Foundations of Physics
Outline
Discussion
Background Philosophy
Quantification
Inference and Probability Theory
Quantum Mechanics
Space-time Physics
Fermion Physics
Influence: The Foundational Concept
Products
Essays
Papers
Talks
Resources
References
Links
Background Philosophy (top)
I am interested in the foundations of physics.
The goals are admittedly ambitious and bold.
Let's face it, life is short!
My belief is that most foundational research either assumes too much or is too focused on specific sub-fields of physics. For example, I do not believe that one can effectively study the foundations of quantum mechanics and ignore probability theory, gravity, electromagnetism, and other related phenomena. The universe is a package deal, and to understand it requires understanding the package as a whole. Certainly progress is made in relatively small steps, but if one is serious about solving the puzzle, one has to keep in mind the whole picture while one is trying to place a particular piece.
I bring to this work my experience in machine learning, which amounts to effective and efficient problem-solving. The more that is assumed in a theory, the more likely it is to be wrong. And perhaps more importantly, what is assumed cannot be understood. For example, studying the foundations of quantum mechanics by assuming all of the mathematics of a Hilbert space, basically assumes half the problem, and in doing so prevents one from achieving deep insight.
I take the advice given by Galileo to heart:
"Measure that which is measurable, and make measurable that which is not so."
In my research to date, I have found that apt consistent quantification of any set of entities is often constrained by symmetries and order, and that the resulting constraint equations tend to reflect what we conceive of as physical laws. That is, underlying order results in orderly laws. I, often in collaboration with others, have applied these ideas to probability theory, information theory, quantum mechanics, space-time physics, and relativistic quantum mechanics. The progress my colleagues and I have made can be followed below in a series of papers.
How far this approach can take us is anyone's guess, but one must admit that it important to know just how much of physics is derivable as being contingent on underlying symmetry and order.
Quantification (top)
The topic of apt consistent quantification has a long history with many players and examples and I cannot begin to do it justice here. The main different in our approach, is that we treat this as a central philosophy toward understanding foundations, and not simply a toolbox of disconnected examples throughout history.
Janos Aczel at the Universty of Waterloo and other researchers in the field of Functional Equations have clearly been aware of the critical importance symmetries in the derivation of laws. Perhaps one of the first texts to treat quantification as a foundational principle is the book by Pfanzagl:
Pfanzagl J. "Theory of Measurement", John Wiley & Sons, 1968.
Our relevant papers range from early:
Knuth K.H. 2003. Deriving laws from ordering relations. In: G.J. Erickson, Y. Zhai (eds.), Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Jackson Hole WY 2003, AIP Conference Proceedings 707, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, pp. 204-235. arXiv:physics/0403031v1 [physics.data-an] (pdf 206K)
to more recent:
Knuth K.H. 2009. Measuring on lattices. P. Goggans, C.-Y. Chan (eds.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Oxford, MS, USA, 2009, AIP Conference Proceedings 1193, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, 132-144. (pdf 227K)
Inference and Probability Theory (top)
In many ways, physics is about making optimal inferences about the world around us. To understand this aspect of physics, which is critical to statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics, one must properly understand the foundations of inference. The inspiration for this research approach came from Richard T. Cox's derivation of probability theory from the foundation of Boolean logic.
Cox R.T. 1946 “Probability, Frequency, and Reasonable Expectation”, American Journal of Physics, 14, 1-13.
Since then, these ideas have evolved and matured as we have employed the more general and powerful formalism of order theory to expose the relevant concepts and expand the applicability of the results.
Knuth K.H. 2005. Lattice duality: The origin of probability and entropy. Neurocomputing. 67C: 245-274. DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2004.11.039 (pdf 477K)
Knuth K.H., Skilling J. 2012. Foundations of Inference. 1(1), 38-73; doi:10.3390/axioms1010038 (Free Full-Text at Axioms)
Quantum Mechanics (top)
Philip Goyal and John Skilling and I have demonstrated that the concepts involved in the derivation of probability theory via quantification can be used to derive the Feynman path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. This was inspired in part by the efforts of Tikochinski, Tikochinski and Gull, and Caticha's experimental setups.
Goyal P., Knuth K.H., Skilling J. 2010. Origin of complex quantum amplitudes and Feynman's rules, Phys. Rev. A 81, 022109. arXiv:0907.0909v3 [quant-ph]
The following year, Philip Goyal and I showed how quantum mechanics and probability theory are related. Not only is quantum mechanics consistent with probability theory (and the underlying logic), but it is dependent on it:
Goyal P., Knuth K.H. 2011. Quantum theory and probability theory: their relationship and origin in symmetry, Symmetry 3(2):171-206.
This has since been dramatically updated:
Skilling, J., Knuth, K.H. 2018. The symmetrical foundation of measure, probability and quantum theories. Annalen der Physik (Invited Submission), 1800057.
I should note that some of the older order-theoretic concepts were published by Knuth in 2003:
Knuth K.H. 2003. Deriving laws from ordering relations. In: G.J. Erickson, Y. Zhai (eds.), Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Jackson Hole WY 2003, AIP Conference Proceedings 707, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, pp. 204-235. arXiv:physics/0403031 [physics.data-an] (pdf 206K)
Those ideas were left out of our two first publications above in favor of the more familiar algebraic relations.
Space-time Physics (top)
Everything that is detected or measured is the direct result of something influencing something else. By considering both the act of influencing and the response to such influence as a pair of events, we can describe a universe of interactions as a partially-ordered set of events. We take the partially-ordered set of events as a fundamental picture of influence and aim to determine what interesting physics can be recovered. This is accomplished by identifying a means by which events in a partially-ordered set can be aptly and consistently quantified. Since, in general, a partially-ordered set lacks symmetries to constraint any quantification, we distinguish a chain of events, which represents an observer, and quantify some subset of events with respect to the observer chain. Consistent quantification with respect to pairs of observer chains exhibiting a constant relationship with one another results in a metric analogous to the Minkowski metric and that transformation of the quantification with respect to one pair of chains to quantification with respect to another pair of chains results in the Bondi k-calculus, which represents a Lorentz transformation under a simple change of variables. We further demonstrate that chain projection induces geometric structure in the partially-ordered set, which itself is inherently both non-geometric and non-dimensional. Collectively, these results suggest that the concept of space-time geometry may emerge as a unique way for an embedded observer to aptly and consistently quantify a partially-ordered set of events.
Knuth K.H., Bahreyni N. 2014. A potential foundation for emergent space-time, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 55, 112501.
doi: 10.1063/1.4899081
arXiv:1209.0881 [math-ph]
Fermion Physics, the Feynman Checkerboard,
and the Dirac Equations (top)
We consider describing a particle by focusing on the fact that it influences others. Such a model results in a partially ordered set where a particle is modeled by a chain of influences. As described above, these interactions give rise to an emergent spacetime where the particle influences can be viewed as the particle taking paths through spacetime. We illustrate how this framework of influence-generated events gives rise to some of the well- known properties of the Fermions, such as the uncertainty relation and Zitterbewegung. We can take this further by making inferences about events, which is performed by employing the process calculus, which coincides with the Feynman path integral formulation of quantum mechanics. This results in the Feynman checkerboard model of the Dirac equation in a 1+1 dimensional space describing a Fermion at rest.
Knuth K.H. 2015. Understanding the Electron To appear in the book "Information and Interaction" edited by Dean Rickles and Ian Durham.
arXiv:1511.07766 [physics.gen-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2014. Information-based physics: an observer-centric foundation. Contemporary Physics, (Invited Submission).
doi:10.1080/00107514.2013.853426.
arXiv:1310.1667 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2014. The problem of motion: the statistical mechanics of Zitterbewegung. Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Amboise, France, Sept 2014, AIP Conference Proceedings, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY.
arXiv:1411.1854 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2012. Inferences about interactions: Fermions and the Dirac equation. U. von Toussaint (ed.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Garching, Germany, July 2012, AIP Conference Proceedings, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY., arXiv:1212.2332 [quant-ph]
Influence: The Foundational Concept (top)
When one considers what one can actually know about something like an electron. One is led to the idea that all one can really know is that things, like electrons, influence one another. In some sense, this idea is not new as it was the basis for throwing out the middle-man (the field) in Wheeler and Feynman's work on direct particle-particle interaction. It is also the basis for Ruth Kastner's transactional theory of quantum mechanics. Here we put our own twist on the concept. Basically, since all that one can possibly know is that things influence one another, this should be all that one needs to know. Here we consider the concept of influence and how it gives rise to partially ordered sets of influence events. In the coarse-grained picture, this gives rise to the emergence of space-time. And in the fine-grained picture, when observers make inferences about the behavior of things influencing one another, this gives rise to Fermion physics.
When particles influence others, this gives rise to concepts of the particle's position, proper time, energy, momentum, and velocity. When a particle is influenced, then we see forces emerging. Thus in this theory, influence is responsible for a wide array of concepts in physics.
Knuth, K.H., Walsh, J.L. 2018. An introduction to influence theory: Kinematics and dynamics. Annalen der Physik (Invited Submission), 1700370.
arXiv:1803.09618 [physics.gen-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2015. Understanding the Electron To appear in the book "Information and Interaction" edited by Dean Rickles and Ian Durham.
arXiv:1511.07766 [physics.gen-ph]
Knuth K.H., Bahreyni N. 2014. A potential foundation for emergent space-time, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 55, 112501.
doi: 10.1063/1.4899081
arXiv:1209.0881 [math-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2014. Information-based physics: an observer-centric foundation. Contemporary Physics, (Invited Submission).
doi:10.1080/00107514.2013.853426.
arXiv:1310.1667 [quant-ph]
Walsh J., Knuth K.H. 2014. Information-based physics, influence and forces. Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Amboise, France, Sept 2014, AIP Conference Proceedings, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY.
arXiv:1411.2163 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2012. Inferences about interactions: Fermions and the Dirac equation. U. von Toussaint (ed.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Garching, Germany, July 2012, AIP Conference Proceedings, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY., arXiv:1212.2332 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2013. Information-based physics and the influence network. 2013 FQXi? Essay Entry (http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1831)
Download Essay
Essays (top)
Knuth K.H. 2015. The deeper roles of mathematics in physical laws. FQXi? 2015 Essay Contest Entry: “Trick or Truth: the Mysterious Connection Between Physics and Mathematics”.
(http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2382)
Download Essay
Knuth K.H. 2013. Information-based physics and the influence network. 2013 FQXi? Essay Entry (http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1831)
Download Essay
Papers (top)
Knuth K.H. 2016. Understanding the Electron To appear in the book "Information and Interaction" edited by Dean Rickles and Ian Durham.
arXiv:1511.07766 [physics.gen-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2015. The problem of motion: the statistical mechanics of Zitterbewegung. Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Amboise, France, Sept 2014, AIP Conf. Proc. 1641, AIP, Melville NY, pp. 588-594.
arXiv:1411.1854 [quant-ph]
Walsh J.L., Knuth K.H. 2015. Information-based physics, influence and forces. Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Amboise, France, Sept 2014, AIP Conf. Proc. 1641, AIP, Melville NY, pp. 538-547
arXiv:1411.2163 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H., Bahreyni N. 2014. A potential foundation for emergent space-time, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 55, 112501.
doi: 10.1063/1.4899081
arXiv:1209.0881 [math-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2014. Information-based physics: an observer-centric foundation. Contemporary Physics, 55(1), 12-32, (Invited Submission).
doi:10.1080/00107514.2013.853426.
arXiv:1310.1667 [quant-ph]
Knuth K.H. 2013. Information-based physics and the influence network. 2013 FQXi? Essay Entry (http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1831)
Download Essay
Knuth K.H. 2012. Inferences about interactions: Fermions and the Dirac equation. U. von Toussaint (ed.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Garching, Germany, July 2012, AIP Conference Proceedings 1553, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.2332
Knuth K.H., Skilling J. 2012. Foundations of Inference. Axioms 1(1), 38-73.
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1680/1/1/38
Goyal P., Knuth K.H. 2011. Quantum theory and probability theory: their relationship and origin in symmetry. Symmetry 3(2):171-206.'''
http://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/3/2/171
Knuth K.H. 2010. Information physics: The new frontier. P. Bessiere, J.-F. Bercher, A. Mohammad-Djafari (eds.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Chamonix, France, 2010, AIP Conference Proceedings 1305, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, 3-19.
arXiv:1009.5161v1 [math-ph]
Goyal P., Knuth K.H., Skilling J. 2010. Origin of complex quantum amplitudes and Feynman's rules. Phys. Rev. A 81, 022109.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0907.0909
Goyal P., Knuth K.H., Skilling L. 2009. The origin of complex quantum amplitudes. P. Goggans, C.-Y. Chan (eds.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Oxford, MS, USA, 2009, AIP Conference Proceedings 1193, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, 89-96.
Knuth K.H. 2009. Measuring on lattices. P. Goggans, C.-Y. Chan (eds.) Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Oxford, MS, USA, 2009, AIP Conference Proceedings 1193, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, 132-144.
arXiv:0909.3684 [math.GM]
Knuth K.H. 2003. Deriving laws from ordering relations. In: G.J. Erickson, Y. Zhai (eds.), Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Jackson Hole WY 2003, AIP Conference Proceedings 707, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, pp. 204-235.
http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0403031
Talks (top)
Knuth K.H., Bahreyni N., Walsh J.L. 2015. The influence network: A new foundation for emergent physics
Beyond Spacetime 2015, San Diego, CA, USA on 13 March 2015
Knuth K.H. 2014. FQXI 2014: Foundations of Probability and Information.
Opening Panelist Discussion on the Perspectives of Information at the FQXi 2014 Conference on Physics and Information, Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, USA on 6 Jan 2014.
Knuth K.H. 2013. Information-Based Physics: An Intelligent Embedded Agent's Guide to the Universe.
Presented to the Santa Fe Institute , Santa Fe NM on 26 Mar 2013.
Presented to Complexity Sciences Center at UC Davis, Davis CA on 9 Apr 2013.
Presented to Stanford Physics, Stanford University, Stanford CA on 12 Apr 2013.
- Slides: http://knuthlab.rit.albany.edu/talks/knuth---sfi---130326---final.pdf
- Recorded Video: http://www.santafe.edu/research/videos/play/?id=4c68902c-17e0-4e16-a1a5-78e12205fa8b
Knuth K.H. 2013. The foundations of probability Theory and quantum theory.
Presented at NASA Ames Research Center, 11 Apr 2013.
Presented at Google on 10 Apr 2013.
Knuth K.H. 2010. Information Physics: The Next Frontier, MaxEnt? 2007, Chamonix, France, July 2007.
- Recorded Video: http://www.lss.supelec.fr/MaxEnt2010/video/Tutorial1_Knuth.html
- Slides: http://www.lss.supelec.fr/MaxEnt2010/slide/Tutorial1_Knuth.pdf
- Paper: http://www.lss.supelec.fr/MaxEnt2010/paper/Tutorial1_Knuth.pdf
Knuth K.H. 2010. The role of order in natural law, Workshop on the Laws of Nature: Their Nature and Knowability, Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada, May 2010.
- Recorded Video: http://pirsa.org/10050054/