For a long time, theoretical physicists have dreamed of the day when the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics would be combined to create the Theory of Everything. It often stated that such a theory would be so simple and concise that the whole thing could be condensed into a simple equation that would fit on a T-shirt.
It was clear to me that classic material reductionism could not provide a path to that laudable goal, so I undertook an investigation to see what could replace it. That investigation spanned almost 4½ years, and it was documented step-by-step in my essay Order, Chaos and the End of Reductionism. This research led me to several dead ends, blind alleys, and self contradictions. What I ultimately discovered was that Einstein's field equations of the general theory of relativity actually provide an exact solution for the universe as a whole, whereas these laws are recapitulated on smaller scales as approximations for weak-field interactions.
Combining this principle with the principle of maximal entropy led to some surprising conclusions, summarized by a simple equation of state that can easily fit on a T-shirt that captures the essence of the Theory of Everything.
This essay is a compilation of ideas, opinions, and conjectures from two previous essays, "Is Science Solving the Reality Riddle," and "Order, Chaos, and the End of Reductionism," and was expanded to include subsequent essays. It is very much a work in progress and has been repeatedly amended when necessary. The author concludes that current scientific theories are incomplete and limit our understanding of nature in a fundamental way, the current description of how the universe eveolved is wrong, and a new evolutionary paradigm is presented that explains both the physical and mental evolutionary processes.
Gravity: Superstrings or Entropy? A Modest Proffer from an Amateur ScientistJohn47Wind
This essay evaluates the promise that superstring theory will culminate in a quantum theory of gravity that unifies all the forces of nature into one package. In particular, the proponents of superstring theory promise that it will show how all forces of nature are “unified” at high energies. The essay traces the history of string theory from its humble beginnings in the 1960s, to explain the scattering of sub-atomic particles, to its culmination as five different string theories that supposedly comprise a yet-to-be defined theory named M-theory. In contrast, this essay presents a simple theory of gravity based on entropy that is distributed throughout space. A surprising consequence of entropic gravity is that Newton’s constant, G, has been decreasing over the life of universe, which fulfills the unfulfilled promise made by string theorists. Moreover, this consequence can be tested experimentally, unlike string theory, which makes no testable predictions.
Order, Chaos and the End of ReductionismJohn47Wind
The author presents a case against reductionism based on the emergence of chaos and order from underlying non-linear processes. Since all theories are mathematical, and based on an underlying premise of linearity, the author contends that there is no hope that science will succeed in creating a theory of everything that is complete. The controversial subject of life and evolution are explored, exposing the fallacy of a reductionist explanation, and offering a theory of order emerging from chaos as being the creative process of the universe, leading all the way up to consciousness. The essay concludes with the possibility that the three-dimensional universe is a fractal boundary that separates order and chaos in a higher dimension. The author discusses the work of Claude Shannon, Benoit Mandelbrot, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrodinger, Erik Verlinde, John Wheeler, Richard Maurice Bucke, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and others. This is a companion piece to the essay "Is Science Solving the Reality Riddle?"
A Theory for the Participatory Anthropic PrincipleNicolas Arrisola
The author proposes a theory called the participatory anthropic principle (PAP) that combines PAP and self-organized criticality (SOC) to explain how the universe came into being. According to PAP, the universe began in a state of superposition and collapsed into our observable universe when conscious observers emerged to observe it. SOC suggests the universe is "self-organized" around the critical point of pink noise and conscious observers. The theory argues that general relativity allows for effects to influence their past causes from an "ultimate frame of reference," resolving how future observation collapsed the past superposition. However, the theory is largely speculative and does not fully address questions about the origins and purpose of consciousness.
The Hidden Secrets of General Relativity RevealedJohn47Wind
It has been more than 100 years since Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity was published. It is one of the most successful theories created by the human brain, surviving every test that attempted to falsify it. However, the implications of general relativity are incredibly deep and go far beyond the humdrum analyses found in most physics textbooks. Recent discoveries have shown that general relativity and quantum mechanics are based on the common principle that our universe isn’t just relativistic but is radically so, and objective reality is a mirage generated in the mind of the observer. Temporal asymmetry, or the curvature of time, is the key to understanding this. This essay reveals a few of the hidden secrets of general relativity, which I expect will offend materialists but am hopeful will delight idealists.
This article aims to present possible strategies for humanity to seek its survival with the end of the Universe in which we live. Research on the fate of our Universe, on the existence or not of multiverse or parallel universes and on the development of the final theory or theory of everything, that is, of the theory of the unified field, are important questions to elucidate in order to point out possible strategies for humanity seeks its survival with the end of the Universe in which we live.
The document discusses the scientific method and how it has evolved over time. It begins by defining science as the empirical study of nature. It then discusses three main methodologies in science: reductionism, which explains phenomena in terms of underlying mechanisms; structuralism, which studies complex phenomena as original systems; and "universalism", which makes statistical predictions about classes of similar systems. The document traces how these methodologies have developed from classical physics to modern fields like quantum mechanics and biology. It also explores how mythologies can provide metaphorical insights that inspire scientific hypotheses.
1) Stephen Hawking summarized his 1980 lecture where he discussed the progress made in theoretical physics over the previous century and questioned if a complete unified theory could be found by the end of the 20th century.
2) In the 1960s, four fundamental forces were known - gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Developments in the 1960s and 1970s unified electromagnetism and the weak force, though gravity remained separate.
3) Hawking proposes that like maps of the Earth's curved surface, there may be multiple overlapping theories needed to describe physics in all situations, rather than one single unified theory, though progress continues to be made theoretically through proposals
This essay is a compilation of ideas, opinions, and conjectures from two previous essays, "Is Science Solving the Reality Riddle," and "Order, Chaos, and the End of Reductionism," and was expanded to include subsequent essays. It is very much a work in progress and has been repeatedly amended when necessary. The author concludes that current scientific theories are incomplete and limit our understanding of nature in a fundamental way, the current description of how the universe eveolved is wrong, and a new evolutionary paradigm is presented that explains both the physical and mental evolutionary processes.
Gravity: Superstrings or Entropy? A Modest Proffer from an Amateur ScientistJohn47Wind
This essay evaluates the promise that superstring theory will culminate in a quantum theory of gravity that unifies all the forces of nature into one package. In particular, the proponents of superstring theory promise that it will show how all forces of nature are “unified” at high energies. The essay traces the history of string theory from its humble beginnings in the 1960s, to explain the scattering of sub-atomic particles, to its culmination as five different string theories that supposedly comprise a yet-to-be defined theory named M-theory. In contrast, this essay presents a simple theory of gravity based on entropy that is distributed throughout space. A surprising consequence of entropic gravity is that Newton’s constant, G, has been decreasing over the life of universe, which fulfills the unfulfilled promise made by string theorists. Moreover, this consequence can be tested experimentally, unlike string theory, which makes no testable predictions.
Order, Chaos and the End of ReductionismJohn47Wind
The author presents a case against reductionism based on the emergence of chaos and order from underlying non-linear processes. Since all theories are mathematical, and based on an underlying premise of linearity, the author contends that there is no hope that science will succeed in creating a theory of everything that is complete. The controversial subject of life and evolution are explored, exposing the fallacy of a reductionist explanation, and offering a theory of order emerging from chaos as being the creative process of the universe, leading all the way up to consciousness. The essay concludes with the possibility that the three-dimensional universe is a fractal boundary that separates order and chaos in a higher dimension. The author discusses the work of Claude Shannon, Benoit Mandelbrot, Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrodinger, Erik Verlinde, John Wheeler, Richard Maurice Bucke, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and others. This is a companion piece to the essay "Is Science Solving the Reality Riddle?"
A Theory for the Participatory Anthropic PrincipleNicolas Arrisola
The author proposes a theory called the participatory anthropic principle (PAP) that combines PAP and self-organized criticality (SOC) to explain how the universe came into being. According to PAP, the universe began in a state of superposition and collapsed into our observable universe when conscious observers emerged to observe it. SOC suggests the universe is "self-organized" around the critical point of pink noise and conscious observers. The theory argues that general relativity allows for effects to influence their past causes from an "ultimate frame of reference," resolving how future observation collapsed the past superposition. However, the theory is largely speculative and does not fully address questions about the origins and purpose of consciousness.
The Hidden Secrets of General Relativity RevealedJohn47Wind
It has been more than 100 years since Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity was published. It is one of the most successful theories created by the human brain, surviving every test that attempted to falsify it. However, the implications of general relativity are incredibly deep and go far beyond the humdrum analyses found in most physics textbooks. Recent discoveries have shown that general relativity and quantum mechanics are based on the common principle that our universe isn’t just relativistic but is radically so, and objective reality is a mirage generated in the mind of the observer. Temporal asymmetry, or the curvature of time, is the key to understanding this. This essay reveals a few of the hidden secrets of general relativity, which I expect will offend materialists but am hopeful will delight idealists.
This article aims to present possible strategies for humanity to seek its survival with the end of the Universe in which we live. Research on the fate of our Universe, on the existence or not of multiverse or parallel universes and on the development of the final theory or theory of everything, that is, of the theory of the unified field, are important questions to elucidate in order to point out possible strategies for humanity seeks its survival with the end of the Universe in which we live.
The document discusses the scientific method and how it has evolved over time. It begins by defining science as the empirical study of nature. It then discusses three main methodologies in science: reductionism, which explains phenomena in terms of underlying mechanisms; structuralism, which studies complex phenomena as original systems; and "universalism", which makes statistical predictions about classes of similar systems. The document traces how these methodologies have developed from classical physics to modern fields like quantum mechanics and biology. It also explores how mythologies can provide metaphorical insights that inspire scientific hypotheses.
1) Stephen Hawking summarized his 1980 lecture where he discussed the progress made in theoretical physics over the previous century and questioned if a complete unified theory could be found by the end of the 20th century.
2) In the 1960s, four fundamental forces were known - gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Developments in the 1960s and 1970s unified electromagnetism and the weak force, though gravity remained separate.
3) Hawking proposes that like maps of the Earth's curved surface, there may be multiple overlapping theories needed to describe physics in all situations, rather than one single unified theory, though progress continues to be made theoretically through proposals
Absolute truth is conceptualized with reference to meaning and procedure, within the limits of self-containment, which is a characteristic feature that is shared commonly between the universe, humans, and the institutions that they establish in society; and the human intellect is presented as being endowed with the capacity to appreciate it, given the appropriate environment
hello, friends it time for new scientific consideration ,usually what we think how time pass away,,,,,,,,,o come on i wish to get back in past...also in future......what you say???...take a look........
Essay on Physics in Everyday Life
Reflection On Physics
Essay On New Physics
The History of Physics Essay
Quantum Mechanics Essay
Physics in Sports Essay
New Physics Essay
The Physics of Music Essay examples
Arthur Young developed a philosophy called the "Reflexive Universe" that sought to integrate human consciousness with science. He proposed a model of the universe as a seven-stage process based on a torus topology. In this model, each stage has increasing freedom and asymmetry, from molecules to light. Young believed this model provided a framework for understanding the relationship between parts and the whole of the universe.
1) The document outlines Robert Lanza's theory of biocentrism, which argues that biology and consciousness are central to understanding the universe, as evidenced by quantum experiments like the double-slit experiment.
2) Specifically, Lanza believes that consciousness causes reality rather than just observing it, and that without observation, particles exist in an undetermined quantum state.
3) The author critiques Lanza's "strong" biocentrism and argues instead for a "weak" version - that while consciousness may influence quantum phenomena, it does not determine all of reality. Observable objects seem to have characteristics independent of observation.
A semi-serious critical commentary of what science says about the universe, exposing some of the flaws about the current models. The author concludes that the universe is comprised of information, with space and time being essentially forms of information censorship. He backs this up with an example of how nature conspires to prevent us from destroying information. There are several appendices that expand on the ideas presented in the main body of the essay. Written in a somewhat humorous vein, the ideas presented are nonetheless factual, based on the author's understanding of the current state of scientific knowledge. The essay summarizes some key concepts and quotations from Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Hermann Minkowski, Arthur Eddington, Niels Bohr, Boris Podolski, Nathan Rosen, Kurt Gödel, John Bell, John Wheeler, Richard Feynman, Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, Benoit Mandelbrot, Erik Verlinde, Leonard Susskind and others.
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitwor.docxssusera34210
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitworth
2
The Physical World as a Virtual Reality
Brian Whitworth
Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
E-mail: [email protected]
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine
Sir Arthur Eddington
Abstract
This paper explores the idea that the universe is a virtual reality created by information
processing, and relates this strange idea to the findings of modern physics about the physical
world. The virtual reality concept is familiar to us from online worlds, but our world as a virtual
reality is usually a subject for science fiction rather than science. Yet logically the world could be
an information simulation running on a multi-dimensional space-time screen. Indeed, if the
essence of the universe is information, matter, charge, energy and movement could be aspects of
information, and the many conservation laws could be a single law of information conservation.
If the universe were a virtual reality, its creation at the big bang would no longer be paradoxical,
as every virtual system must be booted up. It is suggested that whether the world is an objective
reality or a virtual reality is a matter for science to resolve. Modern information science can
suggest how core physical properties like space, time, light, matter and movement could derive
from information processing. Such an approach could reconcile relativity and quantum theories,
with the former being how information processing creates space-time, and the latter how it
creates energy and matter.
Key words: Digital physics, virtual reality, information theory
Modern online games show that information processing can create virtual “worlds”, with their
own time, space, entities and objects, e.g. “The Sims”. However that our physical world is a
virtual reality (VR) is normally considered a topic of science fiction, religion or philosophy, not a
theory of physics. Yet the reader is asked to keep an open mind, as one should at least consider a
theory before rejecting it. This paper asks if a world that behaves just like the world we live in
could arise from a VR simulation. It first defines what VR theory entails, asks if it is logically
possible, then considers if it explains known facts better than other theories.
Strange Physics
While virtual reality theory seems strange, so do other current theories of physics, e.g. the many-
worlds view of quantum physics proposes that each quantum choice divides the universe into
parallel universes [1], so everything that can happen does in fact happen somewhere, in an
inconceivable “multi-verse’ of parallel universes. This is a minority view but surprisingly
popular. Even relatively main-stream physics theories are quite strange. Guth’s inflationary model
suggests that our universe is just one of many “bubble universes” produced by the big bang [2].
String theory suggests the physical world could have 9 s ...
1. The document discusses light and its mysterious nature, noting that light has no mass, charge, or time and always travels at the same speed.
2. It describes the principle of least action, where light always takes the path that arrives at its destination in the shortest time. Some scientists saw this as evidence of a "higher reason" or purpose governing nature.
3. The author argues that purpose is found in the whole or quanta of action, not in its individual parts of mass, length, and time. Planck's discovery that action comes in discrete quanta supports the idea of light as a first cause or purpose in the universe.
The document provides an overview of quantum entanglement, including:
- Entangled particles cannot be described independently and must be described as a whole system. Measurements of one particle seem to instantaneously influence the other, even when separated by large distances.
- Early pioneers like Einstein, Schrodinger, and Podolsky struggled to understand entanglement and viewed it as evidence that quantum mechanics was incomplete.
- A 2015 experiment at Delft University was the first to close all loopholes in verifying Bell's theorem and violations of local realism, providing strong evidence that entanglement involves truly non-local correlations.
- Potential applications of entanglement include quantum cryptography, where entangled particles allow secure communication without a
The document discusses new physics and the current state of the field. It notes some recent discoveries that have advanced our understanding, like the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, but also acknowledges major unsolved puzzles. The author's research interests include supersymmetry, dark matter, collider searches, and using interference effects and angular distributions to probe new physics. They are working on long-lived particle signatures and precision programs to explore what may lie beyond the Standard Model.
Relativity is a magnificent equality principle of nature at creating the universe.
However, it has many counter-intuitive, mind-blogging concepts, and many of us may have a hard time at understanding it.
How could light propagate in vacuum without a media?
How could the speed of light remain constant for all observers?
Why there are time dilation, length contraction, and loss of simultaneity?
Why the laws of nature remain the same for all moving frames?
How could space and time be bent by mass and energy?
Are our brains wired in such a way so that it is always difficult to understand relativity in a natural way?
Or there may exist a new knowledge framework, and a new representation so that relativity become easier to be understood.
This video offers a mechanical approach for the first time to explain relativity.
It attempts to make relativity easier for the general public to understand.
Discussions with einstein on epistemological science in atomic phisycs niel...Sabiq Hafidz
1) Niels Bohr discusses his conversations with Albert Einstein regarding epistemological problems in atomic physics. They debated whether quantum theory's departure from classical physics' causal descriptions should be seen as temporary or a permanent change.
2) Over many years of discussions, Bohr and Einstein had contrasting views on this issue. As quantum theory developed, it increasingly required renouncing causal analysis and pictures, which Einstein found difficult. Bohr saw this as necessary to coordinate the growing evidence from atomic experiments.
3) By the 1920s, quantum theory was becoming more comprehensive but its apparent contradictions remained acute. Developments like matrix mechanics helped provide a quantitative formulation but did not resolve the paradoxes of the theory.
Abstract: Dr. David Joseph Bohm an American scientist who theorized quantum mechanics in the most ordinary and understandable way, which is somewhat referred to as the “Pilot Wave-model”. Also he prophesized in neuropsychology, and gave the Holonomic model of brain affecting our view of the quantum mechanics. His theories suggest that the phenomenon of “NON LOCALITY” or quantum entanglement is due to the famous “frame dragging” phenomenon predicted by Sir. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Bohm’s theory also suggests that time doesn’t exist in the way we think it does as stated by “THE BIG CRUNCH” theory. According to it time exists due to the interacting frequencies of the waves due to particle vibrations in space and that the universe never began.
In this paper existence of quantum entanglement is used to question the degree of correctness of the Space-time fabric theory.
1. Quantum entanglement describes a phenomenon where two quantum particles interact in such a way that they become linked regardless of distance, so that measuring one particle instantly affects the state of the other.
2. Einstein was critical of quantum mechanics and its implications of "spooky action at a distance," which led to the development of experiments to test theories of quantum entanglement.
3. Repeated experiments confirmed the existence of quantum entanglement and disproved Einstein's theories, showing that entangled particles are truly linked regardless of distance.
TheSource - Metaphysics of an Amateur ScientistJohn47Wind
Physicists, cosmologists, and metaphysicists have many unanswered questions like, “How did the universe begin?”, “Are there other universes beyond our own?”, “What is the true shape and geometry of the universe?”, “What are the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions?”, “Why is there something instead of nothing?”, and the Biggie, “How did the universe come into being?” Some physicists brush off the last question by proclaiming it emerged from “a quantum fluctuation” in the vacuum. But as John A. Wheeler observed, “The quantum theory of fluctuations of geometry tells us that the concepts of ‘before’ and ‘after’ lose all application at distances of order the Planck length or less. If the concept of time fails anywhere, it must fail everywhere.” Wheeler eventually arrived at his own conclusion, “Omnibus ex nihil ducendis sufficit unum (one principle suffices to obtain everything from nothing).” The search for that one principle occupied much of Wheeler’s time near the end of his career, and he sometimes expressed it as a “self-excited circuit” based on the principle that “the boundary of a boundary is zero.” Gottfried Leibniz defined the fundamental unit existence using a concept known as Monadology, wherein monads are the simplest, most basic units of existence, characterized by their internal activity, each perceiving and reflecting existence from its own unique perspective. The following essay is explores the idea of how time and space could have emerged from nothing – a dimensionless, boundless, timeless, and spaceless Source – followed by everything else called physical reality.
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Are Not "Incompatible"John47Wind
Many scientific journals, books, magazines and science web sites state that since Einstein’s theory of gravity doesn’t “fit” into the quantum theory of forces, a new quantum theory of gravity must be found. This essay explodes the prevailing scientific myth that relativity and quantum mechanics are somehow incompatible. The simple fact of the matter is that gravity is not a force at all, so trying to make it “fit” into quantum theory is impossible. This essay demonstrates that relativity and quantum physics are indeed different, but it’s simply a matter of scale. In fact they are perfect reflections of each other.
This essay describes several unresolved paradoxes involving black holes. It comes to the astounding conclusion, which is easily proved, that true black holes do not exist. The secret stems from the fact that gravitation has negative energy. With matter compressed within the Schwarzschild radius, negative gravitational energy completely cancels the mass-energy inside, resulting in M=0, a result that Abhas Mitra came up with from his own derivation of the Schwarzschild metric. This essay uses a minimal amount of mathematics, making it suitable for the general audience.
In the early days of quantum mechanics, the 1920s, the so-called "wave function collapse" or "measurement problem" arose. The problem centered around the question of at what point is the final result decided upon when a measurement of a quantum particle is made. In 1956 Hugh Everett III developed the many worlds interpretation (MWI) as his doctoral thesis at Princeton University. According to MWI, the Schrödinger wave equation doesn't ever collapse. Instead, the entire universe splits into as many parts as necessary, perhaps an infinite number, so that every possible result of a quantum measurement become realities in different universes. In the essay below, I uncover a serious mathematical problem with MWI as it is currently formulated and offer my own alternative interpretation called the "Many Alices Interpretation." I also offer a solution to the long-standing "measurement problem."
John Archibald Wheeler was one of the last of the great scientist-philosophers. He wore his science on his sleeve and wasn't ever afraid to go out on a limb with novel ideas or to admit he was wrong. He even would often engage in private brainstorming sessions in front of large audiences. A major problem struggled with is how the universe could be both self-contained and logically consistent, in light of Gödel's incompleteness theorem. He came to the conclusion we live in a participatory universe, perceptions of physical phenomena are generated by the observer instead of having been laid out as a preexisting external existence. He coined the term "It from Bit" to describe this new vision in his typical terse and pithy manner. The following essay highlights the salient features of Wheeler's interpretation and points out facts about the oft-misused term "information." The author concludes the essay by extrapolating Wheeler’s "It from Bit" into a new cosmological model.
Absolute truth is conceptualized with reference to meaning and procedure, within the limits of self-containment, which is a characteristic feature that is shared commonly between the universe, humans, and the institutions that they establish in society; and the human intellect is presented as being endowed with the capacity to appreciate it, given the appropriate environment
hello, friends it time for new scientific consideration ,usually what we think how time pass away,,,,,,,,,o come on i wish to get back in past...also in future......what you say???...take a look........
Essay on Physics in Everyday Life
Reflection On Physics
Essay On New Physics
The History of Physics Essay
Quantum Mechanics Essay
Physics in Sports Essay
New Physics Essay
The Physics of Music Essay examples
Arthur Young developed a philosophy called the "Reflexive Universe" that sought to integrate human consciousness with science. He proposed a model of the universe as a seven-stage process based on a torus topology. In this model, each stage has increasing freedom and asymmetry, from molecules to light. Young believed this model provided a framework for understanding the relationship between parts and the whole of the universe.
1) The document outlines Robert Lanza's theory of biocentrism, which argues that biology and consciousness are central to understanding the universe, as evidenced by quantum experiments like the double-slit experiment.
2) Specifically, Lanza believes that consciousness causes reality rather than just observing it, and that without observation, particles exist in an undetermined quantum state.
3) The author critiques Lanza's "strong" biocentrism and argues instead for a "weak" version - that while consciousness may influence quantum phenomena, it does not determine all of reality. Observable objects seem to have characteristics independent of observation.
A semi-serious critical commentary of what science says about the universe, exposing some of the flaws about the current models. The author concludes that the universe is comprised of information, with space and time being essentially forms of information censorship. He backs this up with an example of how nature conspires to prevent us from destroying information. There are several appendices that expand on the ideas presented in the main body of the essay. Written in a somewhat humorous vein, the ideas presented are nonetheless factual, based on the author's understanding of the current state of scientific knowledge. The essay summarizes some key concepts and quotations from Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Hermann Minkowski, Arthur Eddington, Niels Bohr, Boris Podolski, Nathan Rosen, Kurt Gödel, John Bell, John Wheeler, Richard Feynman, Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, Benoit Mandelbrot, Erik Verlinde, Leonard Susskind and others.
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitwor.docxssusera34210
The physical world as a virtual reality, Brian Whitworth
2
The Physical World as a Virtual Reality
Brian Whitworth
Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
E-mail: [email protected]
Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine
Sir Arthur Eddington
Abstract
This paper explores the idea that the universe is a virtual reality created by information
processing, and relates this strange idea to the findings of modern physics about the physical
world. The virtual reality concept is familiar to us from online worlds, but our world as a virtual
reality is usually a subject for science fiction rather than science. Yet logically the world could be
an information simulation running on a multi-dimensional space-time screen. Indeed, if the
essence of the universe is information, matter, charge, energy and movement could be aspects of
information, and the many conservation laws could be a single law of information conservation.
If the universe were a virtual reality, its creation at the big bang would no longer be paradoxical,
as every virtual system must be booted up. It is suggested that whether the world is an objective
reality or a virtual reality is a matter for science to resolve. Modern information science can
suggest how core physical properties like space, time, light, matter and movement could derive
from information processing. Such an approach could reconcile relativity and quantum theories,
with the former being how information processing creates space-time, and the latter how it
creates energy and matter.
Key words: Digital physics, virtual reality, information theory
Modern online games show that information processing can create virtual “worlds”, with their
own time, space, entities and objects, e.g. “The Sims”. However that our physical world is a
virtual reality (VR) is normally considered a topic of science fiction, religion or philosophy, not a
theory of physics. Yet the reader is asked to keep an open mind, as one should at least consider a
theory before rejecting it. This paper asks if a world that behaves just like the world we live in
could arise from a VR simulation. It first defines what VR theory entails, asks if it is logically
possible, then considers if it explains known facts better than other theories.
Strange Physics
While virtual reality theory seems strange, so do other current theories of physics, e.g. the many-
worlds view of quantum physics proposes that each quantum choice divides the universe into
parallel universes [1], so everything that can happen does in fact happen somewhere, in an
inconceivable “multi-verse’ of parallel universes. This is a minority view but surprisingly
popular. Even relatively main-stream physics theories are quite strange. Guth’s inflationary model
suggests that our universe is just one of many “bubble universes” produced by the big bang [2].
String theory suggests the physical world could have 9 s ...
1. The document discusses light and its mysterious nature, noting that light has no mass, charge, or time and always travels at the same speed.
2. It describes the principle of least action, where light always takes the path that arrives at its destination in the shortest time. Some scientists saw this as evidence of a "higher reason" or purpose governing nature.
3. The author argues that purpose is found in the whole or quanta of action, not in its individual parts of mass, length, and time. Planck's discovery that action comes in discrete quanta supports the idea of light as a first cause or purpose in the universe.
The document provides an overview of quantum entanglement, including:
- Entangled particles cannot be described independently and must be described as a whole system. Measurements of one particle seem to instantaneously influence the other, even when separated by large distances.
- Early pioneers like Einstein, Schrodinger, and Podolsky struggled to understand entanglement and viewed it as evidence that quantum mechanics was incomplete.
- A 2015 experiment at Delft University was the first to close all loopholes in verifying Bell's theorem and violations of local realism, providing strong evidence that entanglement involves truly non-local correlations.
- Potential applications of entanglement include quantum cryptography, where entangled particles allow secure communication without a
The document discusses new physics and the current state of the field. It notes some recent discoveries that have advanced our understanding, like the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, but also acknowledges major unsolved puzzles. The author's research interests include supersymmetry, dark matter, collider searches, and using interference effects and angular distributions to probe new physics. They are working on long-lived particle signatures and precision programs to explore what may lie beyond the Standard Model.
Relativity is a magnificent equality principle of nature at creating the universe.
However, it has many counter-intuitive, mind-blogging concepts, and many of us may have a hard time at understanding it.
How could light propagate in vacuum without a media?
How could the speed of light remain constant for all observers?
Why there are time dilation, length contraction, and loss of simultaneity?
Why the laws of nature remain the same for all moving frames?
How could space and time be bent by mass and energy?
Are our brains wired in such a way so that it is always difficult to understand relativity in a natural way?
Or there may exist a new knowledge framework, and a new representation so that relativity become easier to be understood.
This video offers a mechanical approach for the first time to explain relativity.
It attempts to make relativity easier for the general public to understand.
Discussions with einstein on epistemological science in atomic phisycs niel...Sabiq Hafidz
1) Niels Bohr discusses his conversations with Albert Einstein regarding epistemological problems in atomic physics. They debated whether quantum theory's departure from classical physics' causal descriptions should be seen as temporary or a permanent change.
2) Over many years of discussions, Bohr and Einstein had contrasting views on this issue. As quantum theory developed, it increasingly required renouncing causal analysis and pictures, which Einstein found difficult. Bohr saw this as necessary to coordinate the growing evidence from atomic experiments.
3) By the 1920s, quantum theory was becoming more comprehensive but its apparent contradictions remained acute. Developments like matrix mechanics helped provide a quantitative formulation but did not resolve the paradoxes of the theory.
Abstract: Dr. David Joseph Bohm an American scientist who theorized quantum mechanics in the most ordinary and understandable way, which is somewhat referred to as the “Pilot Wave-model”. Also he prophesized in neuropsychology, and gave the Holonomic model of brain affecting our view of the quantum mechanics. His theories suggest that the phenomenon of “NON LOCALITY” or quantum entanglement is due to the famous “frame dragging” phenomenon predicted by Sir. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Bohm’s theory also suggests that time doesn’t exist in the way we think it does as stated by “THE BIG CRUNCH” theory. According to it time exists due to the interacting frequencies of the waves due to particle vibrations in space and that the universe never began.
In this paper existence of quantum entanglement is used to question the degree of correctness of the Space-time fabric theory.
1. Quantum entanglement describes a phenomenon where two quantum particles interact in such a way that they become linked regardless of distance, so that measuring one particle instantly affects the state of the other.
2. Einstein was critical of quantum mechanics and its implications of "spooky action at a distance," which led to the development of experiments to test theories of quantum entanglement.
3. Repeated experiments confirmed the existence of quantum entanglement and disproved Einstein's theories, showing that entangled particles are truly linked regardless of distance.
TheSource - Metaphysics of an Amateur ScientistJohn47Wind
Physicists, cosmologists, and metaphysicists have many unanswered questions like, “How did the universe begin?”, “Are there other universes beyond our own?”, “What is the true shape and geometry of the universe?”, “What are the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions?”, “Why is there something instead of nothing?”, and the Biggie, “How did the universe come into being?” Some physicists brush off the last question by proclaiming it emerged from “a quantum fluctuation” in the vacuum. But as John A. Wheeler observed, “The quantum theory of fluctuations of geometry tells us that the concepts of ‘before’ and ‘after’ lose all application at distances of order the Planck length or less. If the concept of time fails anywhere, it must fail everywhere.” Wheeler eventually arrived at his own conclusion, “Omnibus ex nihil ducendis sufficit unum (one principle suffices to obtain everything from nothing).” The search for that one principle occupied much of Wheeler’s time near the end of his career, and he sometimes expressed it as a “self-excited circuit” based on the principle that “the boundary of a boundary is zero.” Gottfried Leibniz defined the fundamental unit existence using a concept known as Monadology, wherein monads are the simplest, most basic units of existence, characterized by their internal activity, each perceiving and reflecting existence from its own unique perspective. The following essay is explores the idea of how time and space could have emerged from nothing – a dimensionless, boundless, timeless, and spaceless Source – followed by everything else called physical reality.
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Are Not "Incompatible"John47Wind
Many scientific journals, books, magazines and science web sites state that since Einstein’s theory of gravity doesn’t “fit” into the quantum theory of forces, a new quantum theory of gravity must be found. This essay explodes the prevailing scientific myth that relativity and quantum mechanics are somehow incompatible. The simple fact of the matter is that gravity is not a force at all, so trying to make it “fit” into quantum theory is impossible. This essay demonstrates that relativity and quantum physics are indeed different, but it’s simply a matter of scale. In fact they are perfect reflections of each other.
This essay describes several unresolved paradoxes involving black holes. It comes to the astounding conclusion, which is easily proved, that true black holes do not exist. The secret stems from the fact that gravitation has negative energy. With matter compressed within the Schwarzschild radius, negative gravitational energy completely cancels the mass-energy inside, resulting in M=0, a result that Abhas Mitra came up with from his own derivation of the Schwarzschild metric. This essay uses a minimal amount of mathematics, making it suitable for the general audience.
In the early days of quantum mechanics, the 1920s, the so-called "wave function collapse" or "measurement problem" arose. The problem centered around the question of at what point is the final result decided upon when a measurement of a quantum particle is made. In 1956 Hugh Everett III developed the many worlds interpretation (MWI) as his doctoral thesis at Princeton University. According to MWI, the Schrödinger wave equation doesn't ever collapse. Instead, the entire universe splits into as many parts as necessary, perhaps an infinite number, so that every possible result of a quantum measurement become realities in different universes. In the essay below, I uncover a serious mathematical problem with MWI as it is currently formulated and offer my own alternative interpretation called the "Many Alices Interpretation." I also offer a solution to the long-standing "measurement problem."
John Archibald Wheeler was one of the last of the great scientist-philosophers. He wore his science on his sleeve and wasn't ever afraid to go out on a limb with novel ideas or to admit he was wrong. He even would often engage in private brainstorming sessions in front of large audiences. A major problem struggled with is how the universe could be both self-contained and logically consistent, in light of Gödel's incompleteness theorem. He came to the conclusion we live in a participatory universe, perceptions of physical phenomena are generated by the observer instead of having been laid out as a preexisting external existence. He coined the term "It from Bit" to describe this new vision in his typical terse and pithy manner. The following essay highlights the salient features of Wheeler's interpretation and points out facts about the oft-misused term "information." The author concludes the essay by extrapolating Wheeler’s "It from Bit" into a new cosmological model.
In 1937 James Jeans wrote, “Today there is a wide measure of agreement, which on the physical side of science approaches almost unanimity, that the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter...we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.” Shortly after Jeans wrote this, the onset of WWII redirected the stream of knowledge back to the machine model of the universe with science research becoming a gigantic engineering project committed to building weapons of mass destruction. Ever since then, scientific research based on material reductionism supported by “Big Science” has been stumbling into one blind alley after another, finally culminating in string theory. Lately however, the stream of knowledge has begun shifting back toward a non-mechanical, holographic model. This shift is clearly reflected in the most recent writings of John Archibald Wheeler, whose career spanned the period from 1933 until his death in 2008. This short essay summarizes a consciousness-based holographic model of the universe.
The common explanation for global warming is faulty, leaving even those trained in the sciences unconvinced and skeptical about the validity of climate change. However, global warming is very real and it is definitely being caused by so-called "greenhouse" gases, even though the term "greenhouse" has no bearing on the actual physical phenomena taking place. This essay properly explains the physical mechanisms of IR-absorbing gases in the Earth's atmosphere, offering a more convincing explanation of what is really going on. The essay discusses some of the possible ramifications of global warming, and counsels for erring on the side of caution. On the other hand, there have been fraudulent scientific claims, such as the ozone-depletion theory, which diminishes the integrity of science and causes skepticism among the general public. In an appendix, the author presents the flaws in the ozone depletion theory based on sound chemical and thermodynamic principles.
The current scientific paradigm of material reductionism has problems accommodating a theory of the conscious mind, so it defines away the problem by claiming that consciousness equals neuron activity. That claim does not hold up to preponderance of evidence that proves an alternate state of consciousness, called a near death experience, can and does occur even after trauma to the brain ceases all neuron activity. Furthermore, NDE subjects report that their minds are far more lucid in that state than when they are awake or dreaming. Many NDE subjects get a clear impression that life is meant for learning and that being present in physical bodies is necessary for that to happen. The essay includes a discussion about the Hameroff-Penrose work on microtubules in brain neurons, which could be the actual seat of consciousness and could provide a link between the normal and the paranormal, and ends with an unusual twist.
Nature is quirky. Whenever things don't quite match up, She changes them so they will. The results often seem to be bizarre and nonsensical, but the more you study it you realize how profoundly wise Nature is. It all started with a thought experiment that Einstein said he came up with at around the age of 16. The young Einstein wondered what would happen if he chased a light beam and caught up with it. This essay describes two of the most important discoveries in science: The Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. Both of these discoveries were made by a single man, Albert Einstein, over a period of one decade (1905 – 1915). This essay is directed at an audience of amateur scientists like myself. I will approach these two theories on the basis of their underlying principles, deriving as much as possible using basic geometry and a bit of elementary calculus. I will not go into the depth needed to become a “relativist.” Mastery of general relativity would require a good working knowledge of tensors, which is beyond the scope of this essay. Nevertheless, I think amateur scientists like myself will get something useful out of it.
Removing Myths and Fantasies from ScienceJohn47Wind
A growing number of science authors, including Jim Baggott, Alexander Unzicker, Sheilla Jones, and Lee Smolin, have written about the so-called crisis in physics. The ongoing quest to unify Einstein's theory of gravity and quantum mechanics has so far produced a few interesting mathematical models and elaborate sand-castle fantasies, but these have mostly proven to be dead ends. Einstein, Bohr and the members of his Copenhagen team, Bekenstein and Hawking have provided all the necessary pieces. All scientists need to do is put them together. This essay is a recommendation from an amateur scientists on how to do this, explained in easy-to-understand prose.
The author examines available evidence to examine the question of "Are we alone?", i.e., whether humans are the only intelligent species in the Milky Way, or if the galaxy is teeming with advanced civilizations. The author discusses barriers to physical contact with extra-terrestrial beings and addresses Fermi's paradox "Where is everybody?" using the Drake Equation. The final answer is surprising, disturbing, and inspirational all at the same time. The appendix analyzes the strategy of the SETI project from and engineer's point of view, and offers some advice to maximize the chances of finding alien civilizations who may be transmitting beacon signals to announce their presence: Look for them in the Andromeda galaxy.
Remote Sensing and Computational, Evolutionary, Supercomputing, and Intellige...University of Maribor
Slides from talk:
Aleš Zamuda: Remote Sensing and Computational, Evolutionary, Supercomputing, and Intelligent Systems.
11th International Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering (IcETRAN), Niš, 3-6 June 2024
Inter-Society Networking Panel GRSS/MTT-S/CIS Panel Session: Promoting Connection and Cooperation
https://www.etran.rs/2024/en/home-english/
The binding of cosmological structures by massless topological defectsSérgio Sacani
Assuming spherical symmetry and weak field, it is shown that if one solves the Poisson equation or the Einstein field
equations sourced by a topological defect, i.e. a singularity of a very specific form, the result is a localized gravitational
field capable of driving flat rotation (i.e. Keplerian circular orbits at a constant speed for all radii) of test masses on a thin
spherical shell without any underlying mass. Moreover, a large-scale structure which exploits this solution by assembling
concentrically a number of such topological defects can establish a flat stellar or galactic rotation curve, and can also deflect
light in the same manner as an equipotential (isothermal) sphere. Thus, the need for dark matter or modified gravity theory is
mitigated, at least in part.
ESPP presentation to EU Waste Water Network, 4th June 2024 “EU policies driving nutrient removal and recycling
and the revised UWWTD (Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive)”
ESR spectroscopy in liquid food and beverages.pptxPRIYANKA PATEL
With increasing population, people need to rely on packaged food stuffs. Packaging of food materials requires the preservation of food. There are various methods for the treatment of food to preserve them and irradiation treatment of food is one of them. It is the most common and the most harmless method for the food preservation as it does not alter the necessary micronutrients of food materials. Although irradiated food doesn’t cause any harm to the human health but still the quality assessment of food is required to provide consumers with necessary information about the food. ESR spectroscopy is the most sophisticated way to investigate the quality of the food and the free radicals induced during the processing of the food. ESR spin trapping technique is useful for the detection of highly unstable radicals in the food. The antioxidant capability of liquid food and beverages in mainly performed by spin trapping technique.
Authoring a personal GPT for your research and practice: How we created the Q...Leonel Morgado
Thematic analysis in qualitative research is a time-consuming and systematic task, typically done using teams. Team members must ground their activities on common understandings of the major concepts underlying the thematic analysis, and define criteria for its development. However, conceptual misunderstandings, equivocations, and lack of adherence to criteria are challenges to the quality and speed of this process. Given the distributed and uncertain nature of this process, we wondered if the tasks in thematic analysis could be supported by readily available artificial intelligence chatbots. Our early efforts point to potential benefits: not just saving time in the coding process but better adherence to criteria and grounding, by increasing triangulation between humans and artificial intelligence. This tutorial will provide a description and demonstration of the process we followed, as two academic researchers, to develop a custom ChatGPT to assist with qualitative coding in the thematic data analysis process of immersive learning accounts in a survey of the academic literature: QUAL-E Immersive Learning Thematic Analysis Helper. In the hands-on time, participants will try out QUAL-E and develop their ideas for their own qualitative coding ChatGPT. Participants that have the paid ChatGPT Plus subscription can create a draft of their assistants. The organizers will provide course materials and slide deck that participants will be able to utilize to continue development of their custom GPT. The paid subscription to ChatGPT Plus is not required to participate in this workshop, just for trying out personal GPTs during it.
EWOCS-I: The catalog of X-ray sources in Westerlund 1 from the Extended Weste...Sérgio Sacani
Context. With a mass exceeding several 104 M⊙ and a rich and dense population of massive stars, supermassive young star clusters
represent the most massive star-forming environment that is dominated by the feedback from massive stars and gravitational interactions
among stars.
Aims. In this paper we present the Extended Westerlund 1 and 2 Open Clusters Survey (EWOCS) project, which aims to investigate
the influence of the starburst environment on the formation of stars and planets, and on the evolution of both low and high mass stars.
The primary targets of this project are Westerlund 1 and 2, the closest supermassive star clusters to the Sun.
Methods. The project is based primarily on recent observations conducted with the Chandra and JWST observatories. Specifically,
the Chandra survey of Westerlund 1 consists of 36 new ACIS-I observations, nearly co-pointed, for a total exposure time of 1 Msec.
Additionally, we included 8 archival Chandra/ACIS-S observations. This paper presents the resulting catalog of X-ray sources within
and around Westerlund 1. Sources were detected by combining various existing methods, and photon extraction and source validation
were carried out using the ACIS-Extract software.
Results. The EWOCS X-ray catalog comprises 5963 validated sources out of the 9420 initially provided to ACIS-Extract, reaching a
photon flux threshold of approximately 2 × 10−8 photons cm−2
s
−1
. The X-ray sources exhibit a highly concentrated spatial distribution,
with 1075 sources located within the central 1 arcmin. We have successfully detected X-ray emissions from 126 out of the 166 known
massive stars of the cluster, and we have collected over 71 000 photons from the magnetar CXO J164710.20-455217.
Or: Beyond linear.
Abstract: Equivariant neural networks are neural networks that incorporate symmetries. The nonlinear activation functions in these networks result in interesting nonlinear equivariant maps between simple representations, and motivate the key player of this talk: piecewise linear representation theory.
Disclaimer: No one is perfect, so please mind that there might be mistakes and typos.
dtubbenhauer@gmail.com
Corrected slides: dtubbenhauer.com/talks.html
ESA/ACT Science Coffee: Diego Blas - Gravitational wave detection with orbita...Advanced-Concepts-Team
Presentation in the Science Coffee of the Advanced Concepts Team of the European Space Agency on the 07.06.2024.
Speaker: Diego Blas (IFAE/ICREA)
Title: Gravitational wave detection with orbital motion of Moon and artificial
Abstract:
In this talk I will describe some recent ideas to find gravitational waves from supermassive black holes or of primordial origin by studying their secular effect on the orbital motion of the Moon or satellites that are laser ranged.
The debris of the ‘last major merger’ is dynamically youngSérgio Sacani
The Milky Way’s (MW) inner stellar halo contains an [Fe/H]-rich component with highly eccentric orbits, often referred to as the
‘last major merger.’ Hypotheses for the origin of this component include Gaia-Sausage/Enceladus (GSE), where the progenitor
collided with the MW proto-disc 8–11 Gyr ago, and the Virgo Radial Merger (VRM), where the progenitor collided with the
MW disc within the last 3 Gyr. These two scenarios make different predictions about observable structure in local phase space,
because the morphology of debris depends on how long it has had to phase mix. The recently identified phase-space folds in Gaia
DR3 have positive caustic velocities, making them fundamentally different than the phase-mixed chevrons found in simulations
at late times. Roughly 20 per cent of the stars in the prograde local stellar halo are associated with the observed caustics. Based
on a simple phase-mixing model, the observed number of caustics are consistent with a merger that occurred 1–2 Gyr ago.
We also compare the observed phase-space distribution to FIRE-2 Latte simulations of GSE-like mergers, using a quantitative
measurement of phase mixing (2D causticality). The observed local phase-space distribution best matches the simulated data
1–2 Gyr after collision, and certainly not later than 3 Gyr. This is further evidence that the progenitor of the ‘last major merger’
did not collide with the MW proto-disc at early times, as is thought for the GSE, but instead collided with the MW disc within
the last few Gyr, consistent with the body of work surrounding the VRM.
PPT on Direct Seeded Rice presented at the three-day 'Training and Validation Workshop on Modules of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Technologies in South Asia' workshop on April 22, 2024.
1. The Universe on a Tee Shirt
(A TOE According to One Amateur Scientist)
by John Winders
2. Note to my readers:
You can access and download this essay and my other essays through the Amateur
Scientist Essays website under Direct Downloads at the following URL:
https://sites.google.com/site/amateurscientistessays/
You are free to download and share all of my essays without any restrictions, although it
would be very nice to credit my work when quoting directly from them.
3. For a long time, theoretical physicists have dreamed of the day when the general theory of relativity
and quantum mechanics would be combined to create the Theory of Everything. It often stated that
such a theory would be so simple and concise that the whole thing could be condensed into a simple
equation that would fit on a T-shirt.
It was clear to me that classic material reductionism could not provide a path to that laudable goal,
so I undertook an investigation to see what could replace it. That investigation spanned almost 4½
years, and it was documented step-by-step in my essay Order, Chaos and the End of Reductionism,
which you can access from my Amateur Scientist Web Page. This research led me to several dead
ends, blind alleys, and self contradictions; however, I never deleted or changed any of my mistakes
in order to preserve and document the evolution of my thinking along each step of the way.
The essay presented here is just a condensation of that much longer essay. The equation on the
cover would easily fit on a T-shirt and I think it really does capture the essence of the Theory of
Everything.
EU = π k T c3 tU
2
/ ħ G
You'll note that the four fundamental constants of nature are here: Boltzmann's constant, k, the
speed of light constant, c, Planck's constant, ħ, and Newton's gravitation constant, G. Astute readers
who are familiar with the Bekenstein-Hawking theory will notice a piece of the Bekenstein equation
is found in it. I believe this is the equation of state of the universe that describes expansion in terms
of increasing mass-energy, EU, with respect to a universal time parameter, tU. You might object,
“Wait a minute. I thought mass-energy is conserved.” Well, mass-energy is conserved over short
time intervals where time-displacement symmetry is valid. What I discovered, however, is there is
no time-displacement symmetry over cosmological time scales, and there's a good reason for that.
The other thing I discovered is the gravitational constant, G, is not really constant after all, and
there's a good reason for that too. So come with me on a short journey to find out what those
reasons are. Because this essay is fairly brief, so you may have a bit of trouble following the
derivation of my theory; therefore, I urge to to go over to the web site and review Order, Chaos and
the End of Reductionism, especially Appendices W, X and Y, which go into much more detail.
In its most basic form, reductionism is an approach to understanding the nature of complex things
by reducing them to the interactions of their parts, or to simpler or more fundamental things.
Engineers and physicists use reductionism to explain reality. I came to the conclusion that there are
three different classes of interactions in nature:
1. Deterministic, linear, reversible, certain
2. Deterministic, non-linear, irreversible, predictable in the forward direction
3. Non-deterministic, irreversible, unpredictable (probabilistic)
Reductionism is concerned mainly with the first class of interactions; however, they only apply to
the most trivial of situations, such as two bodies orbiting around each other and simple harmonic
motion. The vast majority of interactions in nature are in the second class, commonly referred to as
chaotic interactions. Ironically, it seems that the highly-complex order we observe in the universe
emerges essentially from chaos. Take for example weather patterns, like a hurricane, born from
chaos and yet having an identity and a quasi-stable structure. The giant red spot on Jupiter is a
permanent hurricane that has persisted for at least 187 years.
Since reductionism is only capable of examining the simplest and most trivial examples of order, I
chose the title Order, Chaos and the End of Reductionism to reflect the fact that order and chaos
1
4. begin where reductionism ends. Another interpretation is that reductionism is at an end as a viable
scientific philosophy going forward. As long as you examine nature through linear, deterministic
and reversible interactions, you are only seeing reality through a tiny keyhole. How sad it is that a
majority of scientists still consider reductionism as the preferred default method of solving science.
String theory is touted as the whiz-bang cutting edge of theoretical physics, but I perceive old-
fashioned reductionism at its core.
The third class of interactions are stochastic, random, and completely unpredictable. These
interactions lie at the heart of quantum mechanics. Oddly enough, some extremely brilliant
theoretical physicists (including Albert Einstein up till his death) deny the very existence of
stochastic interactions, believing that some underlying local hidden variables are involved instead.
I confess being guilty of thinking that chaotic interactions might be used as substitutes for stochastic
processes, but I was definitely wrong. Experimental violations of Bell's inequality put that idea to
rest, and in the face of such incontrovertible evidence as this I'm amazed there are theoretical
physicists who still cling to determinism.
The core of my thesis is this: Entropy equals information. Entropy has been completely
misunderstood by many leading scientists, who try to label it as “missing information” or “hidden
information” or even “negative information.” This misconception stems from the fact that order
and entropy are indeed opposites. People tend to prefer order over disorder, so they equate entropy
to something very negative and undesirable. On the other hand, people love information – the more
the better. After all, we live in the “information age” with the Internet offering us cool things like
Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So how can something “good” like information
possibly be the same as something so obviously “bad” like entropy? First off, you need to know
information is defined, which unfortunately most physicists do not. Claude Shannon figured it out
in the 1940s, and it has everything to do with probability and uncertainty. Suppose there are N
possible outcomes of some interaction, each with a certain probability, pr. Shannon concluded that
the amount of information, S, contained in that set of outcomes is as follows.
S = – ∑ pr log2 pr , r = 1, 2, 3, … , N
If an outcome is certain; i.e., if any of the probabilities in the set should equal one, then there is zero
information in that set. Suppose I call someone on the phone and inform them it's Saturday. How
much information did I relate to that person if he already knew it was Saturday? The answer is
zero, because there was no uncertainty on his part about the day of the week. But now suppose that
person just woke up from a coma and had no idea what day it was, so all days are equally probable
to him. For N equally-probable outcomes, the above equation reduces to S = log2 N. Stating that
it's Saturday provides log2 7 bits of information to that person. If you notice, S = log2 N is identical
to Boltzmann's definition of thermodynamic entropy, except Bolzmann used the natural logarithm
instead of the base-2 logarithm and he stuck a constant, kB, in front of it: S = kB Ln N.
Once you come to grips with the fact that entropy = information, then it's apparent that information
cannot exist without uncertainty. So which class of interactions in nature involves uncertainty?
Well, the first class clearly doesn't because all outcomes can be uniquely solved in both forward and
reverse directions. A single planet revolving around a star will stay in that orbit forever unless it is
perturbed by some outside force. You can determine the exact location of that planet billions of
years into the future or billions of years into the past using a simple formula that describes an ellipse
with a time parameter, t.
Can information come from a chaos? It might seem that chaos could provide randomness and
uncertainty, but this is not the case. Chaotic processes are still deterministic because there is a
unique relationship between the current state and subsequent states. Thus, every repetition of a
chaotic process will produce exactly the same sequence of events. This is not true in the reverse
2
5. direction due to one-to-many relationships between the current state and previous states, rendering
chaotic processes irreversible. Thus, irreversibility alone does not generate true uncertainty, at least
going forward. Chaotic interactions can rearrange bits, and even make them unrecognizable, but
they cannot create new bits. Only the third class of stochastic interactions can introduce the
uncertainty that information requires.
Chaos produces fractal patterns, and these patterns are widespread in nature. So at one point in this
investigation, I thought the universe itself might be a colossal fractal. Fractal patterns have
extremely high – or one might even say infinite – levels of complexity that can be generated by very
simple non-linear functions. Fractals have the properties of scale-invariance and self-similarity,
where large-scale features are repeated over and over on smaller scales. Those features are not
necessarily repeated exactly, however. The Mandelbrot set is one of the most widely-known
fractals, having a prominent circular feature that appears over and over again on smaller scales. On
the smallest scales, this circular feature gradually gives way to different features. You can try this
yourself using the interactive Mandelbrot Viewer.
I used to think the general relativity field equations could only be applied to small-scale systems,
but I was very wrong. What I discovered is that Einstein actually had stumbled on a set of
equations that provides an exact description for the entire universe, and that pattern is only repeated
as an approximation for smaller scales involving weak-field interactions. In other words, the
universe is a fractal having an exact overall solution given by the Schwarzschild equation, but this
equation is not necessarily an exact solution for smaller scales.
A recurrent theme in this throughout my investigation is that the most important – and perhaps the
only – law of nature is the statement that entropy of isolated systems cannot decrease. This is the
famous second law of thermodynamics, which really should be the zeroth law of the universe
because it underlies causality itself. Since entropy and information are equivalent, this law means
that information cannot be destroyed. Some scientists try to trivialize this law by saying that there's
just a tendency for entropy to increase because it's more likely to increase than to decrease. They
say given enough time (and patience) you'll see an isolated system inevitably repeat some previous
lower-entropy state. I state unequivocally that this is not just unlikely, but it's impossible because it
would be tantamount to destroying information and causing “unhappening” of previous events.
As a corollary to the second law of thermodynamics, I came up with what I call the “post-
reductionist universal law” stated as follows:
“Every change maximizes the total degrees of freedom of the universe.”
The phrase “total degrees of freedom” sounds kind of nice, which is why I chose it. But the
logarithm of total degrees of freedom equals total entropy, so what this really means is that every
change maximizes the entropy of the universe. Not only can entropy never decrease, it must always
increase to the maximum extent possible. Taking this idea to the limit, I postulated we live in a
moment of maximally-increasing entropy, which addresses – and maybe solves – the mystery of
time. What clocks are actually measuring are increases in entropy reflected as a reduction in
curvature of the universe unfolding around them, as explained in the following paragraphs.
Solving the Schwarzchild equation yields R = 2 E G / c2 describing a sphere of radius R, where E is
the mass-energy of the system, G is the gravitational parameter, and c is the speed of light.
Maximizing the total degrees of freedom (entropy) of the universe means the universe is in a
permanent state of maximal entropy, so the only way to further increase entropy is through
expansion. The maximum rate of expansion can be attained if R increases at the speed of light by
introducing the concept of universal time, tU, where R = c tU.
The idea that there could be such a thing as universal time is anathema to physicists. After all, we
3
6. are told space and time are relative, not absolute. However, tU isn't the Newtonian notion of
simultaneity across space. Instead, tU marks the progress of universal expansion, and while R has a
dimension of length, it should be thought of as an expanding radius of curvature around a temporal
center, with a surface surrounding the center at a distance R = c tU marking the present moment. No
clock can run ahead of tU because no clock can run ahead of the present moment. A free-falling
body will keep up with tU, except when a force acts on the body causing acceleration and its proper
time to lag behind tU.
Observing objects at some distance in any direction, we observe them when the universe had a
radius R' < c tU. Those objects will fall behind us in time and will appear to recede from us in space,
resulting in the cosmological red shift. Objects at at distance R = c tU will be receding at the speed
of light and will be at the edge of our horizon. Substituting c tU for R in the Schwarzschild equation
results in E G = ½ c3 tU. This means either the total mass-energy of the universe or the gravitational
parameter must increase over time, or both. As it turns out, the gravitational parameter decreases
over time, being proportional to tU
– 1, so E must increase in proportion to tU
2.
If the universe is in a state of maximal entropy, we can apply the Bekenstein equation to it. By
combining the Bekenstein and Szilárd equations, we get the following equation of state.
dEU = (k T c3 / 4 ħ G) dA , where A is the expanding surface area of uniform curvature, 4 π R2.
dA = 8 π R dR
dA / dtU = 8 π R dR / dtU = 8 π c R
dEU / dtU = 2 π k T c4 R / ħ G = 2 π k T c3 tU / ħ G → EU = π k T c3 tU
2
/ ħ G
The above equation of state combines the four fundamental constants k, c, ħ, and G (although G is
really a variable, being inversely proportional to tU). The temperature of the universe, T, is
inversely proportional to tU also, so the ratio T / G equals a constant that can be evaluated using the
current temperature of the universe and the measured value of the gravitational constant.
According to the Bekenstein equation, the total entropy expressed in bits is proportional to the area
of uniform curvature, 4 π R2 , divided by 4 Ln 2 times the Planck area, G ħ / c3. Since the Planck
area is proportional to tU
–1, total entropy is proportional to tU
3. There must have been a time in the
past when the total entropy of the universe was equal to one bit, which I would guess is the
minimum amount of information that has meaning; the information associated with a coin toss. The
value of tU corresponding to a single bit of entropy would be my idea of “The Beginning.”
Information from the past is encoded into the present moment. Linear and chaotic interactions
transform those bits according to the laws of determinism without any loss of information, obeying
the second law of thermodynamics, a.k.a. the zeroth law of the universe. Meanwhile, stochastic
interactions are laying new bits of information at an increasing rate across an ever-expanding
surface of uniform curvature corresponding to the present moment.
One of the raging controversies in the scientific community is the “vacuum catastrophe,” referring
to the huge discrepancy between the mass-energy vacuum density based on cosmological arguments
with an apparent flatness of space and the mass-energy vacuum density of virtual particle pairs
based on quantum electrodynamics (QED). Using the model presented in this essay, the value of
density, ρ, is found by dividing the rate of change of dEU / dtU by dVU / dtU = 4π R2 dR / dtU, with the
assumption that dR/ dtU is at the maximum rate, c. The vacuum density is ρ = k T / 2 ħ G tU, and it
decreases over time. Based on the known values of the parameters used in the formula, the vacuum
density is currently 980 3.08 × 10-27
kg / m3, a surprisingly large value. However, it's not nearly as
outlandish as the QED value for vacuum density of around 10 106 kg / m3. I'll conclude this essay on
the following page with some bullet items that capture the key points of my Theory of Everything.
4
7. SUMMARY
• There are three kinds of interactions: linear, deterministic, reversible; non-linear,
deterministic, chaotic, irreversible; stochastic, probabilistic, irreversible.
• Entropy is equivalent to information.
• Information requires uncertainty; thus, only stochastic interactions are capable of producing
information.
• Linear and chaotic deterministic interactions preserve and transform information in causal
space according to the “laws of nature.”
• Causal space has one time dimension, requiring three spatial dimensions because they must
match the number of rotational degrees of freedom.
• A free-falling observer is incapable of measuring any spatial curvature of three-dimensional
space because of rotational symmetry.
• Due to the asymmetry of time, there is a radius of temporal curvature, R, expressed in units
of length, centered on the beginning of time.
• Order emerges from chaotic interactions as fractal-like patterns that repeat on different
spatial and temporal scales.
• The universe is a fractal with the properties of scale-invariance and self-similarity.
• Due to scale-invariance, solutions to the general relativity field equations are exact solutions
for the entire universe and approximate solutions for to its sub parts.
• The Schwarzschild formula R = 2 E G / c2 is an exact formula of a closed system, e.g. the
universe. However, the radius of the universal pseudosphere is exactly twice this value.
• The universe is in a permanent state of maximal entropy and so the Bekenstein equation can
be applied to it. Thus, the universe must expand in order to accommodate more information.
• There exists a universal time parameter, tU, which marks the expansion of the universe.
• The universe expands maximally at a rate dR / dtU that is bounded by the speed of light, c.
• Since tU corresponds to the present moment, proper time of an observer cannot get ahead of
tU. The geodesic paths of free-falling bodies maximize proper time up to the limit of tU.
• Time, having a radius of curvature equal to R, does not have time translation symmetry over
cosmological time periods. Thus, the law of conservation of mass-energy does not apply to
the universe as a whole.
• The quantity of mass-energy in the universe increases in proportion to tU
2.
• The quantity of entropy-information in the universe increases in proportion to tU
3.
• There is an equivalency between mass-energy and entropy-information (“it equals bit”).
• Since mass-energy and entropy-information increase at different rates, they are linked by the
Szilárd equation with a decreasing temperature, T, proportional to tU
–1.
• The vacuum density of mass-energy is ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
) k T / 2 ħ G tU, with a present value
of 980 3.08 × 10-27
kg/m3
.
5
8. Appendix A – A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words
The schematic diagram below explains the cosmology of the Theory of Everything.
The universe expands from left to right beginning at a time t' = 0, which can be interpreted as the
“big bang” or whatever initial state is appropriate. The magenta curves indicate “now” surfaces of
uniform curvature having radii of curvature, R', centered on t' = 0. The present radius of curvature
at Here and Now is R = c tU where dR / dtU = c. Looking in any direction, x, y, or z out into space,
we see the universe as it was younger and when R' of the “now” surface of uniform curvature was
smaller. Because the universe was younger at these locations, their times appear to be lagging
behind tU from the vantage point of Here and Now, creating time dilation proportional to the
distances Ö x2 + y2 + z2. This is the reason for the cosmological red shift.
Temperatures, T', shown above the red thermometers, are inversely proportional to time t', so true
temperatures are proportional to distances Ö x2 + y2 + z2 . However, because of the cosmological
red shift, all temperatures appear the same from our vantage point of Here and Now. The so-called
cosmic microwave background (CMB) is actually the composite of all temperatures of every era
after those temperatures have been red-shifted in proportion to distances. The CMB isn't just one
red-shifted temperature from a particular era, but all temperatures after they've been red-shifted.
The radius of curvature always expands at the speed of light at a surface of uniform curvature:
dR' / dt' º c. However, the cosmological time dilation slows distant expansion velocities from the
vantage point of Here and Now. This makes objects from previous eras appear to recede away from
Here and Now, as shown by the green arrows. Thus, the true origin of the Hubble constant is the
apparent slowing down of distant recessional velocities from cosmological time dilation.
6
9. Appendix B – The Point of Inflection
According to the standard cosmological model (SCM), the universe is currently on the precipice of
something big. Since the big bang, gravity has been slowing the rate of universal expansion – until
now. Dark energy – also known as the cosmological constant – has caused the rate of expansion to
start picking up recently. In the future, the expansion will continue to accelerate, causing a number
of cosmologists to fear that space itself will be torn apart. They call this future event “the big rip.”
In calculus, the point of a curve where the slope stops decreasing and starts increasing is called a
point of inflection. The size of the universe is now at a point of inflection.
On the other hand, according to my Theory of Everything (TOE), the rate of expansion as expressed
by the radius of temporal curvature is, was and always will be equal to the speed of light. The
graphs below compare the SCM and TOE models. “Time Since the Beginning” and “Radius” are
on normalized scales, where 1.0 = tU » 13+ billion years and 1.0 = R = c tU.
The blue curve corresponds to the SCM and the red line corresponds to my TOE. The point of
inflection of the blue curve is occurring at t' = 1.0. The SCM rationale for a rate of expansion that
decreases and then increases is as follows. Whereas gravity puts the brakes on expansion, it's
becoming a non-factor as the universe expands because no additional matter is being added to the
universe. On the other hand, since the density of dark energy is constant, there is more outward
“pressure” to expand as the universe gets larger, and this is just now overwhelming the tendency for
the universe to collapse under gravity.
Doesn't it seem a bit odd that a once-in-a-universe event such as this would wait until just after the
human species had a chance to evolve into intelligent creatures and began to contemplate the
universe? Or could it be that astronomers really don't know how big or how old the universe
actually is? After all, if distances to the “standard candles” used by astronomers to judge distances
are slightly off, then the calculated previous rates of expansion will be off too. The most reliable
“standard candles” are in our immediate vicinity, so if the rate of expansion right around us seems
to be X, then it just might be that the rate of expansion always has been X.
My TOE looks at things differently than SCM: Mass-energy is being added to the universe and it is
proportional to tU
2, while entropy (which drives expansion) is proportional to tU
3. Temperature,
being proportional to tU
– 1, balances the two, keeping the rate of expansion constant. It's not that the
radius of curvature is forced to expand at the speed of light; instead, the speed of light is forced to
equal the rate of expansion in order to prevent travel into the past, which would violate causality.
7
10. Appendix C – Some Observations and Experiments
One of the most controversial claims of my TOE is that Newton’s so-called constant, G, is a
variable that decreases over cosmological time, and I think there is some evidence that suggests G is
not constant. Astronomers estimate distances based on apparent luminosities of stars, which
decrease by the square of their true distances from Earth, compared to their intrinsic luminosities.
The intrinsic luminosity increases with the star’s diameter and its surface gravity. If the value of G
was greater in the past, the intrinsic luminosity of a distant star would be greater than an identical
nearby star. In other words, if G were greater in the past distant stars would be actually farther
away from Earth than their apparent luminosities would indicate. The following chart shows
measurements of the cosmological red shift based on the apparent luminosities of distant stars. The
blue circles depict stars with distances computed using “standard candles” based on the assumption
that G is a constant. The red circles depict the same stars assuming greater values of G and higher
intrinsic luminosities in the past, which shifts their true distances toward the right.
Based on standard cosmology, the rate of expansion of the universe is slowing down. This is shown
by the blue line, which bends upward with increasing distance. My TOE claims that the
cosmological red shift must be linear over distance since all observers recede from the Beginning at
the same speed (c) in their own frames of reference. Based on their greater true intrinsic
luminosities, distant stars are shifted from the curved blue line toward the straight red line.1
This
doesn’t prove a thing; however, if G does decrease over cosmological time, then it would explain
why the observed rate of expansion seems to have slowed down even if the true rate were constant.
Astronomers claim that observations of distant supernovae prove that G has remained constant for
billions of years. But this assumes an average star in the past began with the same amount of
material as an average star forming today. But if G were significantly greater in the past, couldn’t
smaller stars then appear much the same as medium-sized Sun-like stars today?
Observations of Mars clearly indicate remnants of rivers, lakes, and possibly seas on the Martian
surface. Although today’s temperatures at the Martian equator can reach 20°C at high noon, the
mean surface temperature is −60°C. These chilly temperatures are partly due to the fact that Mars
doesn’t have much of an atmosphere, but its doubtful that a thicker atmosphere would make much
1 This means that distances to far away galaxies are greater than indicated from astronomical observations.
8
11. SUMMARY
• There are three kinds of interactions: linear, deterministic, reversible; non-linear,
deterministic, chaotic, irreversible; stochastic, probabilistic, irreversible.
• Entropy is equivalent to information.
• Information requires uncertainty; thus, only stochastic interactions are capable of producing
information.
• Linear and chaotic deterministic interactions preserve and transform information in causal
space according to the “laws of nature.”
• Causal space has one time dimension, requiring three spatial dimensions because they must
match the number of rotational degrees of freedom.
• A free-falling observer is incapable of measuring any spatial curvature of three-dimensional
space because of rotational symmetry.
• Due to the asymmetry of time, there is a radius of temporal curvature, R, expressed in units
of length, centered on the beginning of time.
• Order emerges from chaotic interactions as fractal-like patterns that repeat on different
spatial and temporal scales.
• The universe is a fractal with the properties of scale-invariance and self-similarity.
• Due to scale-invariance, solutions to the general relativity field equations are exact solutions
for the entire universe and approximate solutions for to its sub parts.
• The Schwarzschild formula R = 2 E G / c2 is an exact formula of a closed system, e.g. the
universe. However, the radius of the universal pseudosphere is exactly twice this value.
• The universe is in a permanent state of maximal entropy and so the Bekenstein equation can
be applied to it. Thus, the universe must expand in order to accommodate more information.
• There exists a universal time parameter, tU, which marks the expansion of the universe.
• The universe expands maximally at a rate dR / dtU that is bounded by the speed of light, c.
• Since tU corresponds to the present moment, proper time of an observer cannot get ahead of
tU. The geodesic paths of free-falling bodies maximize proper time up to the limit of tU.
• Time, having a radius of curvature equal to R, does not have time translation symmetry over
cosmological time periods. Thus, the law of conservation of mass-energy does not apply to
the universe as a whole.
• The quantity of mass-energy in the universe increases in proportion to tU
2.
• The quantity of entropy-information in the universe increases in proportion to tU
3.
• There is an equivalency between mass-energy and entropy-information (“it equals bit”).
• Since mass-energy and entropy-information increase at different rates, they are linked by the
Szilárd equation with a decreasing temperature, T, proportional to tU
–1.
• The vacuum density of mass-energy is ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
) k T / 2 ħ G tU, with a present value
of 980 3.08 × 10-27
kg/m3
.
5
12. As depicted on the chart, most of the blue dots fall outside the instrument-error ranges of other blue
dots and follow the length-of-day curve. Anderson and the other authors are quick to point out that
they don’t believe a change in the Earth’s rotation itself affects the G measurements, nor do they
believe G actually changes. Thus, they are at a loss to explain why measured values of G are
correlated with LOD, although they suspect there is a common driver. Some have suggested
periodic changes in the Earth’s core affect LOD, which is reasonable. But why would changes in
the Earth’s core affect laboratory measurements of G at the surface?
Well here’s my hypothesis: The drivers behind the variations in measurements of G and LOD are
true variations in G itself. Gravitational mass and inertial mass are two sides of the same coin. If
the true value of G increases, the Earth’s inertia will also increase. Then in order to conserve
angular momentum, the Earth’s speed of rotation must slow down, thus increasing the LOD. At any
rate, Cavendish torsion balance data strongly suggest that G is not a constant but a variable.4
The fact that the period of G correlates with the period of LOD is interesting, although it might just
be a coincidence. But matching amplitudes would really support the hypothesis of a causal
connection between them. From the Anderson et al paper, the measurements of G over the 5.9-year
LOD cycle vary between 6.672 and 6.675 10 –11 m 3 s – 2 kg – 1. Unfortunately, different labs
made these measurements using different instruments with different statistical errors. At any rate,
the measurements deviated 0.0225% from the mean value.
I looked up the LOD over a 5.9-year period, and the variations deviated about 1.5 ms from the
mean sidereal day of 86,164 sec. These LOD variations are only 0.0000017% compared to the
hypothetical 0.0225% variation of G. The angular momentum of a sphere having a mass M and
radius R is given by the formula L = ⅘ ω M R2.. The speed of rotation, ω, is inversely proportional
to M, so if angular momentum is conserved with G (along with the inertial mass M) truly varying
by 0.0225% , the LOD should vary by 19 seconds over a 5.9-year cycle. This is 13,000 times
larger than the observed LOD variations, and such a huge discrepancy in LOD observations would
seem to show my TOE hypothesis is all wet; however, some relevant facts were left out.
The angular momentum of a sphere is dependent on R2 and the Earth is an obloid sphere, with its
radius bulging out at the equator. Since the Earth is not perfectly rigid, the equatorial bulge would
move slightly inward as G increases and the rotation slows down. Such a slight decrease in R might
almost – but not quite – cancel the slowing down of the rotation due to an increase in inertial mass,
M. In other words, a more detailed model of an elastic Earth might show that the data from the
observations actually align with the hypothesis that G changes over time and causes LOD to change
in synch with G. This warrants some further research in my opinion.
4 I still don’t have a clue why G would vary over a 5.9-year cycle, although it should be correlated with the local
ambient cosmological temperature. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a way to measure that temperature directly, but
I’d love to know if the LODs of other planets in our solar system also follow the same 5.9-year cycle.
10
13. Appendix C – Some Observations and Experiments
One of the most controversial claims of my TOE is that Newton’s so-called constant, G, is a
variable that decreases over cosmological time, and I think there is some evidence that suggests G is
not constant. Astronomers estimate distances based on apparent luminosities of stars, which
decrease by the square of their true distances from Earth, compared to their intrinsic luminosities.
The intrinsic luminosity increases with the star’s diameter and its surface gravity. If the value of G
was greater in the past, the intrinsic luminosity of a distant star would be greater than an identical
nearby star. In other words, if G were greater in the past distant stars would be actually farther
away from Earth than their apparent luminosities would indicate. The following chart shows
measurements of the cosmological red shift based on the apparent luminosities of distant stars. The
blue circles depict stars with distances computed using “standard candles” based on the assumption
that G is a constant. The red circles depict the same stars assuming greater values of G and higher
intrinsic luminosities in the past, which shifts their true distances toward the right.
Based on standard cosmology, the rate of expansion of the universe is slowing down. This is shown
by the blue line, which bends upward with increasing distance. My TOE claims that the
cosmological red shift must be linear over distance since all observers recede from the Beginning at
the same speed (c) in their own frames of reference. Based on their greater true intrinsic
luminosities, distant stars are shifted from the curved blue line toward the straight red line.1
This
doesn’t prove a thing; however, if G does decrease over cosmological time, then it would explain
why the observed rate of expansion seems to have slowed down even if the true rate were constant.
Astronomers claim that observations of distant supernovae prove that G has remained constant for
billions of years. But this assumes an average star in the past began with the same amount of
material as an average star forming today. But if G were significantly greater in the past, couldn’t
smaller stars then appear much the same as medium-sized Sun-like stars today?
Observations of Mars clearly indicate remnants of rivers, lakes, and possibly seas on the Martian
surface. Although today’s temperatures at the Martian equator can reach 20°C at high noon, the
mean surface temperature is −60°C. These chilly temperatures are partly due to the fact that Mars
doesn’t have much of an atmosphere, but its doubtful that a thicker atmosphere would make much
1 This means that distances to far away galaxies are greater than indicated from astronomical observations.
8
14. Addendum – Revised Calculation of the Vacuum Energy Density
The TOE is still a work in progress and I want to preserve everything for the record, including my
mistakes.7
My preliminary estimate of the vacuum mass-energy density, ρ, was based on the
assumption that the cosmological temperature, T, is approximately equal to the CMB temperature of
2.73 K. In my essay The Hidden Secrets of General Relativity Revealed, the cosmological
temperature was calculated as the temperature of the expanding Bekenstein-Hawking surface,
which is strictly a function of the age of the universe:
T = ħ / (4π tU k)
This value turned out to be much, much smaller than 2.73 K. Based on this calculation, the
cosmological temperature is 1.37 × 10 -30
K, which reduces my original estimate of ρ (980 kg/m3
) by
30 orders of magnitude! Combining ρ = k T / 2 ħ G tU with the above expression for T reduces ρ to
the following simple formula.
ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
)
Using the current measured value of G and assuming tU ≈ 14 billion years = 4.4 × 1017
seconds, we
get the following result.
ρ = 3.08 × 10-27
kg/m3
Earlier I mentioned the so-called “vacuum catastrophe” producing wildly different estimates of
vacuum energy density depending on which methodology is used. The Hubble-constant
methodology places ρ between 6.4 × 10-27
kg/m3
to 7.2 × 10 -27
kg/m3
, and happily my new value is
just below this range. It should be noted, however, that there is a significant amount of hand
waving associated with all currently-accepted cosmological models8
, especially those models
featuring a so-called “accelerating expansion of the universe.” In each case, astronomical distance
measurements are off because they’re based on the assumption that universal expansion has been
slowing down over time9
instead of maintaining a constant rate, c. In contrast, ρ derived from my
TOE is based entirely on first principles and uses only a single astronomical measurement, tU .
In conclusion, although I made a serious error in assuming T is the same as the CMB temperature,
the huge discrepancy between 1.37 × 10 -30
K and 2.73 K might be explained if the latter value (the
observed temperature of all radiating matter in the universe after all red shifts are taken into
account) is not strongly coupled with the cosmological temperature. In other words, the two
temperatures decrease over time at different rates and are “disconnected” from each other because
the universe is in a perpetual state of disequilibrium due to expansion. It is possible, however, that
the two temperatures could asymptotically converge over time if the universe would attain a state of
equilibrium.
7 The mistakes I made in this essay are shown as strike-through characters in the text.
8 A universal model having a contemporaneous volume with a fixed amount of mass-energy fundamentally wrong.
The “interior volume” of the universe is a mirage: Reality is embedded in an asymmetric temporal surface with
curvature diminishing over time and an implied radius of curvature, R = tU c; however, R should never be
interpreted as the radius of a contemporaneous spherical volume. Furthermore, the amount of mass-energy
distributed throughout this fictitious volume is not constant, as assumed in most of the prevailing cosmological
models. Instead, the total mass-energy is distributed across Bekenstein-Hawking surfaces of uniform temporal
curvatures while increasing in proportion to tU
2
.
9 To compound the problem, there’s a consensus among cosmologists that the universe just recently has decided to
“accelerate” its expansion, needing “dark energy” to fuel this acceleration. Then there’s the problem of spiral
galaxies appearing to rotate much faster than they should according to Newton’s law of gravity, needing “dark
matter” to boost their rotational speeds. No wonder the field of cosmology is such a hopeless mess. (By the way,
Erik Verlinde’s thermodynamic theory of gravity solves the rotational problem naturally without including dark
matter. Kudos to Verlinde for having the courage to promote a very unpopular idea.)
12
15. Appendix E – Cosmic Goldilocks
Soon after Einstein completed his masterpiece, the General Theory of Relativity, he noticed the GR
field equations revealed a disturbing property of the universe; namely, that gravitating matter
distributed throughout space would cause it to collapse. Einstein fixed that problem by inserting a
so-called cosmological term, Λ gμν, into the field equations, which was used to exactly cancel out
the mass causing gravitational collapse. Physically, Λ is a fixed quantity of energy per unit volume
of empty space. In contrast, the density of gravitating matter decreases with volume because the
total amount of matter in the bulk universe is assumed to be constant. This produces a highly
unstable condition: If the volume of the universe should grow by just a smidgen, this would result
in runaway expansion, and if the volume of the universe should shrink by just a smidgen, it would
ultimately lead to the very collapse that Einstein feared. In order to keep things in balance, Λ would
have to be ridiculously fine-tuned, just like the porridge in the story of Goldilocks: not too hot and
not too cold, but just right.
Eventually, Einstein gave up on his cosmological constant after it was discovered that the universe
is indeed expanding. So once Λ gμν was removed from the GR field equations, gravitating matter
would simply slow down the expansion. This raised another question: Would gravitating matter
lose its grip and allow the universe to expand forever, or would it be powerful enough to reverse the
expansion and lead to a Big Crunch? Well, it turned out that the universe is perfectly flat, and it’s
poised at very the edge of eternal expansion (an open universe with negative curvature) and
ultimate collapse (a closed universe with positive curvature). This led to another serious Goldilocks
issue, called the “flatness problem.” Alan Guth came to the rescue with his inflation theory, which
seemed to solve the problem, at least for the time being.10
Then a few more monkey wrenches were thrown in. Spiral galaxies appear to rotate much faster
than they ought to according to Newton’s law of gravity and the amount of visible matter these
galaxies contain. To fix that problem, cosmologists concluded that there must be enormous
spherical clouds of invisible “dark matter” embedded in those galaxies. The problem is that there is
way more “dark matter” needed to fix the anomalous rotations than there is ordinary matter.11
This
would surely result in a very closed universe and a very rapid collapse, so an ad hoc solution
popped up again: Einstein’s old cosmological constant, Λ, given a new name, “dark energy.” But
in order to keep the universe nearly flat with all that “dark matter,” there had to be a lot of it. Of
course, now we’re right back to the Goldilocks problem of how Nature achieved such a delicate
balance between so much “dark matter” and “dark energy.”12
Then in 1998 is was discovered that
just about now, exactly 13.8 billion years after the big bang, “dark energy” took over, and the
universal expansion is speeding up!13
In fact, it’s speeding up so much that the universe will be torn
apart in a hypothetical “Big Rip” at some point – maybe in our not too distant future.
10 Guth’s inflation model solves the riddle of how the universe got so perfectly flat by postulating an inflation event
that occurred just before the Big Bang. Here, the universe inexplicably underwent an exponentially-increasing
expansion, and then it stopped just as inexplicably as it started. This dramatic expansion conveniently “ironed out”
all the wrinkles in space-time and flattened it out perfectly.
11 Estimates vary, but a rule of thumb is the universe has five times as much “dark matter” as regular matter.
12 So here’s the latest rundown: 68% of the universe is “dark energy,” 27% is “dark matter,” and only 5% is ordinary
matter. Of course none of this is true, but it illustrates how hopelessly messed up the cosmological model is.
13 One might ask why the expansion decided to accelerate just as the human species evolved, crawled down from the
trees, walked out of the African savanna, invented agriculture, science, mathematics and telescopes, and finally
formulated a general theory of relativity that explains all of this. Wouldn’t it have been much more plausible for the
acceleration to start either much earlier or much later than this special moment in time? Is it possible that
cosmological distances to remote objects using astronomical observations are way off due to a faulty model, and the
Hubble expansion is actually perfectly linear?
13
16. Then the so-called Vacuum Catastrophe made matters even worse. According to quantum
electrodynamics (QED), empty space is filled with energy in the form of virtual particles, and this
form of “dark energy” produces the same effect as Einstein’s cosmological constant. The problem
is when all the virtual particles are added up, they amount to one ginormous amount of energy; an
amount 120 orders of magnitude more than is needed to balance out all the gravitating mass. The
proponents of QED are unwilling to admit their theory is wrong, so they believe something must be
canceling out all this energy, but they just don’t know what it might be.
Here’s another way of looking at the balancing act between gravity and Λ. According to general
relativity, there is a cosmological pressure, Pc, associated with space-time that is equal to minus the
energy density of the vacuum, ρe. Contrary to intuition, a negative cosmological pressure pushes
space apart whereas a positive pressure pulls it together. (Because gravitational energy is negative,
it generates positive pressure by definition.) The universal expansion rate will slow down when net
Pc is positive and speed up when net Pc is negative. According to current models of a bulk universe
based on general relativity, vacuum energy density is constant, so if the initial expansion rate was
great enough, at some point the universe will cross over into negative pressure territory and lead to
the “Big Rip.” Well let’s see how my TOE balances positive and negative pressures.
Thanu Padmanabham published a paper in 2009 entitled “Thermodynamical Aspects of Gravity:
New Insights” showing there is a deep connection between general relativity and thermodynamics.
In particular, he shows the Schwarzschild solution of the field equations at an event horizon is
mathematically equivalent to the fundamental thermodynamic equation T dS – dE = P dV, where P
is interpreted as a cosmological pressure, Pc. If we are actually living on such an event horizon, this
equation would describe our world. Dividing both sides of the equation by dV,
Pc = T dS / dV – dE / dV = T dS / dV – ρe
There are two components of Pc: A positive term, Pm = T dS / dV, corresponds to gravitating mass
and a negative term, Pe = – ρe, correspons to vacuum energy density.
In the preceding Addendum to this essay, the vacuum energy density, ρ, was expressed as mass
density, in kg/m3
:
ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
)
Using the mass-energy equivalency, e = m c2
, we convert ρ into energy density, ρe. Since this term
in the equation is a negative quantity, it represents negative pressure that accelerates expansion.
Pe = – ρe = – c2
/ (8π G tU
2
)
The positive term in the thermodynamic equation, Pm = T dS / dV represents positive pressure that
decelerates expansion.
Pm = T dS / dV = T (dS / dA) (dA / dV) = T (k c3
/ 4 G ħ) (2 / R)
In the Addendum, T = ħ / (4π tU k), and of course R = c tU, as usual. Substituting those values of T
and R in the above expression for Pm, we get
Pm = c2
/ (8π G tU
2
)
⸫ Pc = T dS / dV – dE / dV = c2
/ (8π G tU
2
) – c2
/ (8π G tU
2
) = 0
Positive and negative pressures automatically cancel each other when space is considered to be the
surface of an expanding event horizon and basing it on a thermodynamic model instead of a bulk
volume. This eliminates Goldilocks problems requiring contrived solutions. As Einstein famously
said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” It’s
time to abandon the kind of thinking that led to these problems in the first place.
14
17. Appendix F – Natural Units of Measure
Most objects with we are familiar have a height, a width and a depth, otherwise known as volume,
and are have contemporaneous parts, meaning all parts coexist in the same moments of time. A
contemporaneous object like a bowling ball has a mass that can be weighed on a scale, and a
volume that can found by measuring the circumference with a tape measure. People (including
most cosmologists) tend to envision the entire volume of the universe as a contemporaneous object.
But as I’ve shown, the only contemporaneous features of the universe are two-dimensional
Bekenstein-Hawking event horizons with a Schwarzschild solutions equivalent to the fundamental
thermodynamic equation.
Space has three degrees of freedom with volume is defined as height × width × depth. Any
arbitrary direction chosen as “depth” automatically points toward a temporal Beginning. With one
degree of freedom assigned to “depth,” two other degrees of freedom are perpendicular to time and
to each other, and lie on a contemporaneous, expanding Bekenstein-Hawking surface with a radius
of curvature, R = c tU. Space has rotational symmetry, so all three dimensions are “depth” directions
pointing back toward the past. In other words, a spatial volume is not a contemporaneous object,
but is rather a container of residual information left over from the past. The larger the volume
becomes, the less contemporaneous it is.
Cosmological temperature, T, and Newton’s gravitational parameter, G, decrease over cosmological
time while the quantity of information, H, per unit volume is constant. This is shown as follows,
starting out with the fundamental thermodynamic equation at the horizon with P = 0.
T dS = dE
dS / dV = T -1
dE / dV = c2
/ (8π T G tU
2
) recalling ρe from Appendix E
Dividing the above expression by k converts entropy, S, into information, HN, expressed as nats.
dHN / dV = c2
/ (8π k T G tU
2
)
The above expression has dimensions of m -3
(the nat being a pure number). Furthermore, we can
see that G tU
2
k T is constant, so dHN / dV indeed has a constant value, which can be calculated by
substituting the present-day values of G, T, and tU into the above equation.
dHN / dV = 1.44 × 1043
nat / m3
The volume corresponding to one nat of information, VN, is found by inverting dHN / dV. The
natural length, l N, and natural time, tN, follow directly from this value.
VN = (dHN / dV) -1
= 6.94 × 10 -44
m3
l N = VN
1/3
= 4.11 × 10 -15
m
tN = l N / c = 1.37 × 10 -23
sec
Finally, the natural unit of mass, MN, is defined by the quantum of angular momentum, ħ, and using
the dimensions of angular momentum: L = Mass × Velocity × Length.
MN = ħ / (c l N ) = 8.52 × 10 –29
kg
Conventional science considers Planck units as fundamental, but those units change over time as
Newton’s parameter, G, decreases over time. The natural units of measure above were derived from
thermodynamic properties of Bekenstein-Hawking surfaces of uniform temporal curvature instead
of the GR equations of non-contemporaneous bulk volume. The natural units of measure are
fundamental because they do not change over time.
15
18. Appendix G – The Impossible TOE Geometry
The TOE presented in this essay is based on an expanding temporal surface having a decreasing
uniform curvature, κ = 1 / R, with a radius of curvature measured in spatial units R = c tU. Space is
perfectly symmetrical with three orthogonal degrees of freedom (aka dimensions) per Noether’s
theorems. This leads to a rather peculiar type of geometry.
The Minkowski metric defines four-dimensional space-time as follows.
c2
dτ2
= (dx0)2
+ (dx1)2
+ (dx2)2
+ (dx3)2
The variable τ is proper time as measured by a clock moving through space-time. The variable
x0 = i c t, is the radius of the time coordinate expressed in spatial units (where i2
≡ -1). The variables
x1, x2, and x3 are the customary three dimensions of space. The reciprocal of radius x0 squared is the
Gaussian curvature, K = 1 / (i c t)2
< 0, signifying time has negative curvature.14
The significance of
negative curvature is that it folds away from the center of curvature everywhere instead of folding
inward and around it; this kind of curvature is impossible to visualize in ordinary Cartesian space.
The figure below is a schematic diagram of the geometry I’m trying to describe. An arrow labeled
(x) points away from an observer, O, toward the Beginning. The two remaining degrees of
freedom, (y) and (z) lie in a flat space-like plane orthogonal to (x), which is tangent to the blue
temporal surface at the point O (“Here” and “Now”). Due to its negative curvature, the temporal
surface bends away from the center of curvature, separating the observer’s past, to the left of the
surface, from the future, to the right. As tU increases, the temporal surface becomes more flat (its
Gaussian curvature becoming less negative). It’s very important to remember, however, that the
temporal is not an ordinary sphere embedded “within” three-dimensional space. It sits entirely
outside space in an “imaginary dimension” owing to its imaginary radius, i c t.
Traveling within the red plane trace paths left of the temporal surface. This is strictly forbidden
because those paths go back in time, which can only be attained at speeds faster than light. Also,
the observer cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell anything lying on that plane. Objects in the
space-like plane will be accessible only in the observer’s future. Each observer experiences reality
differently as it evolves over time, so this scheme is radically relativistic, observer-dependent, and
14 A 2-dimensional surface of uniform negative curvature is a pseudosphere, having a surface area equal to 4π |R|2
, the
same as an ordinary sphere.
16
19. Appendix D – What’s Below the Ontological Basement?
The British physicist Paul Davies famously stated that information occupies the ontological
basement of reality. From my own studies over the past decade, I gradually arrived at the same
conclusion: Entropy (information) underlies everything we call physical “reality” or “universe”
(see two other of my essays Order, Chaos and the End of Reductionism and Relativity in Easy
Steps). This implies a hierarchical chain, as follows.
Information → Time → Space → Energy → Matter
The last four items in the chain (time, space, energy and matter) form what physicists define as the
material universe in its entirety, but there are a growing number of them, like Davies, who are
beginning to suspect that these are just the four upper floors of an edifice with a basement below
them consisting of information. In fact, some have concluded that the key to a unified theory of
quantum physics and gravity lies in the language of information.
The question that remains is whether information is ontologically complete in and of itself. I’ve
struggled with that question, and lately have come to the conclusion that it must depend on
something else which stands completely apart from time, space, energy and matter. My reasoning is
as follows.
Most of us have an intuitive idea of information as having to act on a physical object. For example,
flash drives store data using electrical charges applied to billions of tiny transistors. Information
(according to Claude Shannon’s definition) requires uncertainty, so if each of those transistors could
exist only in one possible state, there would be zero uncertainty about the flash drive’s actual
configuration, rendering it useless because it couldn’t store any information. On the other hand, a
functional 8 GB flash drive can store 6.8719 10 10 bits of information, meaning the drive may be
configured in any of 2
68,719,000,000
unique configurations, an insane number of possibilities with a
huge uncertainty. The flash drive’s information storage function depends entirely on uncertainty.
We can envision physical computer hardware coming off the assembly lines without any firmware,
operating system, software, or data. In other words, hardware can exist without containing any
information, but, we cannot imagine firmware, an operating system, software or data existing in
empty space without the physical hardware. Thus, information truly requires a physical substrate to
act upon. The aforementioned Szilárd equation reveals that energy equals information multiplied
by the temperature-dependent proportionality factor, kBT, suggesting that a substrate having
thermodynamic properties5
must exist for the energy ↔ information equivalence to be valid.
Ontological information relies on a universal substrate I’ll refer to as “Q”.
Q (the universal substrate) → Ontological Information (the physical universe)
The problem is that Q cannot consist of either matter or energy because mass-energy is just
information in a condensed form. This suggests Q must be at least one additional level below
Davies’ ontological basement, distinct from the physical universe itself and existing beyond it. The
metaphor of physical reality represented by a building with information as its ontological basement
is even more appropriate if we represent Q by the soil surrounding and supporting the basement.
The soil can easily exist without the building, but not the other way around. Being outside the
physical universe, Q seems similar to the description of the Deity.6
In any case, whatever Q is, it
cannot be described or accessed as if it were a physical object.
5 In my essay Relativity in Easy Steps, I show how the general relativity field equations can be rearranged to describe
a physical “substance” having energy, entropy and temperature, implying that space-time can be thought of as a
“field” having physical and thermodynamic properties. Unfortunately, space-time cannot serve as the necessary
substrate for information because space and time are both derived from information itself.
6 Except that the conventional western Deity is said to reside “above” the universe instead of “below” it.
11
20. Appendix H – Empty Space Finally Weighs In
Information is equivalent to mass-energy, and every cubic meter of space contains the same quantity
of information, 1.44 × 1043
nats. So one might reasonably ask how much a cubic meter of “empty”
space weighs. The answer depends on the cosmological temperature, T, because the ratio of mass-
energy to information is proportional to T according to the Szilárd equation.
The Addendum to this essay determined the mass-energy density of space taking T into account:
ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
) kg / m3
By inspection, ρ is proportional to 1/tU because G tU is constant. As tU → 0, ρ → ∞. The state of
infinite density is the “singularity” in the Big Bang model.17
Incremental mass, dM, is equal to ρ times incremental volume dV = 4π R2
dR = 4π c3
tU
2
dtU.
dM = 4π c3
tU
2
dtU / (8π G tU
2
) = c3
tU dtU / (2 G tU)
Since (2 G tU ) is a constant, we can substitute present-day values, GP and tP, into the denominator.
The total mass-energy of the universe, M, is then found by integrating dM over 0 ≤ tU ≤ tP .
M = c3
/ (2 GP tP) ∫ tU dtU = c3
tP
2
/ (4 GP tP) = c2
R / (4 GP)
Solving for the radius, R,
R = 4 GP M / c2
R is exactly twice the Schwarzschild radius, RS, corresponding to the mass M. Accordingly, M is
one half the mass corresponding to RS.18
There is another principle on which my TOE is based, which is a function of a constant quantity,
namely the information density per unit volume and per unit surface area.19
According the
Bekenstein-Hawking principle, the information contained within a volume cannot exceed the
information capacity of the surface surrounding it, and my TOE hinges on it. So let’s see if that
principle holds when applying the relationships derived in this essay.
Let ρHV = uniform information density per unit volume = c2
/ (8π kT G tU
2
)
Let ρHA = uniform information density per unit surface area = c3
/ (4 ħ G)
The Bekenstein-Hawking information limit can be expressed by the following inequality.
∫V
ρHV dV ≤ ∫A
ρHA dA .
Since ρHV and ρHA are constants, the inequality can be written as follows.
dV/dA ≤ ρHA / ρHV
dV/dA = ½ R = ½ c tU ≤ [c3
/ (4 ħ G)] [ 8π kT G tU
2
/ c2
]
From the Addendum we learned T = ħ / ( 4π tU k). Making this substitution, everything on the right-
17 However, unlike other cosmological big-bang models, my TOE does not postulate total mass-energy is constant.
Instead, total mass-energy increases because information, the mass-energy equivalent, increases in proportion to
total volume. This is allowed because time is asymmetric, making the law of mass-energy conservation invalid.
18 A sphere of constant density has a mass proportional to its volume, but a sphere saturated with information becomes
a Schwarzschild sphere having a mass proportional to its radius: MS = c2
R / 2G. A pseudosphere has half the
volume and would weigh half as much as an ordinary sphere if both have the same density and the same radius.
This might explain the 1:2 ratio of M : MS.
19 The information density per unit area is constant across a B-H surface in “information saturation.”
18
21. hand side of the inequality reduces to ½ c tU.
The inequality ½ c tU ≤ ½ c tU is true, and it also shows the volume is always in a state of
“information saturation” limited by the information capacity of the B-H area. Therefore, the
numerical relationships involving mass-energy, information, temperature, time, space, and
gravitation in the TOE fit together perfectly and they point back to the fundamental B-H theorem.
One might reasonably ask the following questions: “If information is equivalent to mass-energy
and empty space is already saturated with information, then how can planets, stars, galaxies, etc. be
added to the vacuum without exceeding the B-H limit and causing information overflow? Must we
invent some sort of ‘dark energy’ to cancel out the excess mass-energy?” Fortunately for the sake
of science, my answer to the second question is “No.”
Now I’ll answer the first question. According to Wheeler’s “it from bit” principle, mass-energy is
information in condensed form. All the raw material needed to all the fundamental particles
comprising the physical universe is already available from the vacuum itself. But you may object,
“The amount of mass in a lump of clay is far greater than the equivalent mass of the information
contained in the lump’s volume.” Your objection would certainly be true based on the current
cosmological temperature, on the order of 10 -30
K. But according to the Szilárd equation, all we
have to do to increase mass is to raise the temperature of the vacuum. This is similar to quantum
field theory, which says mass-energy is an excitation of an underlying quantum field. In this case,
the underlying quantum field is space and time itself with its thermodynamic properties, and it can
be excited by raising its temperature. The lump of clay could be seen as a “hot spot” in the vacuum.
The vacuum (cosmological) temperature is proportional to curvature: T∝ 1/tU ∝ 1/R = κ. In other
words, a local “hot spot” increases local curvature. You could even go as far to say that mass and
curvature are equivalent.20
It’s extremely important to make a distinction between information and data. Information measures
the number of ways bits could be arranged, while data represent a particular arrangement of bits.
Think of empty space as a digital thumb drive where all the bits are scrambled in a completely
random arrangement with no recognizable patterns. When data are entered into this thumb drive,
the bits are arranged into patterns that represent physical reality (“it from bit”). Arranging bits
doesn’t reduce the number of ways they could still be arranged, so no information is actually lost by
arranging them. However, the arrangement does remove some uncertainty, and information is
thereby converted into the form of recognizable physical objects (mostly particles) with much
higher temperatures and mass-energies than the random background vacuum information at
prevailing cosmological temperatures.
Because there’s a 1:1 correspondence between the number of bits on the temporal surface and the
number of bits in the so-called volume it surrounds, this brings about the radical idea of a 1:1
correspondence between events on a 2-dimensional holographic surface and events unfolding in a
3-dimensional space (the hologram). This is the holographic principle, which is gaining some
traction in the science community. It is based on something called AdS/CFT correspondence, where
AdS stands for Anti-de Sitter space and CFT stands for conformal field theory.21
It would be a serious mistake to interpret the holographic principle as being two equivalent versions
20 Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen got the idea in 1935 that the elementary particles (there were only a couple of
known elementary particles at that time) are actually tiny knots in space-time geometry. Unfortunately, their idea
didn’t go anywhere. Today, theoretical physicists are shamelessly using the Einstein-Rosen paper to justify their
own wild sci fi fantasies involving “wormholes” and “time tunnels” reaching out into far-away regions of space.
I’ve read their paper and they mentioned no such thing, and in fact they explicitly warned against making that kind
erroneous conclusion from their equations.
21 AdS is an n-dimensional manifold with negative curvature. Its boundary is equivalent to Minkowski space-time. I
have no way of describing what conformal field theory is, except to say it’s way over my head.
19
22. of reality occurring simultaneously in two very remote places. According to my TOE, the space
surrounding the observer is an historical record of what has already happened on an earlier temporal
surface. In other words, the correspondence isn’t taking place in real time at all. Events appearing
close to the observer happened on recent temporal surfaces, while events appearing farther away
happened on earlier temporal surfaces. Objects observed “out there” are just a data trail left behind
the temporal surface. The area of that surface increases in proportion to tU
2
and the information
density on its surface, ρHA, increases in proportion to tU owing to a decreasing gravitational
parameter, G. Thus, the residue of information left behind in the vacuum then has constant density
per unit volume.22
Seeing the hologram unfold in 3-D is like watching a movie, except different
images appearing simultaneously on the screen could have formed on different temporal surfaces at
very different times depending on their relative distances from the observer. The rules of special
relativity link those non-contemporaneous images together causally.
CAUTION: Please do not misinterpret the schematic diagram below as a three-dimensional
representation of physical reality. It is impossible to imagine (or draw) actual physical reality in
three dimensions. The spaghetti shapes emerging from the blue curved surface are high-energy hot
spot data forming on a cold temporal surface as it unfolds into the future at the speed of light. The
temporal surface sheds those data along with other information from its surface into the volume it
leaves behind on the left. The residual hot-spot data are then interpreted as “particles” observed
moving and evolving in space-time. The colors correspond to temperatures, red being the coolest
and yellow being the hottest. Hotter temperatures correspond to higher mass-energies per unit
information. The “particles” trace “world lines” that start and end in space-time. For example, the
yellow line began at an earlier time than the red and orange lines in this diagram.
As previously cautioned, the above diagram is a schematic representation only. I consider so-called
“world lines” as a bad representation of reality in general, because time is an imaginary distance
(i c t), so it shouldn’t be shown as part of a “block universe” or similar representation as if it were
another spatial dimension with a real distance. Also, the hot spots should be thought of as spread
out over an entire temporal surface instead of emerging from specific locations as shown above.
Unlike other models based on the holographic principle, this TOE places the mind of the observer
within the expanding holographic surface (the temporal surface) instead of in the middle of the
hologram (space) with the holographic surface far away. The mind finds the hologram image so
convincing that it projects itself into the middle of this image. Taking our experiences from a 2-
dimensional holographic surface and projecting them onto a participatory 3-dimensional hologram
is a truly amazing feat. It’s a cosmic magic show the mind performs for itself.23
22 The information density per unit volume can be considered a never-changing fundamental constant like the speed of
light, c. As shown in Appendix F, fundamental units of length, time, and mass are based on this quantity.
23 The Sanskrit word māyā ( माया ) is describes the illusory or false aspect of reality. It literally means “magic show”
or “illusion.”
20
23. Appendix I – Life in the Hologram
The English physicist James Jeans was famously quoted as follows.
“Today there is a wide measure of agreement, which on the physical side of science approaches almost
to unanimity, that the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe
begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears as an
accidental intruder into the realm of matter; we are beginning to suspect that we ought rather to hail it as
a creator and governor of the realm of matter.”
We have seen that the physical universe (aka space-time) we assume exists around us is just an
historical record of information and data in an expanding 2-dimensional Now. Would it make any
sense to be in an historical record instead of being in Now? How else could we be other than being
in Now? So the idea that we are really in Now but choose to mentally project ourselves into a
space-time hologram of the past may not be too far-fetched.
Chris Niebauer, a neuropsychologist and author, has made extensive studies about how the left and
right hemispheres of the human brain operate. He made the following observation.24
“… the right brain is key in spatial processing. Rather than focusing on one thing at a time, the right
brain senses the whole picture – both the things themselves and the spaces in between. One could say
that the right brain understands that a figure is determined by its background; something the left brain
tends to overlook.
The truth is that no figure could exist without the background and the shape of the background is
dependent upon the figure.”
In other words, the brain’s left hemisphere25
focuses mostly on material objects, while ignoring the
“empty” spaces between them. But what would reality look like if there were no spaces between
objects? And as we saw in Appendix H, space is filled to the brim with information. In fact, even
the tiny spaces between the atomic nucleus and the electron shells surrounding them are filled with
“virtual particles” that affect the properties of atoms. So empty space matters even if it is ignored.
The diagram below depicts how things are organized in an observer’s space-time hologram. Space
runs horizontally and time runs vertically. An observer, O, sits atop a light cone, whose surface is
defined by the light paths from distant objects to the observer, as shown by the dashed lines
arranged in a circle 360° around the vertical axis of the cone. All visible objects lie along this ultra-
thin surface.26
As far as the observer is concerned, nothing exists outside the cone. The only objects that exist are
shown as colored spheres within the cone or along its surface. The spheres are embedded in a blue
volume of “empty space,” which we know is filled with information. Objects visible along the
24 From Niebauer’s book No Self No Problem, Page 97.
25 Some consider the left hemisphere as the “seat of consciousness” or the “thinking” part of the brain.
26 Only two spatial dimensions can be shown. In actual space-time, the 3-dimensional cone is a 4-dimensional
hypercone. All visible objects lie along the ultra-thin 3-dimensional surface of a hypercone.
21
24. cone’s surface include stars, galaxies, and everything else the observer can see with the naked eye
or through telescopes. Objects inside the cone’s surface are not visible, but they do have causal
impacts on the observer. For instance, the observer’s great-great-great grandparents living inside
the light cone (all currently deceased) are not visible to the observer; however, the observer’s DNA
came from all 32 of those individuals and they are thus very much causally linked. The observer
cannot see dinosaurs living inside the light cone roaming the Earth, but the observer can study the
fossils they left behind and imagine what those creatures may have looked like.
The problem with the space-time version of reality is that light paths along the surface of the light
mix space and time together. This is a consequence of the brain’s inability to envision 4-
dimensional hyperbolic space-time where three space axes are real and one time axis is imaginary.
So in order to produce a working model the brain can process and the mind can comprehend, the
time dimension had to be combined with one of the space dimensions, the one pointing away from
the observer. This leads to an illusion of objects “out there” being contemporaneous, whereas they
are really separated by both distance and time by in-between spaces filled with information.
Objects in the space-time hologram are organized according to their relevance to the observer.
Contemporaneous objects close to the observer are generally more relevant than objects separated
from the observer by time and distance. Since the mind of the observer is attached to a physical
brain with limited processing power, the most relevant objects appear large and sharp to the
observer having much higher resolutions than the least relevant objects, which appear small and
fuzzy with poor resolution. Objects inside your home are much more relevant to your survival than
objects in the Andromeda galaxy, so the former are given much higher priorities in your space-time
hologram.
The total information within the non-contemporaneous volume of space-time equals the information
distributed across the expanding temporal surface, HS = π c5
tU
2
/ ħ G. The hologram created by the
observer significantly limits this information in a number of ways.
1. The location of the observer in the hologram is the apex of a “light cone” (actually the center of a
4-dimensional hypercone)27
and it excludes all information outside the hyperscone’s surface.
The hologram of one observer excludes at least a part of every other observer’s hologram.
2. The “vastness of space” that seems so impressive to the observer is only the 3-dimensional outer
surface of the hypercone. This surface is razor-thin in comparison to the interior of the
hypercone, where everything else is causally-linked to the observer yet completely invisible.
3. Objects in the hologram are organized according to the relevance to the observer. There are far
fewer data bits available for observing distant objects than close-up objects.
4. Spaces between objects in the hologram are filled with much more information than the objects
themselves, yet this space appears “empty” and is generally ignored by the observer. As
Niebauer notes, figures are determined as much by their backgrounds as the figures themselves.
The observer can zoom in on distant objects by relocating nearer to them. This involves travel,
which is restricted by the laws of special relativity, and of course travel alters the hologram.
The reader might object to the statement that observers “create” their own holograms. The counter
argument is that every hologram is uniquely observer-centric and it can be altered by reorienting the
observer. This would not be the case if there were only a single, universal hologram. As James
Jeans said, “Mind no longer appears as an accidental intruder into the realm of matter; we are
beginning to suspect that we ought rather to hail it as a creator and governor of the realm of matter.”
27 The equation of a hypercone is x2
+ y2
+ z2
– w2
= 0. It is the same as the Minkowski metric for the path light
follows, where τ = 0 and w = c t.
22
25. Then the so-called Vacuum Catastrophe made matters even worse. According to quantum
electrodynamics (QED), empty space is filled with energy in the form of virtual particles, and this
form of “dark energy” produces the same effect as Einstein’s cosmological constant. The problem
is when all the virtual particles are added up, they amount to one ginormous amount of energy; an
amount 120 orders of magnitude more than is needed to balance out all the gravitating mass. The
proponents of QED are unwilling to admit their theory is wrong, so they believe something must be
canceling out all this energy, but they just don’t know what it might be.
Here’s another way of looking at the balancing act between gravity and Λ. According to general
relativity, there is a cosmological pressure, Pc, associated with space-time that is equal to minus the
energy density of the vacuum, ρe. Contrary to intuition, a negative cosmological pressure pushes
space apart whereas a positive pressure pulls it together. (Because gravitational energy is negative,
it generates positive pressure by definition.) The universal expansion rate will slow down when net
Pc is positive and speed up when net Pc is negative. According to current models of a bulk universe
based on general relativity, vacuum energy density is constant, so if the initial expansion rate was
great enough, at some point the universe will cross over into negative pressure territory and lead to
the “Big Rip.” Well let’s see how my TOE balances positive and negative pressures.
Thanu Padmanabham published a paper in 2009 entitled “Thermodynamical Aspects of Gravity:
New Insights” showing there is a deep connection between general relativity and thermodynamics.
In particular, he shows the Schwarzschild solution of the field equations at an event horizon is
mathematically equivalent to the fundamental thermodynamic equation T dS – dE = P dV, where P
is interpreted as a cosmological pressure, Pc. If we are actually living on such an event horizon, this
equation would describe our world. Dividing both sides of the equation by dV,
Pc = T dS / dV – dE / dV = T dS / dV – ρe
There are two components of Pc: A positive term, Pm = T dS / dV, corresponds to gravitating mass
and a negative term, Pe = – ρe, correspons to vacuum energy density.
In the preceding Addendum to this essay, the vacuum energy density, ρ, was expressed as mass
density, in kg/m3
:
ρ = 1 / (8π G tU
2
)
Using the mass-energy equivalency, e = m c2
, we convert ρ into energy density, ρe. Since this term
in the equation is a negative quantity, it represents negative pressure that accelerates expansion.
Pe = – ρe = – c2
/ (8π G tU
2
)
The positive term in the thermodynamic equation, Pm = T dS / dV represents positive pressure that
decelerates expansion.
Pm = T dS / dV = T (dS / dA) (dA / dV) = T (k c3
/ 4 G ħ) (2 / R)
In the Addendum, T = ħ / (4π tU k), and of course R = c tU, as usual. Substituting those values of T
and R in the above expression for Pm, we get
Pm = c2
/ (8π G tU
2
)
⸫ Pc = T dS / dV – dE / dV = c2
/ (8π G tU
2
) – c2
/ (8π G tU
2
) = 0
Positive and negative pressures automatically cancel each other when space is considered to be the
surface of an expanding event horizon and basing it on a thermodynamic model instead of a bulk
volume. This eliminates Goldilocks problems requiring contrived solutions. As Einstein famously
said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” It’s
time to abandon the kind of thinking that led to these problems in the first place.
14
26. Appendix F – Natural Units of Measure
Most objects with we are familiar have a height, a width and a depth, otherwise known as volume,
and are have contemporaneous parts, meaning all parts coexist in the same moments of time. A
contemporaneous object like a bowling ball has a mass that can be weighed on a scale, and a
volume that can found by measuring the circumference with a tape measure. People (including
most cosmologists) tend to envision the entire volume of the universe as a contemporaneous object.
But as I’ve shown, the only contemporaneous features of the universe are two-dimensional
Bekenstein-Hawking event horizons with a Schwarzschild solutions equivalent to the fundamental
thermodynamic equation.
Space has three degrees of freedom with volume is defined as height × width × depth. Any
arbitrary direction chosen as “depth” automatically points toward a temporal Beginning. With one
degree of freedom assigned to “depth,” two other degrees of freedom are perpendicular to time and
to each other, and lie on a contemporaneous, expanding Bekenstein-Hawking surface with a radius
of curvature, R = c tU. Space has rotational symmetry, so all three dimensions are “depth” directions
pointing back toward the past. In other words, a spatial volume is not a contemporaneous object,
but is rather a container of residual information left over from the past. The larger the volume
becomes, the less contemporaneous it is.
Cosmological temperature, T, and Newton’s gravitational parameter, G, decrease over cosmological
time while the quantity of information, H, per unit volume is constant. This is shown as follows,
starting out with the fundamental thermodynamic equation at the horizon with P = 0.
T dS = dE
dS / dV = T -1
dE / dV = c2
/ (8π T G tU
2
) recalling ρe from Appendix E
Dividing the above expression by k converts entropy, S, into information, HN, expressed as nats.
dHN / dV = c2
/ (8π k T G tU
2
)
The above expression has dimensions of m -3
(the nat being a pure number). Furthermore, we can
see that G tU
2
k T is constant, so dHN / dV indeed has a constant value, which can be calculated by
substituting the present-day values of G, T, and tU into the above equation.
dHN / dV = 1.44 × 1043
nat / m3
The volume corresponding to one nat of information, VN, is found by inverting dHN / dV. The
natural length, l N, and natural time, tN, follow directly from this value.
VN = (dHN / dV) -1
= 6.94 × 10 -44
m3
l N = VN
1/3
= 4.11 × 10 -15
m
tN = l N / c = 1.37 × 10 -23
sec
Finally, the natural unit of mass, MN, is defined by the quantum of angular momentum, ħ, and using
the dimensions of angular momentum: L = Mass × Velocity × Length.
MN = ħ / (c l N ) = 8.52 × 10 –29
kg
Conventional science considers Planck units as fundamental, but those units change over time as
Newton’s parameter, G, decreases over time. The natural units of measure above were derived from
thermodynamic properties of Bekenstein-Hawking surfaces of uniform temporal curvature instead
of the GR equations of non-contemporaneous bulk volume. The natural units of measure are
fundamental because they do not change over time.
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