Back to Parmenides

After a brief introduction to issues that plague the realization of a theory of quantum gravity, I suggest that the main one concerns a quantization of the principle of relative simultaneity. This leads me to a distinction between time and space, to a further degree than that present in the canonical approach to general relativity. With this distinction, one can make sense of superpositions as interference between alternative paths in the relational configuration space of the entire Universe. But the full use of relationalism brings us to a timeless picture of Nature, as it does in the canonical approach (which culminates in the Wheeler-DeWitt equation). After a discussion of Parmenides and the Eleatics' rejection of time, I show that there is middle ground between their view of absolute timelessness and a view of physics taking place in timeless configuration space. In this middle ground, even though change does not fundamentally exist, the illusion of change can be recovered in a way not permitted by Parmenides. It is recovered through a particular density distribution over configuration space which gives rise to 'records'. Incidentally, this distribution seems to have the potential to dissolve further aspects of the measurement problem that can still be argued to haunt the application of decoherence to Many-Worlds quantum mechanics. I end with a discussion indicating that the conflict between the conclusions of this paper and our view of the continuity of the self may still intuitively bother us. Nonetheless, those conclusions should be no more challenging to our intuition than Derek Parfit's thought experiments on the subject.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure. Winner of the essay contest: "Space-time after quantum gravity" (University of Illinois and Universit\'e de Geneve). To be published in special editio

Plastic Deformation of 2D Crumpled Wires

When a single long piece of elastic wire is injected trough channels into a confining two-dimensional cavity, a complex structure of hierarchical loops is formed. In the limit of maximum packing density, these structures are described by several scaling laws. In this paper it is investigated this packing process but using plastic wires which give origin to completely irreversible structures of different morphology. In particular, it is studied experimentally the plastic deformation from circular to oblate configurations of crumpled wires, obtained by the application of an axial strain. Among other things, it is shown that in spite of plasticity, irreversibility, and very large deformations, scaling is still observed.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Model inspired by population genetics to study fragmentation of brittle plates

We use a model whose rules were inspired by population genetics, the random capability growth model, to describe the statistical details observed in experiments of fragmentation of brittle platelike objects, and in particular the existence of (i) composite scaling laws, (ii) small critical exponents \tau associated with the power-law fragment-size distribution, and (iii) the typical pattern of cracks. The proposed computer simulations do not require numerical solutions of the Newton's equations of motion, nor several additional assumptions normally used in discrete element models. The model is also able to predict some physical aspects which could be tested in new experiments of fragmentation of brittle systems.Comment: We have modified the text in order to make the description of the model more clear. One Figure (Figure 1) was introduced showing the steps of the dynamics of colonization. Twelve references were adde

Evading the Few TeV Perturbative Limit in 3-3-1 Models

Some versions of the electroweak SU(3)_L\otimesU(1)_X models cannot be treated within perturbation theory at energies of few TeV. An extended version for these models is proposed which is perturbative even at TeV scale posing no threatening inconsistency for test at future colliders. The extension presented here needs the addition of three octets of vector leptons, which leave three new leptonic isotriplets in the SU(2)_L\otimesU(1)_Y subgroup. With this representation content the running of the electroweak mixing angle, $\theta_W (\mu)$, is such that $\sin^2\theta_W(\mu)$ decreases with the increase of the energy scale $\mu$, when only the light states of the Standard Model group are considered. The neutral exotic gauge boson $Z^\prime$ marks then a new symmetry frontier.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, minor correction

Negative Even Grade mKdV Hierarchy and its Soliton Solutions

In this paper we provide an algebraic construction for the negative even mKdV hierarchy which gives rise to time evolutions associated to even graded Lie algebraic structure. We propose a modification of the dressing method, in order to incorporate a non-trivial vacuum configuration and construct a deformed vertex operator for $\hat{sl}(2)$, that enable us to obtain explicit and systematic solutions for the whole negative even grade equations