The Last Theory

The Open Web Mind is a protocol for shared human intelligence, based on the knowledge hypergraph.Take a look at this quick introduction for subscribers to The Last Theory, then jump to the 2-minute trailer on the new channel.And if you haven’t done so already, make sure to subscribe to the new Open Web Mind channel, podcast and newsletter.If you’re interested in Wolfram Physics, I think you’ll find Open Web Mind fascinating!—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery founder of Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

How big are electrons compared to the hypergraph?Is one electron formed of 10 nodes, or 10100 nodes?And if it’s 10100 nodes, might it prove impossible to simulate an electron on any computer we can possibly imagine?When I asked Jonathan Gorard this question, he took us on a tour of the scales of the universe, from the Planck scale to the Hubble scale.He revealed how the Wolfram Physics Project’s early estimate of the scale of the hypergraph was based on a tower of rickety assumptions.And he explained how the Wolfram model might connect with particle physics regardless of the disparities of scale.—Jonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard at Cardiff UniversityJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectConcepts mentioned by JonathanPlanck scaleHubble scaleGeneral relativityFluid mechanicsQuantum mechanicsQuantum Field TheoryScattering amplitudes—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

What if you’re inside a universe, and you want to measure the curvature of space?It’s important because getting a measure of the curvature of the hypergraph takes us one step further in Jonathan Gorard’s derivation of General Relativity from Wolfram Physics.Einstein’s equations relate the curvature of space to the presence of matter. So if we’re going to prove that Einstein’s equations follow from the Wolfram model, we’re going to need that measure of the curvature of the hypergraph.Once again, a two-dimensional crab comes to the rescue, given us a way to measure the curvature of a universe from inside that universe.—See Stephen Wolfram’s announcement, under Curvature in Space & Einstein’s Equations, also included as the introduction to his book A project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics, page 20, for more on measuring the curvature of spaceConcepts:Cosine power series expansionPolynomial regression analysisRicci scalar curvature—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

In this excerpt from my conversation with Jonathan Gorard, he proposes that particles in Wolfram Physics might be persistent topological obstructions in the hypergraph.He starts with a toy model in which elementary particles are non-planar tangles moving and interacting in an otherwise planar hypergraph.But he doesn’t stop there.He explains that there’s an infinite variety of hypergraphs that give rise to such persistent topological obstructions.These localized tangles behave in ways that look a lot like particle physics.—Jonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard at Cardiff UniversityJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectConcepts mentioned by JonathanUtility graphKuratowski’s theoremWagner’s theoremComplete graphs – including K_5Complete bipartite graphs – including K_3,3Robertson-Seymour TheoremGraph minorForbidden minor characterizationImage:Feynman diagram Feynmann Diagram Gluon Radiation by Joel Holdsworth, public domain—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

What if you’re inside a universe, and you want to know whether space is curved?The reason I’m asking is that according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, our universe is curved, by the presence of matter.If Wolfram Physics is to be a true model of our universe, then the space represented by the hypergraph must also be curved by the presence of matter.Which means that determining whether space is curved is crucial to Jonathan Gorard’s derivation of Einstein’s equations from the Wolfram model.Fortunately, there’s a way to find out that’s so simple that even a crab or a space frog could do it.Here’s how to tell if your universe curved.—Dimensionality:How to measure the dimensionality of the universeAre Wolfram’s graphs three‑dimensional?What are dimensions in Wolfram’s universe?Space-time:Space‑time is deadEuclidean geometry:Euclidparallel lines never meet—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

I asked Jonathan Gorard what it felt like when he realized that general relativity can be derived from the hypergraph.His answer took us in an unexpected direction.If the Wolfram model is to be an accurate model of our universe, then it must give us the Einstein equations.But what if any old model with any old rules can give us the Einstein equations?What if general relativity isn’t so special?This is one of the shorter excerpts from my conversation with Jonathan, but it’s a fascinating one.It takes us to one of the most powerful aspects of the Wolfram model: its ability to answer questions about why our universe is the way it is, questions that were once in the realm of philosophy but may now be within the scope of physics.—Jonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard at Cardiff UniversityJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectConcepts mentioned by JonathanEinstein field equationsRiemannian manifoldEinstein–Hilbert actionCausal invarianceErgodicity—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

In my exploration of Wolfram Physics, I’ve come across one objection more than any other.Over and over again, people have told me that the Wolfram model must be rejected because it makes no predictions.I could respond by saying that Wolfram Physics does make predictions. It predicts Einstein’s equations. It predicts Schrödinger’s equation.But it’s true that it doesn’t make any predictions that differ from those of general relativity and quantum mechanics. At least, not yet.So here’s my more robust response to the objection: all scientific theories make no predictions when they’re first formulated.If we dismiss any new theory solely because it doesn’t make any predictions, then we’d dismiss all new theories.It’s time for academics to learn the lessons of the history of science, and open their minds to bold, new ideas, like Wolfram Physics.—Ideas:Tycho BraheThe paths of the planets are elliptical according to Johannes KeplerPhilosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac NewtonAstronomers’ test of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativityAgainst Method by Paul FeyerabendThe Newtonian Casino by Thomas BassAncient astronomies:Egyptian astronomyBabylonian astronomyInca astronomyImages:Paul Feyerabend Berkeley by Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend reproduced with permission—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.The full article is here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

Here’s a masterclass from Jonathan Gorard.One of the most compelling results to come out of the Wolfram Physics is Jonathan’s derivation of the Einstein equations from the hypergraph.Whenever I hear anyone criticize the Wolfram model for bearing no relation to reality, I tell them this: Jonathan Gorard has proved that general relativity can be derived from the hypergraph.In this excerpt from our conversation, Jonathan describes how making just three reasonable assumptions – causal invariance, asymptotic dimension preservation and weak ergodicity – allowed him to derive the vacuum Einstein equations from the Wolfram model.In other words, the structure of space-time in the absence of matter more or less falls out of the hypergraph.And making one further assumption – that particles can be treated as localized topological obstructions – allowed Jonathan to derive the non-vacuum Einstein equations from the Wolfram model.In other words, the structure of space-time in the presence of matter, too, falls out of the hypergraph.It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this result.At the very least, we can say that the Wolfram model is consistent with general relativity.To state it more strongly: we no longer need to take general relativity as a given; instead, we can derive it from Wolfram Physics.—Jonathan’s seminal paper on how to derive general relativitySome Relativistic and Gravitational Properties of the Wolfram Model; also published in Complex SystemsJonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard at Cardiff UniversityJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectPeople mentioned by JonathanAlfred GrayResearch mentioned by JonathanThe volume of a small geodesic ball of a Riemannian manifold by Alfred GrayTubes by Alfred GrayConcepts mentioned by JonathanHausdorff dimensionGeodesic balls, tubes & conesRicci scalar curvatureRicci curvature tensorEinstein equationsEinstein–Hilbert actionRelativistic Lagrangian densityCausal graphTensor rankTraceFrom A Project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics by Stephen Wolfram:DimensionCurvatureImagesSpinning and chargend black hole with accretion disk by Simon Tyran, Vienna (Симон Тыран) licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0Альфред Грэй в Греции by AlionaKo licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch here.Kootenay Village Ventures Inc.

Here’s the first of two crucial excerpts from my conversation with Jonathan Gorard.The core idea of Wolfram Physics is that we can model the universe as a hypergraph. If we want this idea to be taken seriously, we’re going to have to derive physics from the hypergraph.The twin pillars of physics, as we know it, are quantum mechanics and general relativity.In this episode, Jonathan explains how quantum mechanics can be derived from the Wolfram model, indeed, how quantum mechanics unexpectedly fell out of the model.It’s a fascinating story.We start with the role of the observer. According to Jonathan, it turns out not to be necessary to narrow our focus to only causally invariant rules.Why not? Because macroscopic observers like ourselves impose causal invariance through our coarse-graining of the hypergraph. In other words, by squinting at the universe, seeing only its large-scale features and glossing over the finer details, we reduce multiple paths through the multiway graph to a single timeline, and, in the process, impose causal invariance.Jonathan goes on to explain that this coarse-graining can be modelled with completion rules. These are fake rules, similar to the true rules of Wolfram Physics, but posited solely to model the coarse-graining of the hypergraph by the observer.And here’s the thing. According to Jonathan, these completion rules are formally equivalent to the collapse of the wavefunction in quantum mechanics. In other words, we finally have an explanation for how the observer causes the collapse of the wavefunction, reducing Schrödinger’s half live, half dead cat to one that’s either dead or alive.If Jonathan’s right, then this is a true breakthrough, not just in quantum mechanics, but in the philosophy of physics.In the next episode, we’ll move on to the other pillar of physics: Jonathan will explain how to derive general relativity from the hypergraph.There’s much more to explain about each of these derivations, but we’re finally getting to the crux of Wolfram Physics, the question of whether it can, after all, model our universe.—Jonathan’s seminal paper on how to derive quantum mechanicsSome Quantum Mechanical Properties of the Wolfram ModelJonathan GorardJonathan Gorard at The Wolfram Physics ProjectJonathan Gorard at Cardiff UniversityJonathan Gorard on TwitterThe Centre for Applied CompositionalityThe Wolfram Physics ProjectConcepts mentioned by JonathanCausal invarianceComputational irreducibilityCelestial mechanicsMolecular dynamicsSpace-like separationHeisenberg’s uncertainty principleHeisenberg’s microscope experimentQuantum entanglementBell’s inequalitiesMultiway systemCoarse-grainingSchrödinger equationUnitary operatorHermitian operatorConjugate transpose operationTime reversalWavefunction collapseQuantum interferenceQuantum tunnellingStephen Wolfram’s booksA New Kind of ScienceA project to find the Fundamental Theory of Physics—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch hereKootenay Village Ventures Inc.

You know peer review, right?It’s the way academics check each other’s research papers.It ensures that only the good ones are published and prevents the bad ones from getting through.Right?Wrong.Peer review does precisely the opposite of what you think it does.It prevents the good papers from being published, and ensures that only the bad ones get through.Peer review is suffocating science.If we want to reverse the stagnation of science over the last 50 years, then we’ve got to get rid of peer review.—I highly recommend you read Adam Mastroianni’s splendid article The rise and fall of peer reviewI first heard Adam’s ideas about peer review in his conversation Adam Mastroianni on Peer Review and the Academic Kitchen with Russ Roberts on EconTalkWhy has there been no progress in physics since 1973?articleaudiovideoScientific papers:The journal Nature began to require peer review in 1973Millions of academic articles are published every yearSome scientists simply make stuff upFraudulent studies make it into respectable journals like Science, Nature and The LancetPhysicists:Isaac NewtonAlbert Einstein’s four papers published in 1905Max Planck’s principle that science progresses one funeral at a timeThe Wolfram Physics Project:Stephen WolframJonathan GorardMy projects:The Last TheoryOpen Web MindImage of Adam Mastroianni by permission from Adam Mastroianni—The Last Theory is hosted by Mark Jeffery, founder of the Open Web MindI release The Last Theory as a video too! Watch hereThe full article is hereKootenay Village Ventures Inc.