discriminatory vixra.

      Regards,

      Akinbo

      "is it only space-time that can be entitled to the adjective "emergent" or can space itself before being wedded to time by Minkowski also have a claim to the title "emergent"?"

      Either or neither or both could be correct. I favour the view that space and time are both emergent as one unified space-time structure. If you want to read about a different point of view you could look at Lee Smolin's essay. His idea is that time is fundamental but space is emergent. I dont like that idea for numerous reasons but we dont know yet how it works so it is good that there are people exploring different possibilities.

      Alinbo, I will of course read your essay. For the last few weeks I have been enbroiled in some non-physics matters and only have time to answer a few questions but there is still plenty of time.

      Dear Philip,

      a central point in your essay is universality. A mathematical structure is more universal - more discovered than invented - when it is instantiated in more structures that superficially appear different from one another; and a physical law is more universal when it describes more physical systems that appear different from one another in some aspects (e.g. different particle types in systems that obey the same thermodynamical laws).

      A dense spectrum of universality degrees is envisaged, for which we still lack formal treatment and measure. And yet, the idea to navigate the mathematical universe guided by this compass and reach the top of the hill (or the bottom of the valley), with the idea that the most universal mathematical structure coincide with the meta-laws of physics, is very appealing.

      We have another interesting notion of universality, however, more advanced in terms of possibilities of formal treatment, and simply of a True/False type (no spectrum of degrees): that's of course computational universality (Turing universality) - the ability of a model of computation to reproduce any computation of any other conceivable model of computation.

      To those who attribute a fundamentally algorithmic nature to the universe (thus justifying its mix of order and disorder better, in my opinion, than any other approach) this would be the first choice for a notion of universality. Then, the democratic idea that all vacua, or all mathematical structures, enjoy some form of existence, could perhaps also apply to the multiplicity of universal models of computation.

      There seems to be a very large gap between the idea of an algorithmic uni/multiverse and the scenario that you describe. You place 'algorithms' in your picture below 'games', but still far from the 'point of universality'. I agree that individual algorithms are more invented than discovered, but what about the Universal Turing machine?

      Thanks and best regards

      Tommaso

      P.S. In case the algorithmic paradigm gained credibility in the future, I suggest to replace the elephant with an ant, for its 'minimality', as a metaphor for the head of a Turing machine, and as a reminder of the variety of properties that emerge from the computations of 'turmites' (2D Turing machines), including Langton ant.

        Tommaso, thank you for your comment. It is good to see you in the contest again.

        You have made a very astute point which is not lost on me although space constraints meant I did not say much about it in the essay. If you look at the paper by Seth Lloyd "The universal path integral" which I have cited you will see that he concentrates on algorithms. This may be very close to the kind of approach you are thinking of.

        There are a couple of reasons why I did not want to focus on algorithms myself even though the universaltiy of computing is certainly very relevant here. One thing is that computers tend to run calculations forward in one direction. A normal sequential program has a time ordering in its calculations. This may be relaxed in a parallel programming architecture but there is still a partial ordering which people will inevitably try to link to temporal causality. As I said in my essay I dont think this kind of causality is important. I aknowledge that you could work with algroithms without making this connection.

        The other thing is that path integrals are not just sums over configurations. When you have fermions the sum is replaced with an algebraic integral over grassman varuables. I suspect that the universality we see in maths and physics is also more general in this way. It is an algebraic principle that we do not understand and the kind of universality you get in statistical ensembles is just a good metaphor for that. The universality in computing is a little different again and it fits in somewhere, but here I tried to convey the idea of some other kind of self-referntial, self-organising universality that we understand very little about.

        I look forward to reading your essay a little later

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        • Post #44

        Dear Philip,

        I read your essay with great interest. I totally agree with you: we need a new paradigm in basic science. To do this, need to consider the "universal point" as ontological "proto- existential - extremum". But not "meta-laws", only one "law of laws" - "Logos". My high score.I think that we must first to consider the proto-structure of the Universum (matter) from the point of view of eternity ("sub specie aeternitatis"), that is, to carry out the ontological structure of matter in the proto-era, "time before times began". When we "grab" (understand) the primordial (ontological) structure of space, then we will understand the nature of time. Therefore, we must move from the concept of "space-time" to the concept of "space-matter-time", which represents the ontological unity of the Universum. The primordial structure of matter determines the structure of the language in which Nature speaks to us, single language for mathematicians, physicists and poets , ie, language that contains all the meanings of the "LifeWorld" (E.Husserl).I invite you to read my essay .

        Kind regards,

        Vladimir

          Thank you Vladimir, I will read your essay, sounds intriguing.

          Dear Dr. Gibbs,

          I read your essay with great interest.

          I note your citing of the parable of the blind men and the elephant, as a metaphor for incomplete knowledge. However, I think that abstract theories inferred from incomplete knowledge can be more pernicious than the lack of knowledge itself. Such mathematical theories can act to narrow the mind and blind the vision.

          You might be interested in reading my own essay, "Remove the Blinders: How Mathematics Distorted the Development of Quantum Theory". I argue that premature adoption of an abstract mathematical framework prevented consideration of a simple, consistent, realistic model of quantum mechanics, avoiding paradoxes of indeterminacy, entanglement, and non-locality. What's more, this realistic model is directly testable using little more than Stern-Gerlach magnets.

          But questioning the foundations in this way is considered heretical, and is unpublishable in physics journals.

          Alan Kadin