Related papers: Dualities in Physics
The notion of geometrical duality is discussed in the context of both Brans-Dicke theory and general relativity. It is shown that, in some particular solutions, the spacetime singularities that arise in usual Riemannian general relativity…
Dualities are often supposed to be foundational, but they may come into conflict with background independence, because a hidden fixed structures is needed to define the duality transformation. This conflict can be eliminated by extending a…
Defects are a useful tool in the study of quantum field theories. This is illustrated in the example of two-dimensional conformal field theories. We describe how defect lines and their junction points appear in the description of symmetries…
Modern fundamental physics poses new questions for philosophy, which, as it seems to us, have not yet received appropriate attention from philosophers of science. This paper formulates a number of such questions in order to present them to…
Modern physics is founded on two mainstays: mathematical modelling and empirical verification. These two assumptions are prerequisite for the objectivity of scientific discourse. Here we show, however, that they are contradictory, leading…
This paper reviews connections between physics and computation, and explores their implications. The main topics are computational "hardness" of physical systems, computational status of fundamental theories, quantum computation, and the…
Individual quantum objects display inseparable coexisting wave-like properties and particle-like properties; such inseparable coexistence can seem paradoxical and mind-boggling. The apparent paradox is resolved by the unified theory of…
We study deterministic and quantum dynamics from a constructive "finite" point of view, since the introduction of a continuum, or other actual infinities in physics poses serious conceptual and technical difficulties, without any need for…
Recent years have seen significant advances, both theoretical and experimental, in our understanding of quantum many-body dynamics. Given this problem's high complexity, it is surprising that a substantial amount of this progress can be…
The paradoxes of thermodynamics and statistical physics are unavoidable in the study of physical paradoxes because of their importance at the time they came to be as well as the frequency of their appearance in historical studies of…
The review of modern study of algebraic, geometric and differential properties of quaternionic (Q) numbers with their applications. Traditional and "tensor" formulation of Q-units with their possible representations are discussed and groups…
We propose three core ideas: 1. the wave-particle duality of the qudit quantum space; 2. the classification of all elementary quantum gates by ordered pairs of qudit functionals; 3. a new type of quantum gates called the "quantum wave…
Two people may claim both to be naturalists, but have divergent conceptions of basic elements of the natural world which lead them to mean different things when they talk about laws of nature, or states, or the role of mathematics in…
Mathematics and its relation to the physical universe have been the topic of speculation since the days of Pythagoras. Several different views of the nature of mathematics have been considered: Realism - mathematics exists and is…
The wave-particle duality is a mind-body one. In the real 3d-space there exists only the particle; the wave exists in its consciousness, as well as the reflection of the whole world. If there are many particles, their distribution in…
Till now, the foundation of quantum physics is still mysterious. To explore the mysteries in the foundation of quantum physics, people always take it for granted that quantum processes must be some types of fields/objects on a rigid space.…
There is no doubt that both the special and general theories of relativity capture the imagination. The anti-intuitive properties of the special theory of relativity and its deep philosophical implications, the bizzare and dazzling…
New status in quantum mechanics is connected with recent achievements in the inverse problem. With its help instead of about ten exactly solvable models which serve as a basis of the contemporary education there are infinite (!) number,…
Metaphysics is the science of being and asks the question ``What really exists?'' The answer to this question has been sought for by mankind since the beginning of recorded time. In the past 2500 years there have been many answers to this…
The pros and cons of various forms of atomism and holism that are applicable both in physical science and today's philosophy of nature are evaluated. To this end, Lewis' thesis of Humean supervenience is presented as an important case study…