Is Milgrom’s MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) fundamental for philosophy, science, and the physical interpretation of string theory? by David Brown

I say that my 3 most important ideas are: (1) Milgrom is the Kepler of contemporary cosmology -- on the basis of overwhelming empirical evidence. (2) The Koide formula is essential for understanding the foundations of physics. (3) Lestone's theory of virtual cross sections is essential for understanding the foundations of physics. Are the 3 preceding ideas correct? Can the 3 preceding ideas be explained in terms of string theory with the finite nature hypothesis and/or string theory with the infinite nature hypothesis? Consider 2 more ideas: Fredkin's Finitary Fourfold Hypothesis: Infinities, infinitesmals, perfectly continuous variables, and local sources of randomness are figments of the imagination and never occur in nature. Wolfram's Simple Rules Hypothesis: There exist 4 or 5 simple rules that yield empirically valid approximations to quantum field theory and general relativity theory. Are the 2 preceding hypotheses correct? How might the 2 preceding hypotheses be mathematically formulated?

Is the concept of infinity empirically valid? Is there an infinite continuum of real numbers? If there is an infinite continuum of real numbers, then are there questions in physics that depend upon the truth or falsity of the axiom choice in Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory?

According to Wikipedia, "Jerry Lloyd Bona (born February 5, 1945) is an American mathematician, known for his work in fluid mechanics, partial differential equations, and computational mathematics, and active in some other branches of pure and applied mathematics. Bona received his PhD in 1971 from Harvard University under supervision of Garrett Birkhoff and worked from 1970 to 1972 at the Fluid Mechanics Research Institute University of Essex, where along with Brooke Benjamin and J. J. Mahony, he published on Model Equations for Long Waves in Non-linear Dispersive Systems, known as Benjamin-Bona-Mahony equation. He is probably best known for his statement about equivalent statements of the Axiom of Choice: "The Axiom of Choice is obviously true, the Well-ordering theorem is obviously false; and who can tell about Zorn's Lemma?"

Jerry L. Bona, Wikipedia

What are fundamental particles in physics? Consider the following 5 questions: What are the most important unsolved problems in science and technology? What are the most important unsolved problems in the foundations of physics? Is energy-density bounded away from zero? Is energy-density bounded away from infinity? In empirical reality, is gravitational energy conserved? According to the Gravity Probe B science team, my basic theory is wrong. I suggest that the 4 ultra-precise gyroscopes functioned correctly and confirmed what I call the Fernández-Rañada-Milgrom effect. In terms of string theory with the finite nature hypothesis, what have I have failed to do? I need to introduce cutoffs for energy-density with respect to the strong interactions and the weak interactions. I need to predict a rest mass for inflatons. I need to suggest plausible values for both the lower bound and the upper bound for gravitational energy-density. I need to make a complete prediction for the Space Roar Profile Prediction. WOLFRAM'S SIMPLE RULES HYPOTHESIS: I need to suggest 4 or 5 simple rules that might yield adequate approximations for quantum field theory and general relativity theory. I have, so far, failed to convince string theorists that Milgrom is the Kepler of contemporary cosmology.

"I came to the subject a True Believer in dark matter, but it was MOND that nailed the prediction for the LSB galaxies that I was studying (McGaugh & de Blok, 1998), not any flavor of dark matter. So what am supposed to conclude? ... " -- McGaugh

The MOND pages

According to all of the pro-MOND astronomers and astrophysics (so far as I am aware) the MOND acceleration constant a0 is (1.2 ± .02) * 10^-10 meters * sec^-2 ... I am confident that the error estimate is not wrong by an order-of-magnitude.

Scarpa, Riccardo. "Modified Newtonian Dynamics, an introductory review." In AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 822, no. 1, pp. 253-265. AIP, 2006.

arXiv.org preprint for Scarpa's article

ERROR IN MY POST ... a0 = (1.2 ± .2) * 10^-10 meters * sec^-2 not (1.2 ± .02)

"... there is one non-trivial way to extend the spacetime symmetries, and that is to incorporate supersymmetry. ... in any string theory, nature always looks supersymmetric at sufficiently high energy scales. If string theory is telling us something about nature, nature is supersymmetric at some energy scale ..." -- Joseph Conlon

"Introduction to Supersymmetry" by Joseph Conlon, 2010

In terms of Fredkin's Digital Philosophy, a plausible slogan is: "A complete infinity is either a mathematical convenience or a physical mistake." If supersymmetry is an approximate symmetry within Wolfram's automaton then string theorists have false confidence in their contemporary paradigm.

"Space-time is doomed--how can it emerge from more primitive building blocks? And how is our macroscopic universe compatible with violent microscopic quantum fluctuations that seem to make its existence wildly implausible?" -- Nima Arkani-Hamed

abstract of "The Future of Fundamental Physics", the LCTP Inaugural Lecture, by Nima Arkani-Hamed, 18 January 2018

Start with Kepler's laws and follow Newton's reasoning with the removal of the assumption that gravitational energy is conserved.

The result is not F = G * m1 * m2 / r^2

but instead F = ((1 - 2 * D-M-C-C)^-1) * G * m1 * m2 / r^2 , where D-M-C-C = dark-matter-compensation-constant = 0 if gravitational energy is conserved, > 0 if gravitational energy is unexpectedly large, and < 0 if gravitational energy in unexpectedly small. In the standard form of Einstein's field equations replace the -1/2 by -1/2 + dark-matter-compensation-constant to get the alleged Fernández-Rañada-Milgrom effect, where the constant is approximated sqrt((60±10)/4) * 10^-5.

IF WOLFRAM'S COSMOLOGICAL AUTOMATON REALLY EXISTS, THEN IS IT PLAUSIBLE THAT ITS TIMING MECHANISM INVOLVES A TRANSFER OF GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY FROM THE BOUNDARY OF THE MULTIVERSE TO THE INTERIOR OF THE MULTIVERSE?

In 2007, John P. Lestone of Los Alamos National Laboratory, U.S.A., suggested a possible approach to calculating the value of the fine structure constant based upon a heuristic string theory. The electron, the muon, and the tau might each consist of a 2-sphere having precisely three vibrating superstrings. In his 2007 publication "Physics based calculation of the fine structure constant " J. P. Lestone suggested that "the photon emission and absorption area A of an electron is controlled by a length scale" where the length scale is near the Planck length.

"Physics based calculation of the fine structure constant" by J. P. Lestone, 2007

Lestone introduced physical hypotheses to calculate the fine structure constant:

(a) The photon emission and absorption area A on an electron is controlled by a length scale f.

(b) The electron has a corresponding effective mean temperature T and the relationship between T and f is the same as the relationship between the Planck temperature and the Planck length.

(c) The absorption across section A/4 should be associated with a corresponding stimulated emission cross section (A/4) * exp(-epsilon), where epsilon is the energy of the incident photon relative to the temperature of the system.

(d) When a photon is absorbed by an electron there is a probability of exp(-epsilon) that a stimulated emission occurs.

(e) An electron consists of a loop of string with its length moving on the 2-dimensional surface of a nearly spherical membrane with radius f.

(f) The string's length is n times the sphere's circumference and this length is long enough so that, in a short time interval, the string can cover most of the string's surface.

(g) The finite length of the string generates an uncertainty in the effective length of the particle, and this temperature uncertainty is related to the time it takes for a signal to travel the length of the string.

Is Lestone's work a promising approach to effective calculations in string theory? What might be some of the implications of Lestone's hypothesis? Renormalization in quantum electrodynamics deals with infinite integrals that arise in perturbation theory. Does Lestone's hypothesis have important implications for renormalization? I conjecture that, EVEN AFTER QUANTUM AVERAGING, Maxwell's equations might be false at the Planck scale, because Lestone's heuristic string theory might be empirically valid. Let ρ represent the electric charge density (charge per unit volume). I conjecture that, in equation (19b) on page 23 of Einstein's "The Meaning of Relativity" (5th edition), ρ should be replaced by the expression ρ/ (1 - (ρ^2 / (ρ(max))^2))^(1/2), where ρ(max) is the maximum of the absolute value of the electric charge density in the physical universe. Polchinski (2003) offered "two general principles of completeness: (1) In any theoretical framework that requires charge to be quantized, there will exist magnetic monopoles. (2) In any fully unified theory, for every gauge field there will exist electric and magnetic sources with the minimum relative Dirac quantum n = 1 (more precisely, the lattice of electric and magnetic charges is maximal)." Are Polchinski's two general principles likely to be correct if and only if nature is infinite?

Are human thoughts merely natural constructions like beaver dams and termite mounds? What are the most fundamental questions? Are questions more fundamental than answers? Are experiments more fundamental than theories? What are the most fundamental goals, meanings, and purposes? As positive integers grow larger do they diminish in meaning, purpose, and significance? Are the numbers 1, 2, and 3 precisely as meaningful as the numbers 1+10^1000, 2+10^1000, and 3+10^1000? Is mathematics the language of science? Is physics the foundation of science? The general theory of relativity modifies Newton's 1st and 2nd laws of motion, but not Newton's 3rd law. In quantum theory, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction on average, but the observer introduces uncertainty into measurements of actions and reactions.

Wolfgang Pauli called Einstein's fundamental objection to the uncertainty principle "the ideal of the detached observer" (phrase translated from the German):

" 'Like the moon has a definite position' Einstein said to me last winter, 'whether or not we look at the moon, the same must also hold for the atomic objects, as there is no sharp distinction possible between these and macroscopic objects. Observation cannot create an element of reality like a position, there must be something contained in the complete description of physical reality which corresponds to the possibility of observing a position, already before the observation has been actually made.' I hope, that I quoted Einstein correctly; it is always difficult to quote somebody out of memory with whom one does not agree. It is precisely this kind of postulate which I call the ideal of the detached observer." -- Letter from Pauli to Niels Bohr, 15 February 1955, quoted in:

page 43 of "Writings on physics and philosophy by Wolfgang Paul", edited by Charles P. Enz & Karl Meyenn, 1994

Is the ideal of the detached observer a philosophically correct concept?

"But here, I will argue that, while MOND is unconventional and inconstitent with the current cosmological paradigm, it is by no means in the category of crazy ideas. And we should recall that many constructs of modern physics, such as quarks, were at an early stage considered crazy and condemned quite viciously by renown scientists." -- Robert H. Sanders

"A historical perspective on Modified Newtonian Dynamics", 2014, (page 19) arXiv.org

Is Milgrom the Kepler of contemporary cosmology? Is the Koide formula essential for understanding the foundations of physics? Does square-root(mass) have some profound meaning in terms of the foundations of physics? Is Lestone's theory of virtual cross sections essential for understanding the foundations of physics? Is the value of the fine-structure constant a happenstance of the string landscape?

Fine-structure constant, Wikipedia

happenstance, Wiktionary

String landscape, Wikipedia

What is the most fundamental insight in quantum theory? Is it Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?

Uncertainty principle, Wikipedia

What is the most fundamental insight in general relativity theory? Is it Einstein's equivalence principle?

Equivalence principle, Wikipedia

Does string theory with the infinite nature hypothesis suggest that the uncertainty principle needs some modification based upon the string landscape? Does string theory with the finite nature hypothesis suggest that the equivalence principle needs some modification based upon Wolfram's cosmological automaton?

My guess is that the equivalence principle has 4 problems: (1) Dark energy as a weird, negative pressure suggests that dark energy has negative inertial mass-energy with respect to the string landscape. Is dark energy the result of the escape of gravitons from the boundary of the multiverse into the interior of the multiverse? Does dark energy obey the equivalence principle? (2) Does dark matter obey the equivalence principle? Does dark matter have positive gravitational mass-energy and zero inertial mass-energy? (3) Does the equivalence principle fail when energy-density becomes large enough? (4) Does the equivalence principle fail when energy-density becomes close enough to zero?

"It is seen that MOND agrees with observations over at least 6 orders of magnitude in acceleration."

-- Riccardo Scarpa

"Modified Newtonian dynamics, an Introductory Review." by R. Scarpa, In AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 822, no. 1, pp. 253-265. AIP, 2006. (Conclusions section referring to a data plot of about 1000 objects)

"Modified Newtonian Dynamics, an Introduction Review", arXiv.org preprint

Kamal Rajpal's idea "... photons with the least energy will correspond to photons with a temperature close to zero kelvin ..." (vixra.org) is likely to be correct provided that nature is finite and digital -- and might be correct if nature is infinite. Do least-energy photons exist in nature and not just in theory? Can absolute zero be approximated with arbitrary accuracy?

Observe the chicken. Why did the chicken cross the road? Because we fail to live in an alternate universe in which chickens never evolved. What is observation? What is measurement? Why does measurement exist? Consider 2 concepts:

(1) The observer creates the measurement by causing a selection among quantum possibilities.

(2) Measurement is a natural process that separates the boundary of the multiverse from the interior of the multiverse. The observer's thoughts and actions are entirely caused by Fredkin-Wolfram information.

What are other plausible concepts of measurement?

Measurement problem, Wikipedia