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What is the topology of the universe? A fascinating story imbued with deep topological suspense is surfacing here. Read about some unsolved mysteries of modern inflationary cosmology here and here, and the ongoing quest for detecting empty waves. |
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What is the topology of the universe? A fascinating story imbued with deep topological suspense is surfacing here. Read about some unsolved mysteries of modern inflationary cosmology here and here, and the ongoing quest for detecting empty waves. |
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| The project of PHI, an acronym
from Physics of Human Intention, started in February 1994 and was completed
with full success in December 2002. The final beta version of the CD-ROM "Physics
of Human Intention" is available for review.
Take a look at my forthcoming CD by downloading
PHI_info.zip,
app. 3.1MB, from http://www.God-does-not-play-dice.net/PHI_info.zip To unzip it, you may wish to use WinZip (shareware) or a free file archiver, 7-Zip v3.13 (v4 will be available in May 2004). It will create a new folder on your hard drive, !Einstein_PHI. Find there START.html and open it. All files at my web sites were scanned with Norton AntiVirus Professional 2004, virus definitions of April 21, 2004: no malicious files or viruses were detected. PHI predicts a new structure of spacetime continuum, postulating two modes of spacetime, global and local. This is an essential part from the solution of the mind-brain problem, since it is based on a new arrow of time, called universal time arrow, which (i) facilitates the binding of the human brain to its mind, (ii) provides the physical basis of the psychological time arrow, and (iii) matches the cosmological time arrow, since in PHI we model the universe as a huge brain which "thinks" with its potential future states along the universal time arrow. The prime candidate for these potential future states are the so-called dark matter and dark energy, constituting nearly 96 per cent from the stuff of the universe. The idea of the universal time arrow is perfectly simple: if something exists, it must change its state in time, -- irreversibly. Consequently, there should exist something which enables things to change in time, such that there is always room for 'another step': a very special cut-off that wraps all physical things, in both time and space. Let's call it atom. It can be reached only by actual infinity, and provides the so-called points from which we build our ever-expanding spacetime: a perfect continuum (local mode) and discrete elementary steps (global mode).
Please note that the atom of Lucretius might look to us as something very small, being the ultimate "cut-off" in the infinite series in Thompson's lamp paradox, but we cannot say anything about its actual "size", since anything we say would be based on spacetime concepts. This atom refers to the whole universe as ONE, thanks to which we have an UNspeakable superposition of 'on and off' for the Thompson lamp, and 'alive and dead' for Schrödinger's cat (cf. Brian Clegg, A Brief History of Infinity, Robinson, London, 2003, p. 28; ISNB 1-84119-650-9). If we think of this atom as occupying the potential future of the universal time arrow, we can only say that it contains all potentialities in one bundle or Holon, but not that it is big or small. To the best of my knowledge, this hypothetical mechanism of universal time arrow, particularly its third stage (read more below), has not been investigated in modern mathematical physics, hence if we take an instantaneous snapshot from the universal time arrow, we can not separate the two modes of spacetime, and are inevitably challenged with many insoluble paradoxes, most notably the notorious "conclusion" that neither time nor space can possibly exist. There is no way we could understand the quantum world and the nature of gravity. Please read my very brief White Paper. Obviously, the introduction of such fundamental ideas about the spacetime requires, first and foremost, their verification with the modern theoretical physics, particularly General Relativity (GR) and Quantum Mechanics (QM), without any references to brain science and psychology. If the theory of PHI is correctly formulated, there should be many blank spots in GR and QM, which could be filled with unique solutions from the proposed new structure of spacetime -- again, without any prior references to brain science and psychology. By 'blank spots' I understand some well-known and unsolved tasks of GR and QM, which could be simultaneously solved only by a complete theory of quantum gravity. Another essential prerequisite of PHI is that it must be falsifiable, by providing clear and unambiguous predictions in the fields of GR and QM; something like "it never rains on Wednesdays". Finally, PHI should predict brand new effects (Gesetzmässigkeiten) of the type 'if you do A, you will obtain B', which must be experimentally verifiable and reproducible, under stringent laboratory conditions. All these requirements are believed to be fulfilled. However, any joint solution to unsolved tasks in GR and QM, which does not originate from the new structure of spacetime continuum suggested in PHI, will immediately obliterate PHI. That would be an extremely interesting case, which would help me re-write my homework, as started in January 1972. Briefly, the whole story of PHI is about a new kind of reality, called potential reality, which is suggested to replace the established notion of relational reality. It is conjectured that the potential reality (i) resides in the potential future of the universal time arrow, and (ii) refers to the holistic state (or Holon) of all systems, the universe included. Then comes the idea about two modes of spacetime: global (for the Holon) and local (for already actualized potentialities, post factum observed). The local mode of spacetime is that in which things have exact location in space and time, and are either true or false. This is the realm of facts. They have already happened, they stay in the past, and can form a denumerable set. The other mode of existence, global mode of spacetime, pertains to the realm of Aristotelian potentialities, where things are, with respect to the local mode, 'neither true nor false'. Any question regarding their exact physical state will yield the answer 'Jain' (both yes and no). Hence the potential reality is UNspeakable, and the Holon of quantum systems can not be detected with any inanimate device. The reasons for introducing the universal time arrow are twofold: to explain the physical basis of the psychological time arrow and solve the mind-brain problem, along the lines suggested by G. Leibnitz and W. Pauli. Consequently, the mechanism of Ulric Neisser's cognitive cycle is used in the universal time arrow to explain the conversion of Holon's potentialities into a perfectly continual flow of events in the local mode of spacetime: the genuine "gaps" needed for the phenomenon of transition are in the global mode of spacetime, perfectly hidden by the so-called speed of light. Hence (i) the spacetime could be both continual (local mode) and discrete (global mode), (ii) the psyche could penetrate in the macro-world through the Holon of living matter, (iii) the human brain could be interpreted as "filter" for the psyche, explicating human consciousness and mind, and (iv) the new form of potential reality, pertaining to the living-and-quantum world, suggests new effects of the human brain & mind, such as reversible Brain-Controlled Cold Plasma or BCCP. Physically, the whole story boils down to the nature of "points", which we interpret as 'events' and attribute some real numbers to them. In both QM and GR we encounter the puzzling blueprints from the Holon: on the one hand, we cannot map the time "parameter" (global mode of spacetime) of quantum and gravitational waves to the time parameter in any unitary time evolution, as read by a physical clock (local mode of spacetime). On the other hand, a physical clock reads the "points" of already-explicated, post factum registered, potential values of physical quantities coming from the Holon (global mode of spacetime). Hence a physical clock reads the choice of one possibility among infinitely many, as made in the global mode of spacetime, only one at a time, point by point, along a truly continual line of already-actualized potentialities. In each and every "point" from this continuum, the probabilities for an exhaustive set of mutually exclusive alternatives does add up to one, and we can employ the notion of 'set'. The instant of time with respect to which one can specify such normalized alternatives belongs to the global mode of spacetime. The Holon reads infinitely many -- actual infinity -- "points" in the global mode of spacetime. This is not some psychological process or effect of human consciousness. This is what the universal time arrow is all about: the nature of "points". In Interpreting the Quantum World, quant-ph/9711003, Asher Peres stated that the fundamental conundrum in the quantum formalism is that "quantum mechanics permits the occurrence of all possible events (with definite probabilities), but in our consciousness there is only one world." Let's not mess with psychology, the issue is strictly in the realm of mathematical physics. The prime conundrum of QM and GR is to reveal the blueprints from the Holon by identifying the paradoxes resulting from its absence in present-day mathematical physics. For example, 'does it make sense to talk about a wave function of the universe if it is not a local notion' (Etera Livine, private communication)? Yes it does, because 'wave function of the universe' refers exclusively to its Holon state that complements 'inside-the-universe', where things are local, finite, and cats are either dead or alive. Hence we can understand and (hopefully) solve the problem of time: the universe has a dual age, finite (for the local mode of spacetime, some 13.7 billion years) and infinite or rather indecisive (for the global mode of spacetime). The same applies to the human soul: we "die" only in the local mode of spacetime, and move back to the "chooser" in the living-and-quantum world. Well, it might sound complicated, at first reading. Basically, one can hardly find some genuine new ideas here (apart from some speculations on spacetime topology, maybe), but some of the predictions, particularly regarding the fate of the so-called God particle or Higgs boson, might occur striking and mind-boggling. The issue is not purely academic, however. This is a humongous multi-national business of multi-billion particle accelerators, and is inevitably contaminated with personal ambitions, emotions, and politics. In such an environment science does not count much, regrettably. Am I biased? Of course! Hence everything said here could be wrong. This is the ultimate beauty of science: we move into a totally new territory of 'the unknown unknown' where everything might be possible. Hence I can't produce a bona fide 'research proposal'. The combination of 'research' and 'proposal' makes an oxymoron: if you know what you will discover, you can put forward a proposal, but it won't be research anymore. (This observation is not new either, I learned it from Asher Peres; the original is from Albert Einstein: "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?") At this moment, I can only offer a concise proposal (it is not on my web sites) for enhancing the process of binding & anticipation, as working in the 80-300 msec range of pre-attention: preattentive processes (also 'indirect attention') flow constantly "in the background" of conscious perception, they might rely heavily on the synchronization of multi-frequency oscillations, and hence should not be confused with automatic processes. The distinction is quite subtle, however. Anyway, if we start tomorrow morning, and if we're lucky, I believe it cannot be ruled out that in two years' time we will know much more about the latent abilities of the human brain, and how to enhance them with (gamma-range?) feedback training. No need for special gifted individuals, meditation, and the like. Again, this is not a research proposal but an invitation to jump in the 'unknown unknown' hidden right about our neck. As a bonus, we could gain a much better understanding of the Holy Grail of modern theoretical physics: quantum gravity. Why? Because in PHI we model The Universe as a human brain ran by a hypothetical universal time arrow, as mentioned above. Of course, it's not that simple. To get started, see the latest paper by Prof. Angelo Loinger, my feedback to Nature, and the latest entries for my forthcoming CD ROM at http://members.aon.at/chakalov/faq.html#feedback A few words about the so-called paranormal phenomena, traditionally classified as ESP and PK. Regarding telepathy -- an area where, according to Brian Josephson, "Britain is at the forefront of research" -- David Deutsch, a quantum physicist at Oxford University, proclaimed that there is no evidence that paranormal phenomena actually exist (Physics World, May 2002, pp. 10-11). "It is utter rubbish," said David Deutsch for The Observer. In my humble opinion, the quantum computing program, initiated by David Deutsch, is utter garbage, for the simple reason that quantum theory can not be reconciled with special relativity theory. Unlike classical computing, the so-called quantum computing inevitably requires 'error correction', but we can not, even in principle, manipulate the entangled quantum system for a finite time interval, as required by error correction mechanism: the is no time operator in quantum mechanics. Never been, never will. I will be happy to see how Dr. David Deutsch would defend his research program at Oxford University. With math, not bold statements or magic conjurations. The problem is known since 1931. Moreover, the correction process itself must be carried out without errors, which is "clearly a huge assumption", as acknowledged by Andrew Steane back in February 1996. As to ESP & PK, I hope we will learn more on the nature of these effects of the human brain -- not mind -- in the nearest future. All we need is a complete theory of quantum gravity, which is the main issue in my forthcoming CD ROM "Physics of Human Intention". To rephrase David J. Miller, I believe there could be a Holon mechanism and a Holon field (causal field) throughout the universe, without there being a Holon boson. The "Holon boson" should be just the instant 'now' -- a bare point on a smooth, four-dimensional manifold, after Bob Geroch. The idea stems from cognitive psychology, the inverse-proportional relation between the content and volume of concepts. Hence the Holon boson should have "zero intrinsic content", i.e., just a mathematical point. This should be the physical explication from the "last" Holon covering the whole universe, only it is not physical anymore; it's totally devoid of any physical content and has become pure geometry. There is no way we can detect this ultimate Holon boson, much like we can't detect 'empty space', as we know from the hole argument, after Einstein, Stachel, etc. In other words, God [John 1:1-4] is both 'inside us', being projected into a bare mathematical point, and 'outside us', being The Universe. To rephrase John Wheeler, time is God's way to keep everything from happening all at once, the 'unknown unknown' included. This certainly needs explanation. The volume of the Holon, residing in the potential future of the universal time arrow, can be modeled with the set of real numbers in the open interval (0, infinity). Note that the new filed in PHI mentioned above, causal field, is strictly geometrical entity operating within the volume of the Holon, by fixing exact values of all physical quantities along the local mode of spacetime, one-at-a point, by communicating with 'everything else in the universe': the ultimate "chooser" of one possibility among infinitely many (actual infinity). The causal field operates at all length scales, starting from the macro-world of tables and chairs (Holon's volume tending asymptotically toward zero) and increasing in both micro- and mega-scales, toward Plank length and 'the observable universe' (Holon's volume tending asymptotically toward infinity). Hence the physical world is literally wrapped with the unique state of the universe as ONE, the atom of Lucretius, which can not be reached from 'inside-the-universe'. This is the essence of the notion of 'numerically finite but physically unattainable boundaries of the physical world'. The physical world can be rigorously defined only with respect to something that is not physical: the human knowledge is relational. Hence we have two numerically finite but physically unattainable "boundaries" of the physical world, which can be used as "cut-off" with extreme caution: one is the Planck length, the other should also be numerically finite but is still unknown. This latter case corresponds to 'the biggest possible volume of 3-D space' that can not be reached by the expansion of the metric of spacetime, the universal/cosmological time arrow, for any finite time interval read by any physical clock 'inside-the-universe'. There should exist some upper limit on the volume of 3-D space, after which the notion of gravity would be inapplicable, just as 'absolute zero temperature' fixes the numerically finite but physically unattainable cut-off for 'temperature'. To sum up, there are five cases of Holon's volume, V , three physical and two theological. The three physical cases can be seen in the open interval above, (0, infinity). In the case of V tending asymptotically toward zero, we have the inanimate world of tables and chairs, and the notion of 'objective reality' from classical physics works perfectly well. The next case, 0 < V < infinity , corresponds simultaneously to the quantum world and the mega-scale astrophysical phenomena, in which the effects of "dark matter" and "dark energy" show up. In the third case of V tending asymptotically toward infinity, the physical world approaches simultaneously the Planck length and the 'upper limit on the volume of 3-D space', as explained above. Perhaps these three cases can be described with the mutual penetration of two worlds with inverted spacetime basis, material and tachyonic (recall also Kruskal-Szekeres diagram), which "takes place" in the global mode of spacetime; see the new parameter [delta]. If this is the case chosen by Mother Nature, Holon's volume, V , will be replaced with [delta]. Finally, we can imagine two indistinguishable cases of V being exactly zero and exactly infinity, from which everything started [John 1:1]. All scientific questions we can ask are inevitably shaped as teleological questions, hence can not be answered. If this were possible, science would be able to absorb theology and religion, reducing it to some "grand unification theory", after which there would be nothing left to explore. Thanks God, that's impossible. Regrettably, I'm just an ordinary (and biased, as acknowledged above) psychologist and can't cast these ideas in math. Two years ago, on May 8, 2001, I wrote to fifty-two theoretical physicists but none of them showed any interest. I do hope you, my dear reader, will get this job done, well before the launch of LHC. It's all about the nature of spacetime and the alleged "points" in it. Napoleon confessed in his memoirs that he removed Laplace from office as Minister of the Interior after only six weeks "because he brought the spirit of the infinitely small into the government" (C.B. Boyer, A History of Mathematics, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1968, p. 536). Perhaps it is safe to assume that in the year 2003 the situation has been greatly improved, and that there will be many people willing to know where do these "points" come from. If the story told here is the one chosen by Mother Nature, the solution will show up naturally, thanks to the astonishing effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences. Every time we use math, we connect to the world of Platonic ideas and universals, which exists as an Aristotelian potentia and is the source of all possible knowledge, the 'unknown unknown' included. We don't know how the world of mathematical ideas is related to the physical one, we simply explore this relation and make tremendous discoveries on a piece of paper, table napkins included. Or maybe it's still too early. It is perhaps easier to follow the trend set by the French Academy of Sciences back in 1772: meteorites can not possibly exist. Period. The "obvious" reason had been that rocks cannot fall from the sky simply because there are no rocks there. However, having no explanation for 96 per cent of the stuff in our universe, we better keep our mind open to all possibilities. One of them is the Holon. Another one is the oldest proposition for solving the mind-matter problem: if you think of two things, you do have a problem. But if you can manage to think of ONE entity, ... or can you? "Whether you believe you can do a thing or believe you can't, you are right", says Henry Ford.
Sunday, June 23, 2002
Search PHI web site |
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I bet $100 that the
Higgs will not be discovered. Instead, the number of quarks will jump to
8 and more, in a Fibonacci sequence. Just click 
