10,575 research outputs found
Variable sets over an algebra of lifetimes: a contribution of lattice theory to the study of computational topology
A topos theoretic generalisation of the category of sets allows for modelling
spaces which vary according to time intervals. Persistent homology, or more
generally, persistence is a central tool in topological data analysis, which
examines the structure of data through topology. The basic techniques have been
extended in several different directions, permuting the encoding of topological
features by so called barcodes or equivalently persistence diagrams. The set of
points of all such diagrams determines a complete Heyting algebra that can
explain aspects of the relations between persistent bars through the algebraic
properties of its underlying lattice structure. In this paper, we investigate
the topos of sheaves over such algebra, as well as discuss its construction and
potential for a generalised simplicial homology over it. In particular we are
interested in establishing a topos theoretic unifying theory for the various
flavours of persistent homology that have emerged so far, providing a global
perspective over the algebraic foundations of applied and computational
topology.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, AAA88 Conference proceedings at Demonstratio
Mathematica. The new version has restructured arguments, clearer intuition is
provided, and several typos correcte
Continuous-time histories: observables, probabilities, phase space structure and the classical limit
In this paper we elaborate on the structure of the continuous-time histories
description of quantum theory, which stems from the consistent histories
scheme. In particular, we examine the construction of history Hilbert space,
the identification of history observables and the form of the decoherence
functional (the object that contains the probability information). It is shown
how the latter is equivalent to the closed-time-path (CTP) generating
functional. We also study the phase space structure of the theory first through
the construction of general representations of the history group (the analogue
of the Weyl group) and the implementation of a histories Wigner-Weyl transform.
The latter enables us to write quantum theory solely in terms of phase space
quantities. These results enable the implementation of an algorithm for
identifying the classical (stochastic) limit of a general quantum system.Comment: 46 pages, latex; in this new version typographical errors have been
removed and the presentation has been made cleare
A note on drastic product logic
The drastic product is known to be the smallest -norm, since whenever . This -norm is not left-continuous, and hence it
does not admit a residuum. So, there are no drastic product -norm based
many-valued logics, in the sense of [EG01]. However, if we renounce standard
completeness, we can study the logic whose semantics is provided by those MTL
chains whose monoidal operation is the drastic product. This logic is called
in [NOG06]. In this note we justify the study of this
logic, which we rechristen DP (for drastic product), by means of some
interesting properties relating DP and its algebraic semantics to a weakened
law of excluded middle, to the projection operator and to
discriminator varieties. We shall show that the category of finite DP-algebras
is dually equivalent to a category whose objects are multisets of finite
chains. This duality allows us to classify all axiomatic extensions of DP, and
to compute the free finitely generated DP-algebras.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
The Mathematical Universe
I explore physics implications of the External Reality Hypothesis (ERH) that
there exists an external physical reality completely independent of us humans.
I argue that with a sufficiently broad definition of mathematics, it implies
the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH) that our physical world is an
abstract mathematical structure. I discuss various implications of the ERH and
MUH, ranging from standard physics topics like symmetries, irreducible
representations, units, free parameters, randomness and initial conditions to
broader issues like consciousness, parallel universes and Godel incompleteness.
I hypothesize that only computable and decidable (in Godel's sense) structures
exist, which alleviates the cosmological measure problem and help explain why
our physical laws appear so simple. I also comment on the intimate relation
between mathematical structures, computations, simulations and physical
systems.Comment: Replaced to match accepted Found. Phys. version, 31 pages, 5 figs;
more details at http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/toe.htm
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