12,067 research outputs found
The non-unique Universe
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate, by means of concepts and theorems
drawn from mathematical logic, the conditions under which the existence of a
multiverse is a logical necessity in mathematical physics, and the implications
of Godel's incompleteness theorem for theories of everything.
Three conclusions are obtained in the final section: (i) the theory of the
structure of our universe might be an undecidable theory, and this constitutes
a potential epistemological limit for mathematical physics, but because such a
theory must be complete, there is no ontological barrier to the existence of a
final theory of everything; (ii) in terms of mathematical logic, there are two
different types of multiverse: classes of non-isomorphic but elementarily
equivalent models, and classes of model which are both non-isomorphic and
elementarily inequivalent; (iii) for a hypothetical theory of everything to
have only one possible model, and to thereby negate the possible existence of a
multiverse, that theory must be such that it admits only a finite model
A universe of processes and some of its guises
Our starting point is a particular `canvas' aimed to `draw' theories of
physics, which has symmetric monoidal categories as its mathematical backbone.
In this paper we consider the conceptual foundations for this canvas, and how
these can then be converted into mathematical structure. With very little
structural effort (i.e. in very abstract terms) and in a very short time span
the categorical quantum mechanics (CQM) research program has reproduced a
surprisingly large fragment of quantum theory. It also provides new insights
both in quantum foundations and in quantum information, and has even resulted
in automated reasoning software called `quantomatic' which exploits the
deductive power of CQM. In this paper we complement the available material by
not requiring prior knowledge of category theory, and by pointing at
connections to previous and current developments in the foundations of physics.
This research program is also in close synergy with developments elsewhere, for
example in representation theory, quantum algebra, knot theory, topological
quantum field theory and several other areas.Comment: Invited chapter in: "Deep Beauty: Understanding the Quantum World
through Mathematical Innovation", H. Halvorson, ed., Cambridge University
Press, forthcoming. (as usual, many pictures
Information as Distinctions: New Foundations for Information Theory
The logical basis for information theory is the newly developed logic of
partitions that is dual to the usual Boolean logic of subsets. The key concept
is a "distinction" of a partition, an ordered pair of elements in distinct
blocks of the partition. The logical concept of entropy based on partition
logic is the normalized counting measure of the set of distinctions of a
partition on a finite set--just as the usual logical notion of probability
based on the Boolean logic of subsets is the normalized counting measure of the
subsets (events). Thus logical entropy is a measure on the set of ordered
pairs, and all the compound notions of entropy (join entropy, conditional
entropy, and mutual information) arise in the usual way from the measure (e.g.,
the inclusion-exclusion principle)--just like the corresponding notions of
probability. The usual Shannon entropy of a partition is developed by replacing
the normalized count of distinctions (dits) by the average number of binary
partitions (bits) necessary to make all the distinctions of the partition
Commutative deformations of general relativity: nonlocality, causality, and dark matter
Hopf algebra methods are applied to study Drinfeld twists of
(3+1)-diffeomorphisms and deformed general relativity on \emph{commutative}
manifolds. A classical nonlocality length scale is produced above which
microcausality emerges. Matter fields are utilized to generate self-consistent
Abelian Drinfeld twists in a background independent manner and their continuous
and discrete symmetries are examined. There is negligible experimental effect
on the standard model of particles. While baryonic twist producing matter would
begin to behave acausally for rest masses above TeV, other
possibilities are viable dark matter candidates or a right handed neutrino.
First order deformed Maxwell equations are derived and yield immeasurably small
cosmological dispersion and produce a propagation horizon only for photons at
or above Planck energies. This model incorporates dark matter without any
appeal to extra dimensions, supersymmetry, strings, grand unified theories,
mirror worlds, or modifications of Newtonian dynamics.Comment: 47 pages including references, 0 figures, 0 tables Various
typos/omissions correcte
Hopf algebras for matroids over hyperfields
Recently, M.~Baker and N.~Bowler introduced the notion of matroids over hyperfields as a unifying theory of various generalizations of matroids. In this paper we generalize the notion of minors and direct sums from ordinary matroids to matroids over hyperfields. Using this we generalize the classical construction of matroid-minor Hopf algebras to the case of matroids over hyperfields
Marriages of Mathematics and Physics: A Challenge for Biology
The human attempts to access, measure and organize physical phenomena have led to a manifold construction of mathematical and physical spaces. We will survey the evolution of geometries from Euclid to the Algebraic Geometry of the 20th century. The role of Persian/Arabic Algebra in this transition and its Western symbolic development is emphasized. In this relation, we will also discuss changes in the ontological attitudes toward mathematics and its applications. Historically, the encounter of geometric and algebraic perspectives enriched the mathematical practices and their foundations. Yet, the collapse of Euclidean certitudes, of over 2300 years, and the crisis in the mathematical analysis of the 19th century, led to the exclusion of âgeometric judgmentsâ from the foundations of Mathematics. After the success and the limits of the logico-formal analysis, it is necessary to broaden our foundational tools and re-examine the interactions with natural sciences. In particular, the way the geometric and algebraic approaches organize knowledge is analyzed as a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural issue and will be examined in Mathematical Physics and Biology. We finally discuss how the current notions of mathematical (phase) âspaceâ should be revisited for the purposes of life sciences
Resource theories of knowledge
How far can we take the resource theoretic approach to explore physics?
Resource theories like LOCC, reference frames and quantum thermodynamics have
proven a powerful tool to study how agents who are subject to certain
constraints can act on physical systems. This approach has advanced our
understanding of fundamental physical principles, such as the second law of
thermodynamics, and provided operational measures to quantify resources such as
entanglement or information content. In this work, we significantly extend the
approach and range of applicability of resource theories. Firstly we generalize
the notion of resource theories to include any description or knowledge that
agents may have of a physical state, beyond the density operator formalism. We
show how to relate theories that differ in the language used to describe
resources, like micro and macroscopic thermodynamics. Finally, we take a
top-down approach to locality, in which a subsystem structure is derived from a
global theory rather than assumed. The extended framework introduced here
enables us to formalize new tasks in the language of resource theories, ranging
from tomography, cryptography, thermodynamics and foundational questions, both
within and beyond quantum theory.Comment: 28 pages featuring figures, examples, map and neatly boxed theorems,
plus appendi
The Mathematics of Phylogenomics
The grand challenges in biology today are being shaped by powerful
high-throughput technologies that have revealed the genomes of many organisms,
global expression patterns of genes and detailed information about variation
within populations. We are therefore able to ask, for the first time,
fundamental questions about the evolution of genomes, the structure of genes
and their regulation, and the connections between genotypes and phenotypes of
individuals. The answers to these questions are all predicated on progress in a
variety of computational, statistical, and mathematical fields.
The rapid growth in the characterization of genomes has led to the
advancement of a new discipline called Phylogenomics. This discipline results
from the combination of two major fields in the life sciences: Genomics, i.e.,
the study of the function and structure of genes and genomes; and Molecular
Phylogenetics, i.e., the study of the hierarchical evolutionary relationships
among organisms and their genomes. The objective of this article is to offer
mathematicians a first introduction to this emerging field, and to discuss
specific mathematical problems and developments arising from phylogenomics.Comment: 41 pages, 4 figure
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