Beyond the Dynamical Universe

Beyond the Dynamical Universe
Author: Michael Silberstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2018-02-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0192533835

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Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. Whether we are talking about unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity, there is no consensus in sight. In addition, both enterprises are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including above all, time as experienced. The authors argue that, across the board, this impasse is the result of the "dynamical universe paradigm," the idea that reality is fundamentally made up of physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws. Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. This book offers a completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld), whereby the past, present and future co-determine each other via "adynamical global constraints," such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as is the past. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.

Beyond the Dynamical Universe

Beyond the Dynamical Universe
Author: Michael Silberstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2018-02-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0192533843

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Theoretical physics and foundations of physics have not made much progress in the last few decades. Whether we are talking about unifying general relativity and quantum field theory (quantum gravity), explaining so-called dark energy and dark matter (cosmology), or the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics and relativity, there is no consensus in sight. In addition, both enterprises are deeply puzzled about various facets of time including above all, time as experienced. The authors argue that, across the board, this impasse is the result of the "dynamical universe paradigm," the idea that reality is fundamentally made up of physical entities that evolve in time from some initial state according to dynamical laws. Thus, in the dynamical universe, the initial conditions plus the dynamical laws explain everything else going exclusively forward in time. In cosmology, for example, the initial conditions reside in the Big Bang and the dynamical law is supplied by general relativity. Accordingly, the present state of the universe is explained exclusively by its past. This book offers a completely new paradigm (called Relational Blockworld), whereby the past, present and future co-determine each other via "adynamical global constraints," such as the least action principle. Accordingly, the future is just as important for explaining the present as is the past. Most of the book is devoted to showing how Relational Blockworld resolves many of the current conundrums of both theoretical physics and foundations of physics, including the mystery of time as experienced and how that experience relates to the block universe.

The Dynamic Universe

The Dynamic Universe
Author: Tuomo Suntola
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2018-08-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9781725863415

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The Dynamic Universe theory is a holistic description of the observable physical reality. Like the Copernican revolution, the DU creates a system perspective allowing straightforward mathematics and a conceivable cosmological picture of the universe - and gives precise predictions to observables without dark energy or other additional parameters. It is a unifying theory converting spacetime in variable coordinates into dynamic space in absolute coordinates. The Dynamic Universe theory relies on an overall zero-energy balance in space and the conservation of the total energy in interactions in space. Instead of the relativity of an object to the observer, relativity in DU space means relativity of local to the whole - relativity appears a measure of the locally available share of the total energy in space.

Beyond Spacetime

Beyond Spacetime
Author: Nick Huggett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2020-05-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 110847702X

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A collection of essays discussing the philosophy and foundations of quantum gravity. Written by leading philosophers and physicists in the field, chapters cover the important conceptual questions in the search for a quantum theory of gravity, and the current state of understanding among philosophers and physicists.

Programming the Universe

Programming the Universe
Author: Seth Lloyd
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2007-03-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1400033861

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Is the universe actually a giant quantum computer? According to Seth Lloyd, the answer is yes. All interactions between particles in the universe, Lloyd explains, convey not only energy but also information–in other words, particles not only collide, they compute. What is the entire universe computing, ultimately? “Its own dynamical evolution,” he says. “As the computation proceeds, reality unfolds.” Programming the Universe, a wonderfully accessible book, presents an original and compelling vision of reality, revealing our world in an entirely new light.

Beyond the God Particle

Beyond the God Particle
Author: Leon M. Lederman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2024-08-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1493086995

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Two leading physicists discuss the importance of the Higgs Boson, the future of particle physics, and the mysteries of the universe yet to be unraveled. On July 4, 2012, the long-sought Higgs Boson--aka "the God Particle"--was discovered at the world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC, in Geneva, Switzerland. On March 14, 2013, physicists at CERN confirmed it. This elusive subatomic particle forms a field that permeates the entire universe, creating the masses of the elementary particles that are the basic building blocks of everything in the known world--from viruses to elephants, from atoms to quasars. Starting where Nobel Laureate Leon Lederman's bestseller The God Particle left off, this incisive new book explains what's next. Lederman and Hill discuss key questions that will occupy physicists for years to come:* Why were scientists convinced that something like the "God Particle" had to exist?* What new particles, forces, and laws of physics lie beyond the "God Particle"?* What powerful new accelerators are now needed for the US to recapture a leadership role in science and to reach "beyond the God Particle," such as Fermilab's planned Project-X and the Muon Collider? Using thoughtful, witty, everyday language, the authors show how all of these intriguing questions are leading scientists ever deeper into the fabric of nature. Readers of The God Particle will not want to miss this important sequel.

Through Two Doors at Once

Through Two Doors at Once
Author: Anil Ananthaswamy
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2019-06-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1101986107

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The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself--and continues to almost two hundred years later. Many of science's greatest minds have grappled with the simple yet elusive "double-slit" experiment. Thomas Young devised it in the early 1800s to show that light behaves like a wave, and in doing so opposed Isaac Newton. Nearly a century later, Albert Einstein showed that light comes in quanta, or particles, and the experiment became key to a fierce debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr over the nature of reality. Richard Feynman held that the double slit embodies the central mystery of the quantum world. Decade after decade, hypothesis after hypothesis, scientists have returned to this ingenious experiment to help them answer deeper and deeper questions about the fabric of the universe. How can a single particle behave both like a particle and a wave? Does a particle exist before we look at it, or does the very act of looking create reality? Are there hidden aspects to reality missing from the orthodox view of quantum physics? Is there a place where the quantum world ends and the familiar classical world of our daily lives begins, and if so, can we find it? And if there's no such place, then does the universe split into two each time a particle goes through the double slit? With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world and through history, down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. Through Two Doors at Once is the most fantastic voyage you can take.

Free Will and Consciousness in the Multiverse

Free Will and Consciousness in the Multiverse
Author: Christian D. Schade
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2019-01-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3030035832

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It is hard to interpret quantum mechanics. The most surprising, but also most parsimonious, interpretation is the many-worlds, or quantum-multiverse interpretation, implying a permanent coexistence of parallel realities. Could this perhaps be the appropriate interpretation of quantum mechanics? This book collects evidence for this interpretation, both from physics and from other fields, and proposes a subjectivist version of it, the clustered-minds multiverse. The author explores its implications through the lens of decision making and derives consequences for free will and consciousness. For example, free will can be implemented in the form of vectorial choices, as introduced in the book. He furthermore derives consequences for research in the social sciences, especially in psychology and economics.

Philosophy Beyond Spacetime

Philosophy Beyond Spacetime
Author: Christian Wüthrich
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 019258247X

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Quantum gravity seeks a unified theory in which quantum matter is dynamically related to generally relativistic spacetime. Although a continuing work in progress, research programmes in the field such as string theory, loop quantum gravity, and causal set theory make it clear that a successful theory of quantum gravity will raise important challenges to our conceptions of space, time, and matter-perhaps abolishing them altogether as fundamental entities. But just as important, there is good reason to think that some of the problems in finding a theory of quantum gravity are themselves conceptual, in need of philosophical analysis. Philosophy Beyond Spacetime: Implications from Quantum Gravity assembles original papers from philosophers (and one physicist), establishing a definitive statement of the current state of play, on which future research into this area can build. Aiming to expand knowledge and understanding of the philosophy of quantum gravity, it emphasizes how debates in metaphysics—regarding emergence, composition, or grounding for example—shed light on the conceptual questions of quantum gravity. And conversely, how quantum theories of space and time call into question philosophical views grounded in classical spacetime. Furthermore, the philosophy of quantum gravity raises methodological questions, for instance concerning the relation between physics and metaphysics. The essays have been chosen to demonstrate to a wide range of philosophers the significance of the subject, as well as making novel contributions to it.