Related papers: Truth, Beauty and Supergravity
We lay the groundwork for a formal framework that studies scientific theories and can serve as a unified foundation for the different theories within physics. We define a scientific theory as a set of verifiable statements, assertions that…
Conventionally, experiments probing the quantum nature of gravity were thought to be prohibitive due to the extremely high energy scales involved. However, recent and rapid advances at the intersection of quantum information and gravity,…
A class of models intended to be as minimal and structureless as possible is introduced. Even in cases with simple rules, rich and complex behavior is found to emerge, and striking correspondences to some important core known features of…
Promoting a theory with a finite number of terms into an effective field theory with an infinite number of terms worsens simplicity, predictability, falsifiability, and other attributes often favored in theory choice. However, the…
We critically analyze the rationale of arguments from finetuning and naturalness in particle physics and cosmology. Some other numerological coincidences are also discussed.
Review to appear in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics. Contents: {1}Introduction}{1} {2}High precision LEP data and convergence of couplings: physics is not Euclidean geometry}{2} {3}Interconnections between the measured quantities…
Conceived and developed by Christopher Alexander through his life's work: The Nature of Order, wholeness is defined as a mathematical structure of physical space in our surroundings. Yet, there was no mathematics, as Alexander admitted…
A description of physical reality in which wholeness is the foundation is discussed along with the motivation for such an attempt. As a possible mathematical framework within which a physical theory based on wholeness may be expressed,…
The purpose of this paper is to investigate forcing as a tool to construct universal models. In particular, we look at theories of initial segments of the universe and show that any model of a sufficiently rich fragment of those theories…
In this essay I begin to lay out a conceptual scheme for: (i) analysing dualities as cases of theoretical equivalence; (ii) assessing when cases of theoretical equivalence are also cases of physical equivalence. The scheme is applied to…
Reliability has long been treated as an engineering practice supported by testing, statistics and standards, yet its status as a scientific discipline remains unsettled. From a philosophical perspective, scientific truth is characterized by…
Superdeterminism is presently the only known consistent description of nature that is local, deterministic, and can give rise to the observed correlations of quantum mechanics. I here want to explain what makes this approach promising and…
Despite its apparent complexity, our world seems to be governed by simple laws of physics. This volume provides a philosophical introduction to such laws. I explain how they are connected to some of the central issues in philosophy, such as…
The determination of the most straightforward evidence for the existence of the Superworld requires a guide for non-experts (especially experimental physicists) for them to make their own judgement on the value of such predictions. For this…
Many have wondered how mathematics, which appears to be the result of both human creativity and human discovery, can possibly exhibit the degree of success and seemingly-universal applicability to quantifying the physical world as…
It is shown that any realistic model of quintessence should be based on Supergravity (SUGRA) since the value of the quintessence field on the attractor is approximately the Planck mass. Under very general assumptions, the typical shape of a…
The latest astrophysical data on the Supernova luminosity--distance -- redshift relations, primordial nucleosynthesis, value of Cosmic Microwave Background--temperature, and baryon asymmetry are considered as an evidence of relative…
A qualitatively new, much more liberal and efficient organisation of science is proposed and justified, in connection with growing debate about further role and development of fundamental science. Although the key ideas can be explained…
Naturalness has for many years been a guiding principle in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model, particularly for understanding the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking. However, the discovery of the Higgs particle at 125…
The nature of gravity is fundamental to our understanding of our own solar system, the galaxy and the structure and evolution of the Universe. Einstein's general theory of relativity is the standard model that is used for almost ninety…