G\"odel Incompleteness and the Black Hole Information Paradox

Semiclassical reasoning suggests that the process by which an object collapses into a black hole and then evaporates by emitting Hawking radiation may destroy information, a problem often referred to as the black hole information paradox. Further, there seems to be no unique prediction of where the information about the collapsing body is localized. We propose that the latter aspect of the paradox may be a manifestation of an inconsistent self-reference in the semiclassical theory of black hole evolution. This suggests the inadequacy of the semiclassical approach or, at worst, that standard quantum mechanics and general relavity are fundamentally incompatible. One option for the resolution for the paradox in the localization is to identify the G\"odel-like incompleteness that corresponds to an imposition of consistency, and introduce possibly new physics that supplies this incompleteness. Another option is to modify the theory in such a way as to prohibit self-reference. We discuss various possible scenarios to implement these options, including eternally collapsing objects, black hole remnants, black hole final states, and simple variants of semiclassical quantum gravity.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; revised according to journal requirement

Formal Arithmetic Before Grundgesetze

A speculative investigation of how Frege's logical views change between Begriffsschrift and Grundgesetze and how this might have affected the formal development of logicism

The logical anti-psychologism of Frege and Husserl

Frege and Husserl are both recognized for their significant contributions to the overthrowing of logical psychologism, at least in its 19th century forms. Between Frege's profound impact on modern logic that extended the influence of his anti-psychologism and Husserl's extensive attempts at the refutation of logical psychologism in the Prolegomena to Logical Investigations, these arguments are generally understood as successful. This paper attempts to account for the development of these two anti-psychologistic conceptions of logical objects and for some of the basic differences between them. It identifies some problems that are common to strongly anti-psychologistic conceptions of logic and compares the extent to which Frege's and Husserl's views are open to these problems. Accordingly, this paper is divided into two parts. Part I develops a conception of the problems of logical psychologism as they are distinctively understood by each philosopher, out of the explicit arguments and criticisms made against the view in the texts. This conception is in each case informed by the overall historical trajectories of each philosopher's philosophical development. Part II examines the two views in light of common problems of anti-psychologism

Abstracts of theses and related literature indicating current trends in arithmetic for the academically talented elementary school child written between 1957 and 1961

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

On an Irreducible Theory of Complex Systems

In the paper we present results to develop an irreducible theory of complex systems in terms of self-organization processes of prime integer relations. Based on the integers and controlled by arithmetic only the self-organization processes can describe complex systems by information not requiring further explanations. Important properties of the description are revealed. It points to a special type of correlations that do not depend on the distances between parts, local times and physical signals and thus proposes a perspective on quantum entanglement. Through a concept of structural complexity the description also computationally suggests the possibility of a general optimality condition of complex systems. The computational experiments indicate that the performance of a complex system may behave as a concave function of the structural complexity. A connection between the optimality condition and the majorization principle in quantum algorithms is identified. A global symmetry of complex systems belonging to the system as a whole, but not necessarily applying to its embedded parts is presented. As arithmetic fully determines the breaking of the global symmetry, there is no further need to explain why the resulting gauge forces exist the way they do and not even slightly different.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, typos are corrected, some changes and additions are mad

On Possible Implications of Self-Organization Processes through Transformation of Laws of Arithmetic into Laws of Space and Time

In the paper we present results based on the description of complex systems in terms of self-organization processes of prime integer relations. Realized through the unity of two equivalent forms, i.e., arithmetical and geometrical, the description allows to transform the laws of a complex system in terms of arithmetic into the laws of the system in terms of space and time. Possible implications of the results are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure