260 research outputs found
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
An alternative Gospel of structure: order, composition, processes
We survey some basic mathematical structures, which arguably are more
primitive than the structures taught at school. These structures are orders,
with or without composition, and (symmetric) monoidal categories. We list
several `real life' incarnations of each of these. This paper also serves as an
introduction to these structures and their current and potentially future uses
in linguistics, physics and knowledge representation.Comment: Introductory chapter to C. Heunen, M. Sadrzadeh, and E. Grefenstette.
Quantum Physics and Linguistics: A Compositional, Diagrammatic Discourse.
Oxford University Press, 201
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