vol VII: Notes

2015

Notes

[Sunday 19 April 2015 - Saturday 25 April 2015]

[Notebook: DB 78: Catholicism 2.0]

[page 140]

Sunday 19 April 2015

Keep myself motivated by reciting the advantages of natural theology, but somewhat depressed by my inability to bring these advantages to the notice of the world. As I am inclined to think, it is a 30 year plan. Just keep going

At present the idea is to replace quantum field theory with digital network theory and simplify the standard model to something which I can understand and which incudes gravitation. If I could 'pull that off' maybe I would get a hearing.

Canon Law is the DNA of the Roman Catholic Church. Tapsell

[page 141]

The network model describes an office system.

Gravitation is the unifying symmetry of the whole Universe, making it possible for all the particles to communicate. Gravitation describes an unmodulated energy network. A Lagrangian for gravitation: heavy traffic argues for shorter connection. [Relativity: no connection until distance = 0]

Energy is the frequency of the stepwise motion from potential to action, stillness to motion, in the dynamic digital world.

The beatific vision is the carnal knowledge of God. Learn how it works. Buy [the first book on the subject]. [looking for new google ads]

Can spinor exist in (1 -1) space?

There is a lot of wasted motion in quantum mechanics - the state vectors go round and round and nothing happens until there is an observation.

Tomonaga, Spin p viii: Landau and Lifshitz: 'this property of elementary particles is peculiar to quantum theory . . . and therefore has in principle no classical interpretation . . . In particular it would be wholly meaningless to imagine the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle as being the result of its motion "about its own axis" . ' Something analogous, but predating space. Tomonaga: The Story of Spin

God is the big spin feeding all the little spins.

The history of the world is parametrized by [local] time.

By digitizing we formalize, logicize. Symmetry is nothing, the

[page 142]

boundary of reality which which induces fixed points within it [like a potential well]. So let us say that gravitation is the conservation of energy. The measure of energy in the Universe is ℵ₀

How much spin is there in the world? It is signed, so it could be zero. Flow of spin. Energy associated with spin depends on surrounding potential. [spatial quantization of spin]

Potential is released when everything lines up like a ball valve or a fruit machine (pokie) [ie processes get in phase, become consistent, ie closed].

Monday 20 April 2015

I spend a fair bit of time being worried about the world and I think the principal problem for me is the variety of false ideas people have about the world which could be put right if they knew and accepted current scientific positions on various issues. These fall into 3 general classes: known, unknown and unknowable. The worst problem, from my point of view is the political contamination of knowledge by various interests. We see this in Papal condemnation of contraception and the fossil fuel industry's resistance to carbon free energy sources. This can only be countered by political action to give high visibility to science. The Conversation

Complexification = adding dimensions, orthogonality, degrees of freedom, Einstein on specific heats: the emergence of degrees of freedom. Einstein solid - Wikipedia

[page 143]

Every word that I write gets me a bit closer to where I think I want to go, writhing around in divine space trying to explain it to myself and create a map to find my way around.

There is a position of uncertainty between definite positions, as reflected in quantum mechanics, or while the tossed coin is still spinning.

The basic problem seems to be fear of the unknown that has increased as old politically entrenched 'verities' like Christianity are challenged and have yet to be replaced by new scientifically established verities that embody the new monotheism, that the Universe is a consistent whole which gives us many clear choices about how to fit in. We are looking to spread a new vision of God, and we see the universality of gravitation, seen in the light of complexity invariance, as the key to global cooperation and peace and survival.

Misner, Thorne and Wheeler 13.4: Geodesics are world lines of extremal proper time '. . . in flat spacetime, extremal length of world line is an indicator of straightness.

Although I showed early promise, I am pretty dumb when it comes to mathematical physics and the relationships between mathematical symbols and physical realities. After fifty years I am still a bit confused about how quantum field theory applies to our physical world.

How does gravitation make space? Why is the expansion of the Universe independent of the size of atoms?

Is gravitation the residual entanglement of the child particles with their parents? As the world complexifies it carries gravitation along with it connecting the ℵ_o particles in the Universe.

[page 144]

How many electrons are there? Formally just one, but many instances, as with other particles. Nevertheless we require every particle to have an address that comes from its pedigree. We consider the simplest approach to be binary but can go to transfinite: 2^ℵ_n = ℵ_n+1, so 2² = 4, 2⁴= 16, 2¹⁶ = 65 536, 2^{65 636} = big number.

Veltmann page xii: 'Feynman rules have true physics content and the physicist must understand that. He / She must know how Lorentz invariance, conservation of probability, renormalizability reflect themselves in the Feynman rules.'

Where do I fit into the world? A node in a network of parents, children, customers, friends, committee members, etc. A source of energy and information but I do not feel that I am succeeding in contributing all that I possibly could, but I feel that this is just a fluctuation, and I should keep up the potential.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Everything I write is an attempt to explain how the world (which includes me) works to myself. I have absorbed a house full of books and a lifetime of discussion about the world, and I am attempting to fit all this experience together in a consistent picture or map. The canvas for this map is the transfinite computer network, and the actual drawing consists in fitting elements of my experience into this map. This has the effect of validating the choice of canvas, and giving elements of my life experience a logicallly and aesthetically pleasing place in the overall picture. The general study of what is and is not possible in this mapping exercise (writing and reading) is cybernetics, the science of communication and control. From this point

[page 145]

of view this website is pure indulgence. Somewhere in this picture we have a place for Adam Smith's invisible hand, but the picture also provides a context for this idea that shows how the invisible hand must be regulated if it is not to lead to uncontrolled accumulations of potential (power, dunamis, potentia) which can cause severe damage, eg war, boiler explosions. Such damage we conceive as movement toward the physical (hardware) layers of the network where people are not conceived as people but as animals or simply objects to be moved around.

So we opt for enlightened self indulgence, that is in effect the beatific vision.

Eureka St : On the vision of God: I was sucked int the Catholic scam very young. I have since rejected a lot of the details but clung to the original hook, the beatific vision. Now that I am in my seventies and have a complex life left behind me, I feel that I am getting a grip on the beatific vision, that is I am learning to see God. The Catholic church stole God and hid it from us. Now that the Church is revealed as the inhuman organization that it is and its credibility is going down the drain, the recovery of God has become feasible.

Cybernetics: on the role of formalism (software) in structuring and guiding the Universe. Up to now we have tacitly or explicitly relied on the creator to have got the Universe right but here we take the view that what we see is a set of fixed points of the living God whose deterministic relationships (such as they are) are guaranteed by the dynamic consistency of the divine life (to coin s0me satisfying jargon).

[page 146]

Stationary (potential) and moving energy both have frequency given by E = mc² = hf etc.

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Say again: the formal consistency of the fixed ponts we observe is guaranteed by the consistency of the motion in which these points are embedded [inconsistency blocks motion, hence the inconsistent churches (theological corporates) are blocking human development].

The process of understanding requires knocking on closed doors until one finally finds a means to open them.

Spin is stationary energy, entropy.time = frequency.time = 1/t . t = 1.

One must rotate spin ½ through 4π to come back to the starting point. [a topological property, is spin ½ 'topologically bound']

MTW page 4: Einstein: all physics takes place by 'local action' [ie action inside the initial singularity]. Misner, Thorne and Wheeler: Gravitation

Quantum mechanical plumbing. There are various conserved quantities that flow around the place subject to unitarity.

Particle = frozen energy, potential energy. Field energy in motion [so invisible] , producing particles, ie messages.

It takes a fair but if mathematical trickery like normalization, string theory, folded up dimensions etc to get mathematical physics to look like it works. Do these things mean we are on the wrong track, using a Heath-Robinson contraption when there is a more direct route? Here is where I hope logical continuity may help because it does nit get trapped in the weirdnesses of continuous mathematics like dividing by zero and infinite quantities of information beng manipulated by infinite dimensional operators [ie infinite entropy and processing bandwidth] [note that like the Universe, we do our mathematics with discrete symbols= operators]. Heath Robinson

Feynman page 4 integrates over the whole Universe, a practice justified by the fact that space and distance do not exist for [momentum free, primitive] quantum mechanics. Feynman & Weinberg

Each broken symmetry creates 2 or more new symmetries, that is new undefined boundaries on the system of fixed points / new fixed points.

Quantum field theory assumes the existence of 4D spacetime which serves as a canvas (independent variable) upon which the path integral method and the Feynman diagrams are worked out. The background space is passive in thus picture, merely (like a canvas) addressing (ie giving an address to) all the bits of paint.

Thursday 23 April 2015

Our security (and insecurity) comes from the nature of our world and life within it. On the ne hand we have the Sun, a source if effectively endless energy, on the other the events of life, some pleasant and profitable, others not so, but to a large degree foreseeable so that we can make provision if we are prudent and have the means.

Non-relativistic quantum mechanics = no creation and annihilation of particles. Since any process involves creation and annihilation of particles (eg photons) we can say that there is no non-relativistic quantum mechanics [no events in a continuum - discrete symbols have entropy, continuum does not].

[page 148]

Friday 24 April 2015

Bogged again. Even with the help of Feynman, Veltman, Zee and others I still cannot see the sense in quantum field theory or even, at this point, a clear way to understand it in network terms. Given that it almost works we assume that there is something there, but what? Maybe leave physics for a while and press on with the more human and intuitively obvious sections if the website. Now for a weekend in Sydney. Veltman, Zee

Saturday 25 April 2015

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Further reading

Books

Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)

Beale, R, and T Jackson, Neural Computing: An Introduction, Adam Hilger 1991 Jacket: '. . . starts from basics and goes on to cover all the most important approaches to the subject. . . . The capabilities, advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed as are possible applications of each. The relationship of the models developed to the brain and its functions are also explored.'  Amazon   back

Cercignani, Carlo, Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms, Oxford University Press, USA 2006 'Cercignani provides a stimulating biography of a great scientist. Boltzmann's greatness is difficult to state, but the fact that the author is still actively engaged in research into some of the finer, as yet unresolved issues provoked by Boltzmann's work is a measure of just how far ahead of his time Boltzmann was. It is also tragic to read of Boltzmann's persecution by his contemporaries, the energeticists, who regarded atoms as a convenient hypothesis, but not as having a definite existence. Boltzmann felt that atoms were real and this motivated much of his research. How Boltzmann would have laughed if he could have seen present-day scanning tunnelling microscopy images, which resolve the atomic structure at surfaces! If only all scientists would learn from Boltzmann's life story that it is bad for science to persecute someone whose views you do not share but cannot disprove. One surprising fact I learned from this book was how research into thermodynamics and statistical mechanics led to the beginnings of quantum theory (such as Planck's distribution law, and Einstein's theory of specific heat). Lecture notes by Boltzmann also seem to have influenced Einstein's construction of special relativity. Cercignani's familiarity with Boltzmann's work at the research level will probably set this above other biographies of Boltzmann for a very long time to come.' Dr David J Bottomley   Amazon   back

Clements, Alan, Principle of Computer Hardware, Oxford University Press 2006 Amazon editorial review: 'The fourth edition of this classic textbook continues to encompass the range of topics that comprise a typical introductory university level course in computer hardware. As with the previous edition the author writes with great clarity, and conveys both his expertise and enthusiasm for the subject. This is a great choice for adoption in an introductory hardware course in computer science and related disciplines.' ITNow, 2006   Amazon   back

Crombie, A C, The History of Science from Augustine to Galileo, Dover Publications 1996 Amazon customer review: 'This is a very widely encompassing account of the evolution and development of science through history. The considerations of the sociopolitical and philosophical climates pertaining to the times gives the reader a basis of understanding why science progressed as it did. The account is very well organised and lucid, although it fails in some aspects to consider the contributions of the Far Eastern civilizations. It makes a very valuable contribution to help appreciate acutely the value of those who contributed to science's development.' A Customer   Amazon   back

Feynman, Richard P, and Robert B Leighton, Matthew Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics (volume 3) : Quantum Mechanics, Addison Wesley 1970 Foreword: 'This set of lectures tries to elucidate from the beginning those features of quantum mechanics which are the most basic and the most general. . . . In each instance the ideas are introduced together with a detailed discussion of some specific examples - to try to make the physical ideas as real as possible.' Matthew Sands  Amazon   back

Feynman, Richard P, and Steven Weinberg, Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures, Cambridge University Press Jacket: Perhaps the two most important conceptual breakthroughs in twentith century physics are relativity and quantum mechanics. Developing a theory that combines the two seamlessly is a difficult and ongoing challenge. This accessible book contains intriguing explorations of this theme by the distinguished physicists Richard Feynman and Steven Weinberg. Richard Feynman's contribution examines the nature of antiparticles, and in particular the relationship between quantum spin and statistics. In his essay, Steven Weinberg speculates on how Einstein's theory of gravitarion might be reconciled with quantum theory and the final laws of physics.'  Amazon   back

Huang, Kerson, Statistical Mechanics, John Wiley 1987 'Preface: ... The purpose of this book is to teach statistical mechanics as an integral part of theoretical phyiscs, a discipline that aims to describe all natural phenomena on the basis of a single unifying theory. This theory, at present, is quantum mechanics. ... Before the subject of statistical mechanics proper is presented, a brief but self contained discussion of thermodynamics and the classical kinetic theory of gases is given. The order of this devlopment is imperative, from a pedagogical point of view, for two reasons. First, thermodynamics has successfully described a large part of macroscopic experience, which is the concern of statistical mechanics. It has done so not on the basis of molecular dynamics but on the basis of a few simple and intuitive postulates stated in everyday terms. If we first falimiarize ourselves with thermodynamics, the task of statistical mechanics reduces to the explanation of thermodynamics. Second, the classical kinetic theory of gases is the only known special case in which thermodynics can be derived nearly from first principles, ie, molecular dynamics. A study of this special case will help us to understand why statstical mecahnics sorks.'  Amazon   back

Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight : A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '. . . Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding'  Amazon   back

Misner, Charles W, and Kip S Thorne, John Archibald Wheeler, Gravitation, Freeman 1973 Jacket: 'Einstein's description of gravitation as curvature of spacetime led directly to that greatest of all predictions of his theory, that the universe itself is dynamic. Physics still has far to go to come to terms with this amazing fact and what it means for man and his relation to the universe. John Archibald Wheeler. . . . this is a book on Einstein's theory of gravity. . . . '  Amazon   back

Pais, Abraham, 'Subtle is the Lord...': The Science and Life of Albert Einstein, Oxford UP 1982 Jacket: In this . . . major work Abraham Pais, himself an eminent physicist who worked alongside Einstein in the post-war years, traces the development of Einstein's entire ouvre. . . . Running through the book is a completely non-scientific biography . . . including many letters which appear in English for the first time, as well as other information not published before.'  Amazon   back

Peskin, Michael E, and Dan V Schroeder, An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, Westview Press 1995 Amazon Product Description 'This book is a clear and comprehensive introduction to quantum field theory, one that develops the subject systematically from its beginnings. The book builds on calculation techniques toward an explanation of the physics of renormalization.'   Amazon   back

Simmons, Gene, Kiss and Make-up, Three Rivers Press 2002 From Library Journal 'Best known for their pyrotechnic concerts and outrageous makeup, KISS has inexplicably endured for more than 30 years. Frontman Simmons here speaks to that longevity, as well as to the band's sale of 80 million records. After covering his childhood in Haifa, Israel, he quickly moves into the evolution of KISS, which he cofounded with Paul Stanley in New York City in 1972. . . . ' Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.  Amazon   back

Tapsell, Kieran, Potiphar's Wife: The Vatican's Secret and Child Sexual Abuse, ATF Press 2014 Back cover: 'For 1500 years the Cathilic Church acepted that clergy who sexually abused children deserved to be stripped of theur status as priests and then imprisoned. . . . That all changed in 1922 when Pope Pius XI issues his decree Crimen Sollicitationi that created a de facto 'privilege of clergy' b imposing the 'secret of the Holy Ofice' on all infomration obtained through the Church'd canonincal investigations. If the State did not knw abut these crimes, then there would be n State trials, and the matter could be treated as a ourely canonical crime to be dealt with in secret in the Church courts..  Amazon   back

Tomonaga, Sin-itiro, The Story of Spin, University of Chicago Press 1997 Jacket: 'The Story of Spin, as told by Sin-itiro Tomonaga and lovingly translated by Takeshi Oka, is a brilliant and witty account of the development of modern quantum theory, which takes electron spin as a pivotal concept. Reading these twelve lectures on the fundamental aspects of physics is a joyful experience that is rare indeed.' Laurie Brown, Northwestern University.  Amazon   back

Veltman, Martinus, Diagrammatica: The Path to the Feynman Rules, Cambridge University Press 1994 Jacket: 'This book provides an easily accessible introduction to quantum field theory via Feynman rules and calculations in particle physics. The aim is to make clear what the physical foundations of present-day field theory are, to clarify the physical content of Feynman rules, and to outline their domain of applicability. ... The book includes valuable appendices that review some essential mathematics, including complex spaces, matrices, the CBH equation, traces and dimensional regularization. ...'  Amazon   back

Zee, Anthony, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, Princeton University Press 2003 Amazon book description: 'An esteemed researcher and acclaimed popular author takes up the challenge of providing a clear, relatively brief, and fully up-to-date introduction to one of the most vital but notoriously difficult subjects in theoretical physics. A quantum field theory text for the twenty-first century, this book makes the essential tool of modern theoretical physics available to any student who has completed a course on quantum mechanics and is eager to go on. Quantum field theory was invented to deal simultaneously with special relativity and quantum mechanics, the two greatest discoveries of early twentieth-century physics, but it has become increasingly important to many areas of physics. These days, physicists turn to quantum field theory to describe a multitude of phenomena. Stressing critical ideas and insights, Zee uses numerous examples to lead students to a true conceptual understanding of quantum field theory--what it means and what it can do. He covers an unusually diverse range of topics, including various contemporary developments,while guiding readers through thoughtfully designed problems. In contrast to previous texts, Zee incorporates gravity from the outset and discusses the innovative use of quantum field theory in modern condensed matter theory. Without a solid understanding of quantum field theory, no student can claim to have mastered contemporary theoretical physics. Offering a remarkably accessible conceptual introduction, this text will be widely welcomed and used.   Amazon   back

Links

Albert Einstein - Wikipedia, Albert Einstein - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was an ethnically Jewish German-born theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theories of special relativity and general relativity. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect."' back

Asymptotic freedom - Wikipedia, Asymptotic freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In physics, asymptotic freedom is the property of some gauge theories in which the interaction between the particles, such as quarks, becomes arbitrarily weak at ever shorter distances, i.e. length scales that asymptotically converge to zero (or, equivalently, energy scales that become arbitrarily large). Asymptotic freedom implies that in high-energy scattering the quarks move within nucleons, such as the neutron and proton, mostly as free non-interacting particles. It allows physicists to calculate the cross sections of various events in particle physics reliably using parton techniques.' back

Einstein solid - Wikipedia, Einstein solid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Einstein solid is a model of a solid based on two assumptions: Each atom in the lattice is an independent 3D quantum harmonic oscillator All atoms oscillate with the same frequency (contrast with the Debye model) While the assumption that a solid has independent oscillations is very accurate, these oscillations are sound waves or phonons, collective modes involving many atoms. In the Einstein model, each atom oscillates independently. Einstein was aware that getting the frequency of the actual oscillations would be difficult, but he nevertheless proposed this theory because it was a particularly clear demonstration that quantum mechanics could solve the specific heat problem in classical mechanics.' back

Gödel's incompleteness theorems - Wikipedia, Gödel's incompleteness theorems - Wikipedia, 'Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that establish inherent limitations of all but the most trivial axiomatic systems capable of doing arithmetic. The theorems, proven by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The two results are widely, but not universally, interpreted as showing that Hilbert's program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all of mathematics is impossible, giving a negative answer to Hilbert's second problem. The first incompleteness theorem states that no consistent system of axioms whose theorems can be listed by an "effective procedure" (e.g., a computer program, but it could be any sort of algorithm) is capable of proving all truths about the relations of the natural numbers (arithmetic). For any such system, there will always be statements about the natural numbers that are true, but that are unprovable within the system. The second incompleteness theorem, a corollary of the first, shows that such a system cannot demonstrate its own consistency.' back

Heath Robinson, Heath Robinson Images, Heath Robinson images from many soures back

Minkowski space - Wikipedia, Minkowski space - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematical physics, Minkowski space or Minkowski spacetime (named after the mathematician Hermann Minkowski) is the mathematical setting in which Einstein's theory of special relativity is most conveniently formulated. In this setting the three ordinary dimensions of space are combined with a single dimension of time to form a four-dimensional manifold for representing a spacetime.' back

The Conversation, Our charter, 'We will: Inform public debate with knowledge-based journalism that is responsible, ethical and supported by evidence. Unlock the knowledge of researchers and academics to provide the public with clarity and insight into society’s biggest problems. Create an open site for people around the world to share best practices and collaborate on developing smart, sustainable solutions. Provide a fact-based and editorially independent forum, free of commercial or political bias. Support and foster academic freedom to conduct research, teach, write and publish. . . . ' back