Related papers: Two arguments for more fundamental building blocks
In the first part of this paper I review some of the difficulties that seem to obstruct generally valid definitions of "general covariance" and/or "background independence" The second and more historical part deals with a rather strange…
We study quantum information and computation from a novel point of view. Our approach is based on recasting the standard axiomatic presentation of quantum mechanics, due to von Neumann, at a more abstract level, of compact closed categories…
It is commonly claimed that quantum mechanics makes reference to a microscopic realm constituted by elementary particles. However, as first famously noticed by Erwin Schr\"odinger, it is not at all clear what these quantum particles really…
We present the quantum measurement problem as a serious physics problem. Serious because without a resolution, quantum theory is not complete, as it does not tell how one should - in principle - perform measurements. It is physical in the…
Can there be independent higher level laws of nature if everything is reducible to the fundamental laws of physics? The computer science notion of level of abstraction explains why there can -- illustrating how computational thinking can…
It was recently suggested that quantum mechanics and gravity are not fundamental but emerge from information loss at causal horizons. On the basis of the formalism the holographic principle is also shown to arise naturally from the loss of…
Hawking radiation and Bekenstein--Hawking entropy are the two robust predictions of a yet unknown quantum theory of gravity. Any theory which fails to reproduce these predictions is certainly incorrect. While several approaches lead to…
Feyerabend frequently discussed physics. He also referred to the history of the subject when motivating his philosophy of science. Alas, as some examples show, his understanding of physics remained superficial. In this respect, Feyerabend…
We begin by surveying the historical positions in different attempts to understand the material world since the rise of modern science, with specific focus on the role of Cartesian primary qualities in explanatory conceptualisation.…
The operational formalism to quantum mechanics seeks to base the theory on a firm foundation of physically well-motivated axioms [1]. It has succeeded in deriving the Feynman rules [2] for general quantum systems. Additional elaborations…
We offer a systematic account of decomposition of quantum systems into parts. Different decompositions (structures) are mutually linked via the proper linear canonical transformations. Different kinds of structures, as well as their…
Conceptual consequences of recent results in loop quantum gravity are collected and discussed here in view of their implications for a modern philosophy of science which is mainly understood as one that totalizes scientific insight so as to…
We investigate the most general phase space of configurations, consisting of the collection of all possible ways of assigning elementary attributes, "energies", to elementary positions, "cells". We discuss how this space defines a…
In this contribution to FQXi's essay contest 2018, I suggest that it is sometimes a step forward to reverse our intuition on "what is fundamental", a move that is somewhat reminiscent of the idea of noncommutative geometry. I argue that…
Understanding the quantum aspects of gravity is not only a matter of equations and experiments. Gravity is intimately connected with the structure of space and time, and understanding quantum gravity requires us to find a conceptual…
In resisting attempts to explain the unity of a whole in terms of a multiplicity of interacting parts, quantum mechanics calls for an explanatory concept that proceeds in the opposite direction: from unity to multiplicity. It concerns the…
Fefferman and Graham showed some time ago that four dimensional conformal geometries could be analyzed in terms of six dimensional, ambient, Riemannian geometries admitting a closed homothety. Recently it was shown how conformal geometry…
In several articles, this author has advocated an alternative approach towards quantum foundation based upon a set of postulates, and based upon the notions of theoretical variables and of accessible theoretical variables. It is shown in…
Black holes monopolize nowadays the center stage of fundamental physics. Yet, they are poorly understood objects. Notwithstanding, from their generic properties, one can infer important clues to what a fundamental theory, a theory that…
Measurements transfer information about a system to the apparatus, and then further on -- to observers and (often inadvertently) to the environment. I show that even imperfect copying essential in such situations restricts possible…