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{{InfoboxProject
|project=Graph, Wall, Tome
|image=[[File:Ascending and Descending.jpg]]
|topic=Graph, Wall, Tome
|leader=[https://twitter.com/AardvarkLaurant Aardvark (Aardvark#5610)]<br>[https://twitter.com/Tim_Melon Tim (TimFH#7940)]
|startdate=27 January 2020
|customlabel1=<!-- Placeholder -->
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|customlabel2=Google Drive
|customdata2=[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1706CBEJQEMppV60OU8OtcXxicluk2T3Y?usp=sharing Drive]
|customlabel3=Master Planning
|customdata3=[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9AvvFZzODw1WiGRZwRsFFZdPdBzYVJGLHiqWNrMtIA/edit?usp=sharing Doc]
|customlabel4=Reference Material
|customdata4=[https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rN-zfv41xeH3WFNOrZNb7Clz-yu1dgulP4bcEPKbcY/edit?usp=sharing Doc]
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|link1=[https://graphwalltome.com/ Homepage]
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|link3title=
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|link4title=Discord
|link4=[https://discord.gg/Z3u3pPm Invite]
}}


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 physical structures, a list of all the tools to build and operate on those structures, and a user's guide to describe how to use those 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 [[#Graph|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 underlying equation may change. This is the '''Graph'''. Jim Simons, billionaire physicist, commissioned the [[#Wall|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 history's 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 [[#Tome|''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'''.


Fundamental physics is an unknown world to most people. Equations, symbols, and incomprehensible terms abound, and unless you've studied post-grad mathematics and physics, this world is inaccessible to you. Although there are several great resources to map the way toward complete understanding. Most people will not undertake the journey to understand the source code to the world that we all inhabit.
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 structure of the universe: we didn't know the world is left-right asymmetric, as discovered by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu Madame Wu], and we didn't know the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aharonov%E2%80%93Bohm_effect Aharonov-Bohm effect], which demonstrated that the electromagnetic field is less important than the electromagnetic potential. In the mid-1970s as well, Jim Simons and C.N. Yang showed that particle theory is completely geometric. Both of these developments are little known among the public. That the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome and these recent foundational developments are unknown is evidence that something is off in how we communicate science and hand down our knowledge.


The goal of the Graph, Wall, Tome project is to solve this problem by building a portal anyone can use to travel to the amazing world that we call fundamental physics.
The aims of Graph, Wall, Tome lie in an extremely focused presentation of its core elements, improving and expanding upon the originals where necessary, to chart the path to learning fundamental physics for as many willing people as can be reached. <!-- It is not an easy road to travel, but it is one extremely rewarding, and it is the one that, in the past 100 years alone, is responsible for the comforts and relative peace we enjoy today. -->


The name of the project stems from the fact that there are 3 resources that themselves contain all that you need for an almost complete understanding of the world.
Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the '''Search''', the search for a theory of everything. Ventures that may be considered part of the search are String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Garrett Lisi's E8, and [[Eric Weinstein|Eric Weinstein's]] [[Theory of Geometric Unity|Geometric Unity]]. Graph, Wall, Tome can serve as a road to participate in the Search, though it should not be confused for the Search, and the Search should not be confused for it.


# '''The Graph''' - A paragraph written by Edward Witten
__TOC__
# '''The Wall''' - The iconic wall of Stony Brook University
# '''The Tome''' - The book 'The Road to Reality' by Roger Penrose


These resources are available to everyone, but will be sought by almost none. A goal of the Graph, Wall, Tome project is to convert these resources into a medium that can be widely disseminated, and which can not be ignored.
=== Prime Directive ===
<blockquote style="width: 600px; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: 125%;>
A request:


This project will require bi-directional information transfer, and the minds of people with many different aptitudes.
Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:


* We need mathematicians, topologists, geometers, and physicists to understand these resources, and all of their implications.
The Paragraph gets edited,
* We need explainers and educators, to convey this information to a wider audience, and
* We need artists, linguists, and programmers to create intuitive visualisations.


The Portal will create a community of people, working together to achieve these aims.
The Wall gets defaced and graffitied,


Success will generate yet further insights, opening up a more fundamental understanding of the nature of reality - for the individuals involved, and - for humanity as a whole.
The Sacred Tome gets rewritten.


But follow the skeins through each.


The Graph points to the Wall,


__TOC__
And the Wall to the Tome,
 
== Eric Weinstein's Prompt ==


<blockquote>
A request: Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:<br>
The paragraph gets edited.<br>
The wall gets defaced and grafittied.<br>
The Sacred Tome gets Re-Written<br>
But follow the skeins through each.<br>
The graph points to the wall.<br>
And the wall to the Tome.<br>
And the Tome leads to the Search.
And the Tome leads to the Search.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


Moreover, in an [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9JLij1obHY interview with Joe Rogan], Eric Weinstein remarked:
=== Graph ===
The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's 1987 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 general structure of reality:


<blockquote>"What I think theoretical physics has failed to do it hasn't build a portal for most people to even understand what the issues are, what are the objects, what is the game."</blockquote>
<blockquote style="font-size: 125%;">
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 <math>M</math>, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.


== The Graph ==
(ii) Over <math>M</math> is a vector bundle <math>X</math> with a non-abelian gauge group <math>G</math>.
[[file:The-graph.png|600px]]
<blockquote>
If one wants to summarise our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations:
(i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $$M$$, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.
(ii) Over M is a vector bundle $$X$$ with a nonabelian gauge group $$G$$.
(iii) Fermions are sections of $$(\hat{S}{+} \otimes V{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_ \otimes V_{\bar{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\bar{R}$$ 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.
</blockquote>


The original publication  [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics and Geometry by Edward Witten] can be accessed via the CERN Document Server. The paragraph is found at the bottom of page 20. Eric tweeted about the paragraph [https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein/status/928296366853328896?s=20 posted here].  
(iii) Fermions are sections of <math>(\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_{-} \otimes V_{\tilde{R}})</math>. <math>R</math> and <math>\tilde{R}</math> are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in a representation difference <math>\Delta</math> in some underlying theory.


=== Editing the Pagragraph ===
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.
 
Eric Weinstein suggested several alterations, that have been included below:
 
* In (ii), “vector bundle X” should be changed to principal G-bundle.
* Also in (ii), “nonabelian gauge group G” should be changed to nonabelian structure group G.
* In (iii), <math>\ R</math> and <math>\tilde R</math> should be (complex) linear representations of G and so they are not equivalent.
* He mentioned that some info was not required, and that the Higgs is remarkably absent.
 
This is a modified version of the paragraph:
 
<blockquote>
If one wants to summarise our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations:
 
# [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime Spacetime] is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-Riemannian_manifold pseudo-Riemannian manifold] $$M$$, endowed with a [[metric tensor]] and governed by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry geometrical laws].
# Over $$M$$ is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_bundle principal bundle] $$P_{G}$$, with a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-abelian_group non-abelian structure group] $$G$$.
# [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermion Fermions] are sections of $$(\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}\_ \otimes V_{\bar{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\bar{R}$$ are not [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomorphism isomorphic]; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light.
# The masses of elementary particles are generated through the Higgs mechanism.
 
All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_gauge_theory gauge fields], and the fermions are to be interpreted in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics quantum mechanical] terms.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


== The Wall ==
<div style="text-align: center">
 
Scan of the original paragraph:
<div class="floatright" style="text-align: center">
[[File:The-graph.png|class=shadow|650px]]
[[File:Newwall.png|center|class=shadow|400px]]
[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ High Resolution Interactiv Version of the Wall]
 
[[File:Key-to-wall.png|center|class=shadow|400px]]
</div>
</div>


This [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html image is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University]. It contains many of the most fundamental equations of physics, providing a formulaic representation of all reality.
Implicit in each respective section is:
# Spin-2 Force Field for Gravity, the Einstein Field Equations
# Spin-1 Vector Boson Theory, Yang-Mills-Maxwell Equations
# Spin-1/2 Matter Theory, Dirac Equation


Several of the equations have been identified as having direct connections to statements in 'The Graph' (identified by numbers)
These are the gauge fields referred to by the last sentence.


=== Key and Explanations ===
Note that the quantum (e.g. quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum measurement, etc...) is mentioned only after the key geometric insights.


''The following should be completed according to the list of explanations on this page: http://scgp.stonybrook.edu/archives/6264''
=== 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, completed and unveiled in May 2015. It contains many equations and mathematical results that have contributed to the human understanding of reality. In specific relation to the Graph, there are the Einstein Field Equations (item 5), the Yang-Mills Equations (item 9), and the Dirac Equation (item 7).
<div style="text-align: center;">'''[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ Click here for an interactive version of the Wall]'''</div>


<span class="highlight">[[Talk:Graph,_Wall,_Tome#EricRWeinstein_2020-02-02_at_1%3A31_PM | New suggestions from Eric]]</span>
<gallery mode="packed" heights=600px>
File:Newwall.png|center|class=shadow|400px|The Wall
File:Key-to-wall.png|center|class=shadow|800px|Legend
</gallery>


*I.  [[Jones polynomial]] for right trefoil knot; [https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Jones_polynomial Witten’s path-integral formulation] for Jones polynomial using Chern-Simons action
=== Tome ===
*II.  [[Feynmann Diagram]] illustrating [[Associativity]] equation in [[Quantum Field Theory]]
{{InfoboxBook
*III. [[Yang-Baxter equation]]
|title=The Road to Reality
*IV.  [[Lorenz Attractor]]: Lorenz equations with orbit
|image=[[File:The-tome.png|150px]]
*V.   Diagram of a black hole with [[Schwarzschild radius]]
|author=[[Sir Roger Penrose]]
*VI.  The five [[regular polyhedra]]
|language=English
*VII. Equiangular spiral drawn in "golden" rectangle (side ratio = golden mean g), ratio of consecutive [[Fibonacci numbers]] approaches g, represented by its continued fraction expansion.
|genre=Physics
*VIII.[[Babylonian computation of the square root of 2]]
|publisher=Vintage
*IX.  Visual proof of the [[Pythagorean Theorem]]
|publicationdate=9 January 2007
*X.  [[Cell decomposition of torus; Euler characteristic; Gauss-Bonnet formula.]]
|pages=1136
*XI.  Archimedes: [[On the Sphere and Cylinder]].
|isbn13=978-0679776314
*XII. [[Aharanov-Bohm effect]]
}}
*XIII.[[Supergravity Langangian]]; root diagramm for [[Lie group E8]]
*XIV. [[Navier-Stokes equation]] with flow around cylinder.


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 circa 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 serves as an index of concepts to chart a path of learning. It also demonstrates 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 Sir Roger Penrose on Amazon]


*0.   In Ellipse: ([[Kepler's 1st law]] represented by star, ellipse, planet)
The community is reading through the tome and gathering relevant resources on the wiki.
*1.   [[Kepler's 2nd law]]
* [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!
*2.  [[Newton's force-acceleration equation]]
* [[The_Road_to_Reality_Study_Notes|Community study notes]]
*3.   [[Kepler's 3rd law]]
* [[The Road to Reality|Reference material by chapter]]
*4.  [[Newton's gravitational law]]
*5.  [[Einstein's General Relativity equation]]
*6.  [[Schrödinger's equation]]
*7.  [[Dirac equation]]
*8.  [[Atiyah-Singer Theorem]]
*9.  [[Yang-Mills equations]]
*10.  [[Defining relation of Supersymmetry]]


== Core Sub-projects ==
The essence of Graph, Wall, Tome is viewing each as part of a singular idea. What content is common among them is what should be expanded, and their unique content should be promoted if it is a part of fundamental physics toolkit, or removed if it isn't.
=== Graph-Wall-Tome Connection ===
* [[Decoding the Graph-Wall-Tome Connection]] - What are the common themes that appear in the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome? What do they point to?


*A. [[Einstein’s mass-energy equation]]
<div class="projects-container">
*B. [[Maxwell's Equations]]
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
*C. [[Stoke's Theorem]]
|header=
*D. [[The boundary of a boundary is zero]]
===Editing the Graph===
*E. [[Heisenberg's indeterminacy relation]]
|content='''[[Editing the Graph]]''' - Though the original Graph aptly summarizes our physical knowledge, there are some minor alterations and additions to be made in order for it to accurately capture current physics.}}
*F. [[Euler's formula for Zeta-function]]
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
*G. Interaction between two string; [[Feynman diagram]] shows corresponding interaction of particles, here the Compton scattering of a photon off an electron.
|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. Remove extraneous information and reorganize to make clear the relations between underlying principles.}}
What should be in and what should be out of the future wall? Let's determine that[[https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Defacing_the_wall here]].
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
 
|header=
 
===Rewriting the Tome===
 
|content='''[[Rewriting the Tome]]''' - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation. Received wisdom does not need to be accepted wholesale, the original Tome is a good example but not the ideal solution.}}
Eric talked about some of the important equations on the wall. There are 2 different recorded versions of the conversation if you want to listen to it. (Where? Is there a transcript or summary of the most important points?)
</div>
 
== The Tome ==
 
[[File:The-tome.png|right|class=shadow|250px]]
 
This book by Roger Penrose contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe.
 
To gain an understanding and intuition for the information contained in 'The Graph', and 'The Wall', reading this book will provide a great head-start.
 
With 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages, including diagrams, equations, and descriptions, there are multiple avenues for understanding all concepts.
 
See our [[The Road to Reality Study Notes|study notes]]
 
=== Book Details ===  
 
* ISBN: 978-0679776314
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 Road to Reality by Roger Penrose (2004)]
* There appears to be a [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe-ebook/dp/B01BS7NTA6 Kindle Edition] that isn't available in the US. If anyone in the community has a way to get a Kindle version of the book, please add it here.
* Purchase the book somehow, then get the [https://www.academia.edu/351112/The_Road_to_Reality_Sir_Roger_Penrose pdf here]
 
== Methodology ==
 
* Create/assemble resources that allow uninitiated to quickly and easily get up to speed with state of project.
* Create/assemble resources that provide analogies for more complex principles - to demonstrate a key feature of the principle.
* Create/assemble resources that provide a geometric intuition for the equations of fundamental physics - Geometric interpretations are most amenable to being visually represented.
* Create/assemble resources that allow the geometric visualisation/intuition for principles of foundational physics.
* Rinse and repeat.
 
== Project Files ==
 
A working area for the project is located in a [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yPZHTNy47jUpmD-RMRCVtitfD-gQBRhP google drive].
 
It includes a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sB_LTltdq8J6mIKyPRaHQWKEuLk0ZXuwYQZb78BnNuk/edit?usp=sharing list of tasks] that can be worked on by individuals or groups of individuals. (add a comment to let people know if you're working on something)
 
This file also has an area to list specific areas of aptitude or interest for those people who are not sure how to contribute.
 
== Accelerators ==
 
[[Accelerators:|Accelerators: 2 minute guides to fundamental principles.]]
 
== An Example ==
 
'''Imagine:''' It's 1915, and you've made one of the greatest discoveries in hundreds of years. You visit your mother and show her your work:
 
 
$$R_{\mu v}-\frac{1}{2}Rg_{\mu v} = 8 \pi T_{\mu v}$$
 
 
'That's nice dear', she responds, unaware of the implications of your discovery.
 
The problem, is that although this equation carries with it the secrets of gravity, to a layman it is merely a bunch of letters and symbols.
 
Now, consider this single image.
 
 
[[File:sheetsunx.gif||Curved Space-Time]]
 
Instantly, the meaning becomes clear. Gravity warps space(time), and matter, planets, and even light follows a path that is curved by the warped geometry.
 


== Resources &amp; References ==
=== Resources ===
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9AvvFZzODw1WiGRZwRsFFZdPdBzYVJGLHiqWNrMtIA/edit?usp=sharing Master Planning Doc]
* [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1706CBEJQEMppV60OU8OtcXxicluk2T3Y?usp=sharing Drive Folder]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rN-zfv41xeH3WFNOrZNb7Clz-yu1dgulP4bcEPKbcY/edit?usp=sharing List of Reference Material]


* [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sB_LTltdq8J6mIKyPRaHQWKEuLk0ZXuwYQZb78BnNuk Working folder for Projects]
== Other Sub-projects ==
* [https://www.dropbox.com/s/xdickldblj574mf/eric%20wall%20-%20tome%20-%20graph.m4a?dl=0| Recording of original call w/ Eric]
* [[The Road to Reality Study Notes|Studying the Tome]] - The Tome can be intimidating. This problem can be solved 1) by creating resources that make it easier to digest its content and 2) by going through the chapters together.
* <span class="highlight">[[Eric’s Most Important Set of Books]]<span>
* [[Holonomy Project]] (Stalled) - The goal is to create visualizations for the effect known as "holonomy", whereby parallel transporting a vector around a loop in a curved space leads to the vector changing upon returning to the start of the loop. How the vector changes orientation/position in space is the holonomy of that loop in that space. This effect reveals deep information about the curvature of the space itself.
* [https://physicstravelguide.com/ The Physics Travel Guide] (A didactic Wiki that explains concepts in three levels of difficulty.)
* Information about the GWT project were first collected in a Google Doc titled [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bo5ny0UyC8gEHiAaDR2Al2OSGscUWPS8NFI-hvB1z4o/edit?pli=1 Graph, Wall, Tome - Problem Solving].


== Archived Sub-projects ==
* [[Climbing the Cliff]] (Archived) - Create a learning guide through ''The Road to Reality''.
* [[Deface the Wall]] (Completed) - Cam and boqu made a new wall that's interactive.
* [[Geometry|Geometry Project]] (Archived) - The aim is to create and collect resources related to Frederic P. Schuller's lecture series titled "Lectures on Geometrical Anatomy of Theoretical Physics" that provides a great introduction to geometrical concepts that are essential for the Graph, Wall, Tome project.
* [[Interactive Wall]] (Completed) - Demp and boqu made a wall that you can pan and zoom and click on! It also pulls information from the wiki based on what is in view.


== Reference ==
* [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics & Geometry by Ed Witten]
* [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html The Wall at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University]
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 The Road to Reality by Sir Roger Penrose]


=== Video Playlists ===
== Related Material ==
* [https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein/status/928296366853328896 Eric's tweets about the Graph]
* [[20: Sir Roger Penrose - Plotting the Twist of Einstein’s Legacy|Roger Penrose on The Portal Podcast]]
* [[15: Garrett Lisi - My Arch-nemesis, Myself|Garrett Lisi 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]]
* [[Theory of Geometric Unity]]
* [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=wf0_nMaQ6tA Eric on JRE 1453]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWCN3CPhTI Eric on JRE 1320]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9JLij1obHY Eric on JRE 1203]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJx3gLkebIA Theories of Everything on PBS Space Time]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4 Eric and Stephen Wolfram with Brian Keating on Into the Impossible]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjsPb3kBGnk Eric on Into the Impossible]
* [https://youtu.be/57SMQj3lOm0?t=4376 Into the Impossible – Sir Roger Penrose: Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Black Holes Nobel Prize w/ Eric Weinstein Janna Levin]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPvFDF9dAE Into the Impossible - Eric Weinstein: Imposter Syndrome, Donald Trump, & the Future of Theoretical Physics]
[[Category:Graph, Wall, Tome]]
[[Category:Projects]]
[[Category:Requested Project]]


* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiDYF_g45BA3abSyNl7M4pFzihZdoHT Conversations with Eric on The Portal Discord Server]
{{SHORTDESC:A holistic view of math and physics}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiDYF_g45Az5qgAP5Lj8Y3qKPSib1eP Misc recordings on The Portal Server for project and other notable conversations]
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiDYF_g45CyK7w7ZXH24FiuASYes2VO Wall-Tome-Graph Concept Explanation Videos]

Latest revision as of 16:20, 26 August 2024

Graph, Wall, Tome
Ascending and Descending.jpg
Information
Topic Graph, Wall, Tome
Leader Aardvark (Aardvark#5610)
Tim (TimFH#7940)
Start Date 27 January 2020
Google Drive Drive
Master Planning Doc
Reference Material Doc
Links
Website Homepage
Discord Invite
All Projects

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 physical structures, a list of all the tools to build and operate on those structures, and a user's guide to describe how to use those 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 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 underlying equation may change. This is the Graph. Jim Simons, 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 history's 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 structure of the universe: we didn't know the world is left-right asymmetric, as discovered by Madame Wu, and we didn't know the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which demonstrated that the electromagnetic field is less important than the electromagnetic potential. In the mid-1970s as well, Jim Simons and C.N. Yang showed that particle theory is completely geometric. Both of these developments are little known among the public. That the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome and these recent foundational developments are unknown is evidence that something is off in how we communicate science and hand down our knowledge.

The aims of Graph, Wall, Tome lie in an extremely focused presentation of its core elements, improving and expanding upon the originals where necessary, to chart the path to learning fundamental physics for as many willing people as can be reached.

Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the Search, the search for a theory of everything. Ventures that may be considered part of the search are String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Garrett Lisi's E8, and Eric Weinstein's Geometric Unity. Graph, Wall, Tome can serve as a road to participate in the Search, though it should not be confused for the Search, and the Search should not be confused for it.

Prime Directive[edit]

A request:

Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:

The Paragraph gets edited,

The Wall gets defaced and graffitied,

The Sacred Tome gets rewritten.

But follow the skeins through each.

The Graph points to the Wall,

And the Wall to the Tome,

And the Tome leads to the Search.

Graph[edit]

The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's 1987 paper Physics and Geometry at the bottom of page 20. In language it concisely encodes the general structure of reality:

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 [math]\displaystyle{ M }[/math], endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.

(ii) Over [math]\displaystyle{ M }[/math] is a vector bundle [math]\displaystyle{ X }[/math] with a non-abelian gauge group [math]\displaystyle{ G }[/math].

(iii) Fermions are sections of [math]\displaystyle{ (\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_{-} \otimes V_{\tilde{R}}) }[/math]. [math]\displaystyle{ R }[/math] and [math]\displaystyle{ \tilde{R} }[/math] are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in a representation difference [math]\displaystyle{ \Delta }[/math] 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.

Scan of the original paragraph: The-graph.png

Implicit in each respective section is:

  1. Spin-2 Force Field for Gravity, the Einstein Field Equations
  2. Spin-1 Vector Boson Theory, Yang-Mills-Maxwell Equations
  3. Spin-1/2 Matter Theory, Dirac Equation

These are the gauge fields referred to by the last sentence.

Note that the quantum (e.g. quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum measurement, etc...) is mentioned only after the key geometric insights.

Wall[edit]

The following image is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University, completed and unveiled in May 2015. It contains many equations and mathematical results that have contributed to the human understanding of reality. In specific relation to the Graph, there are the Einstein Field Equations (item 5), the Yang-Mills Equations (item 9), and the Dirac Equation (item 7).

  • The Wall

    The Wall

  • Legend

    Legend

Tome[edit]

The Road to Reality
The-tome.png
Information
Author Sir Roger Penrose
Language English
Genre Physics
Publisher Vintage
Publication Date 9 January 2007
Pages 1136
ISBN-13 978-0679776314

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 circa 2007, in 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages with diagrams and equations. For the information contained in the Graph and the Wall, this book serves as an index of concepts to chart a path of learning. It also demonstrates how these concepts can be explained and arranged to encourage productive learning.

The community is reading through the tome and gathering relevant resources on the wiki.

Core Sub-projects[edit]

The essence of Graph, Wall, Tome is viewing each as part of a singular idea. What content is common among them is what should be expanded, and their unique content should be promoted if it is a part of fundamental physics toolkit, or removed if it isn't.

Graph-Wall-Tome Connection[edit]

Editing the Graph

Editing the Graph - Though the original Graph aptly summarizes our physical knowledge, there are some minor alterations and additions to be made in order for it to accurately capture current physics.

Defacing the Wall

Defacing the Wall - Update and improve the wall so that it is conciliant with fundamental theoretical physics. Remove extraneous information and reorganize to make clear the relations between underlying principles.

Rewriting the Tome

Rewriting the Tome - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation. Received wisdom does not need to be accepted wholesale, the original Tome is a good example but not the ideal solution.

Resources[edit]

Other Sub-projects[edit]

  • Studying the Tome - The Tome can be intimidating. This problem can be solved 1) by creating resources that make it easier to digest its content and 2) by going through the chapters together.
  • Holonomy Project (Stalled) - The goal is to create visualizations for the effect known as "holonomy", whereby parallel transporting a vector around a loop in a curved space leads to the vector changing upon returning to the start of the loop. How the vector changes orientation/position in space is the holonomy of that loop in that space. This effect reveals deep information about the curvature of the space itself.

Archived Sub-projects[edit]

  • Climbing the Cliff (Archived) - Create a learning guide through The Road to Reality.
  • Deface the Wall (Completed) - Cam and boqu made a new wall that's interactive.
  • Geometry Project (Archived) - The aim is to create and collect resources related to Frederic P. Schuller's lecture series titled "Lectures on Geometrical Anatomy of Theoretical Physics" that provides a great introduction to geometrical concepts that are essential for the Graph, Wall, Tome project.
  • Interactive Wall (Completed) - Demp and boqu made a wall that you can pan and zoom and click on! It also pulls information from the wiki based on what is in view.

Reference[edit]

Related Material[edit]


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