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Scientists Discover a Jewel at the Heart of Quantum Physics
Jason
God EmperorArrakis Moderator
An intriguing article about an intriguing discovery:
Scientists Discover a Jewel at the Heart of Quantum Physics
The description of the newly discovered geometric object, the amplituhedron, its ability to simplify complex mathematical formulas, and its existence's suggestive consequences re: a possible new geometric approach to both particle interactions and the structure and evolution of the universe itself brings to mind some old Pythagorean ideas about math, nature, and harmony (kind of like Buddhism with math).
In particular, the description of a "'master amplituhedron' with an infinite number of facets" whose volume theoretically "represents the total amplitude of all physical processes" and its relationship to 'lower-dimensional amplituhedra' that "live on the faces of this master structure" and which "correspond to interactions between finite numbers of particles" is reminiscent of Pythagorean ideas re: the 'infinite' (apeiron) and its relationship to the 'limited' (peiron).
The former suggests that the laws of the universe are the way that they are because of the way the master geometry of the universe is shaped, while the latter suggests a harmonic and mathematical order to the way the limited takes shape or unfolds from the unlimited, emphasizing the role of numbers in understanding the universe, which in my opinion makes quantum physics sound almost like a type of neo-Pythagoreanism.
All they need to do now is to incorporate vegetarianism and a theory of rebirth into the mix and we'll have Pythagoreanism 2.0.
Scientists Discover a Jewel at the Heart of Quantum Physics
The description of the newly discovered geometric object, the amplituhedron, its ability to simplify complex mathematical formulas, and its existence's suggestive consequences re: a possible new geometric approach to both particle interactions and the structure and evolution of the universe itself brings to mind some old Pythagorean ideas about math, nature, and harmony (kind of like Buddhism with math).
In particular, the description of a "'master amplituhedron' with an infinite number of facets" whose volume theoretically "represents the total amplitude of all physical processes" and its relationship to 'lower-dimensional amplituhedra' that "live on the faces of this master structure" and which "correspond to interactions between finite numbers of particles" is reminiscent of Pythagorean ideas re: the 'infinite' (apeiron) and its relationship to the 'limited' (peiron).
The former suggests that the laws of the universe are the way that they are because of the way the master geometry of the universe is shaped, while the latter suggests a harmonic and mathematical order to the way the limited takes shape or unfolds from the unlimited, emphasizing the role of numbers in understanding the universe, which in my opinion makes quantum physics sound almost like a type of neo-Pythagoreanism.
All they need to do now is to incorporate vegetarianism and a theory of rebirth into the mix and we'll have Pythagoreanism 2.0.
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Comments
I just don't have a numbers/math kinda mind.
I'm a visual thinker, but I can follow very complex ideas and maze-like explanations that way. But just reading it, myself, without visual aids, just leaves me feeling..... kinda dumb.
Color me Lost.
I heard a talk by gerard t'hoof (a nobel laureate theoretical physicist) in 2011 I think where he proposed during a discourse with professor susskind (theoretial physicist at stanford) on the holographic principle that he suspected there may be an underlying fundamental structure behind QFT - a sort of a precursor that both QM and ST would adhere to - I wonder if this is what they were chuckling about.