Editing User:Aardvark/GWT
The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
}} | }} | ||
The knowledge of fundamental physics and the mathematics necessary to perform and understand it are known to few, maybe some tens of thousands of people at most, and commitment to reach those levels entails almost a decade of graduate and post-graduate study. Yet what if it was all much easier and much harder to understand? What if the necessary knowledge was finite and more rapidly attainable to a broader population than those select few? What if there was a way to identify and abstract the most basic | The knowledge of fundamental physics and the mathematics necessary to perform and understand it are known to few, maybe some tens of thousands of people at most, and commitment to reach those levels entails almost a decade of graduate and post-graduate study. Yet what if it was all much easier and much harder to understand? What if the necessary knowledge was finite and more rapidly attainable to a broader population than those select few? What if there was a way to identify and abstract the most basic structures, a list of all the tools to build and operate on those structures, and a user's guide to describe how to use the tools. | ||
The Graph, Wall, Tome project demonstrates that these resources exist and already cover much of the necessary ground, but also that they are still flawed and need refinement. Edward Witten, perhaps the most intelligent living physicist, wrote a | The Graph, Wall, Tome project demonstrates that these resources exist and already cover much of the necessary ground, but also that they are still flawed and need refinement. Edward Witten, perhaps the most intelligent living physicist, wrote a paragraph in 1987 (from his address at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Berkeley, August 1986) that linguistically encodes and abstracts the most basic structures underlying physics, such that their function can still be understood even if the particular equation may change. This is the '''Graph'''. Jim Simmons, billionaire physicist, commissioned the iconic Wall at State University of New York Stony Brook which has inscribed upon it the equations of what Witten says in addition to some of the most important mathematical and physical results. This is the '''Wall'''. Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel laureate and intellectual descendant of Albert Einstein’s school of geometric physics, wrote a book titled ''The Road to Reality'', which describes and summarizes how to use the mathematics and physics contained within the Wall and the Graph. This is the '''Tome'''. | ||
Already in these objects together is enough information to begin a serious study of physics at its most fundamental level and comprehend the deep connections between mathematics and physics. Yet, almost no one knows or seeks them. Further still, as recently as the 1950s we were confused about the | Already in these objects together is enough information to begin a serious study of physics at its most fundamental level and comprehend the deep connections between mathematics and physics. Yet, almost no one knows or seeks them. Further still, as recently as the 1950s we were confused about the structureof the universe: we didn't know the world is left-right asymmetric, and we didn't know the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which demonstrated that the electromagnetic field is less important than the electromagnetic potential. As recently as the mid-1970s, Jim Simmons and C.N. Yang showed that particle theory is completely geometric. | ||
Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the Search, the search for a theory of everything. Graph, Wall, Tome should not be confused for the Search, and the Search should not be confused for Graph, Wall, Tome. Graph, Wall, Tome is a necessary road to begin the Search. | |||
Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the | |||
__TOC__ | __TOC__ | ||
=== Prime Directive === | === Prime Directive === | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote style="width: 600px; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: 125%; background: #f3f3ff; border-color: #ddd;"> | ||
A request: | A request: | ||
Line 57: | Line 55: | ||
=== Graph === | === Graph === | ||
The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's paper [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics and Geometry] | The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's paper [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics and Geometry], at the bottom of page 20. In language it concisely encodes the overarching structure of reality: | ||
<div class="projects-container"> | <div class="projects-container"> | ||
<div class="grid-column"> | <div class="grid-column"> | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote style="max-width:575px; min-width:300px; font-size: 125%; background: #f3f3ff; border-color: #ddd;"> | ||
If one wants to summarize our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations: | If one wants to summarize our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations: | ||
(i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold | (i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $$M$$, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws. | ||
(ii) Over | (ii) Over $$M$$ is a vector bundle $$X$$ with a non-abelian gauge group $$G$$. | ||
(iii) Fermions are sections of | (iii) Fermions are sections of $$(\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_{-} \otimes V_{\tilde{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\tilde{R}$$ are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in representation difference $$\Delta$$ in some underlying theory. | ||
All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the gauge fields, and the fermions are to be interpreted in quantum mechanical terms. | All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the gauge fields, and the fermions are to be interpreted in quantum mechanical terms. | ||
Line 76: | Line 74: | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
=== Wall === | === Wall === | ||
The [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html following image] is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University | The [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html following image] is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University. It contains many equations and mathematical results that have contributed to the human understanding of reality. | ||
<div style="text-align: center;">'''[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ Click here for an interactive version of the Wall]'''</div> | <div style="text-align: center;">'''[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ Click here for an interactive version of the Wall].'''</div> | ||
<gallery mode="packed" heights=600px> | <gallery mode="packed" heights=600px> | ||
Line 107: | Line 97: | ||
}} | }} | ||
The Tome is ''[[The Road to Reality]]'' by Nobel laureate [[Sir Roger Penrose]], which contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe, as it was understood | The Tome is ''[[The Road to Reality]]'' by Nobel laureate [[Sir Roger Penrose]], which contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe, as it was understood around 2007, in 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages with diagrams and equations. For the information contained in the [[Graph, Wall, Tome#Graph|Graph]] and the [[Graph, Wall, Tome#Wall|Wall]], this book provides intuition and the beginnings of understanding. It serves as an example of how these concepts can be explained and arranged to encourage productive learning. | ||
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 Road to Reality by | * [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 Road to Reality by Roger Penrose on Amazon] | ||
The community is reading through the tome and gathering resources on the wiki. | The community is reading through the tome and gathering resources on the wiki. | ||
* [https://discord.gg/3xgrNwJ The Portal Book Club] - We have a weekly group that meets to talk about this book. Come join us in Discord! | * [https://discord.gg/3xgrNwJ The Portal Book Club] - We have a weekly group that meets to talk about this book. Come join us in Discord! | ||
* [[The_Road_to_Reality_Study_Notes|Community study notes]] | * [[The_Road_to_Reality_Study_Notes|Community study notes]]. | ||
* [[The Road to Reality|Reference material by chapter]] | * [[The Road to Reality|Reference material by chapter]]. | ||
== Core Sub-projects == | == Core Sub-projects == | ||
Line 124: | Line 114: | ||
|header= | |header= | ||
===Editing the Graph=== | ===Editing the Graph=== | ||
|content=[[Editing the Graph]] - Though the original Graph aptly | |content=[[Editing the Graph]] - Though the original Graph aptly describes our physical knowledge, there are some minor alterations and additions to be made for it to accurately capture the present understanding.}} | ||
{{GenericBoxWithHeader | {{GenericBoxWithHeader | ||
|header= | |header= | ||
===Defacing the Wall=== | ===Defacing the Wall=== | ||
|content=[[Defacing the Wall]] - Update and improve the wall so that it is conciliant with fundamental theoretical physics | |content=[[Defacing the Wall]] - Update and improve the wall so that it is conciliant with fundamental theoretical physics.}} | ||
{{GenericBoxWithHeader | {{GenericBoxWithHeader | ||
|header= | |header= | ||
===Rewriting the Tome=== | ===Rewriting the Tome=== | ||
|content=[[Rewriting the Tome]] - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation | |content=[[Rewriting the Tome]] - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation.}} | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
Line 161: | Line 151: | ||
* [[14: London Tsai - The Reclusive Dean of The New Escherians|London Tsai on The Portal Podcast]] | * [[14: London Tsai - The Reclusive Dean of The New Escherians|London Tsai on The Portal Podcast]] | ||
* [[A Portal Special Presentation- Geometric Unity: A First Look|Geometric Unity First Presentation]] | * [[A Portal Special Presentation- Geometric Unity: A First Look|Geometric Unity First Presentation]] | ||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2nG7-eXxko Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 134] | * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2nG7-eXxko Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 134] | ||
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZJNe7YtE Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 88] | * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZJNe7YtE Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 88] |