A foundational approach to physics

A simple scheme for ordering the facts of physics is presented, and some terms associated with basic research are introduced. Some aspects of this research are discussed and an outline of a simple model as an example of a working hypothesis for explaining the known facts is proposed.

MaxEnt 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

viXra, 2016

This book proposes a review and, on some important points, a new interpretation of the main concepts of Theoretical Physics. Rather than offering an interpretation based on exotic physical assumptions (additional dimension, new particle, cosmological phenomenon,.. .) or a brand new abstract mathematical formalism, it proceeds to a systematic review of the main concepts of Physics, as Physicists have always understood them : space, time, material body, force fields, momentum, energy.. . and propose the right mathematical tools to deal with them, chosen among well known mathematical theories. After a short introduction about the place of Mathematics in Physics, a new interpretation of the main axioms of Quantum Mechanics is proposed. It is proven that these axioms come actually from the way mathematical models are expressed, and this leads to theorems which validate most of the usual computations and provide safe and clear conditions for their use, as it is shown in the rest of the book. Relativity is introduced through the construct of the Geometry of General Relativity, based on 5 propositions and the use of tetrads and fiber bundles, which provide tools to deal with practical problems, such as deformable solids. A review of the concept of momenta leads to the introduction of spinors in the framework of Clifford algebras. It gives a clear understanding of spin and antiparticles. The force fields are introduced through connections, in the, now well known, framework of gauge theories, which is here extended to the gravitational field. It shows that this field has actually a rotational and a transversal component, which are masked under the usual treatment by the metric and the Levy-Civita connection. A thorough attention is given to the topic of the propagation of fields with interesting results, notably to explore gravitation. The general theory of lagrangians in the application of the Principle of Least Action is reviewed, and two general models, incorporating all particles and fields are explored, and used for the introduction of the concepts of currents and energy-momentum tensor. Precise guidelines are given to find operational solutions of the equations of the gravitational field in the most general case. The last chapter shows that bosons can be understood as discontinuities in the fields. In this 4th version of this book, changes have been made :-in Relativist Geometry : the ideas are the same, but the chapter has been rewritten, notably to introduce the causal structure and explain the link with the practical measures of time and space;-in Spinors : the relation with momenta has been introduced explicitly-in Force fields : the section dedicated to the propagation of fields is new, and is an important addition.-in Continuous Models : the section about currents and energy-momentum tensor are new.-in Discontinuous Processes : the section about bosons has been rewritten and the model improved. 1 To be precise : assumptions are labeled "propositions", and the results which can be proven from these propositions are labeled "theorems". xi open, but I hope that their meaning will be clearer, leading the way to a better and stronger understanding of the real world. The first chapter is devoted to a bit of philosophy. From many discussions with scientists I felt that it is appropriate. Because the book is centered on the relation between Mathematics and Physics, it is necessary to have a good understanding of what is meant by physical laws, theories, validation by experiments, models, representations,...Philosophy has a large scope, so it deals also with knowledge : epistemology helps us to sort out the different meanings of what we call knowledge, the status of Science and Mathematics, how the Sciences improve and theories are replaced by new ones. This chapter will not introduce any new Philosophy, just provide a summary of what scientists should know from the works of professional philosophers. The second chapter is dedicated to Quantum Mechanics (QM). This is mandatory, because QM has dominated theoretical Physics for almost a century, with many disturbing and confusing issues. It is at the beginning of the book because, as we will see, actually QM is not a physical theory per se, it does not require any assumption about how Nature works. QM is a theory which deals with the way one represents the world : its axioms, which appear as physical laws, are actually mathematical theorems, which are the consequences of the use by Physicists of mathematical models to make their computations and collect their data from experiments. This is not surprising that measure has such a prominent place in QM : it is all about the measures, that is the image of the world that physicists build, and not about the world itself. And this is the first, and newest, example of how the use of Mathematics can be misleading. The third chapter is dedicated to the Geometry of the Universe. By this we do not mean how the whole universe is, which is the topic of Cosmology. Cosmology is a branch of Physics of its own, which raises issues of an epistemological nature, and is, from my point of view, speculative, even if it is grounded in Astrophysics. We will only evoke some points of Cosmology in passing in this book. By Geometry of the Universe I mean here the way we represent locations of points, components of vectors and tensors, and the consequences which follow for the rules in a change of representation. This will be done in the relativist framework, and more precisely in the framework of General Relativity. It is less known, seen usually as a difficult topic, but, as we will see, some of the basic concepts of Relativity are easier to understand when we quit the usual, and misleading, representations, and are not very complicated when one uses the right mathematical tools. We show that the concept of deformable solid can be transposed in GR and can be used practically in elaborate models. such as those necessary in Astrophysics. The fourth chapter addresses Kinematics, which, by the concept of moment, is the gate between forces and geometry. Relativity requires a brand new vision of these concepts, which has been engaged, but neither fully or consistently. Rotation in particular has a different meaning in the 4 dimensional space than in the usual euclidean space, and a revision of rotational moment requires the introduction of a new framework. Spinors are not new in Physics, we will see what they mean, in Physics and in Mathematics, with Clifford algebras. This leads naturally to the introduction of the spin, which has a clear and simple interpretation, and to the representation of particles by fields of spinors, which incorporates in a single quantity the motion, translational and rotational, and the kinematics characteristics of material objects, including deformable solids. The fifth chapter addresses Force Fields. After a short reminder of the Standard Model we will see how charges of particles and force fields can be represented, with the concept of connections on fiber bundles. We will not deal with all the intricacies of the Standard Model, but focus on the principles and main mechanisms. The integration of Gravity, not in a Great Unification Theory, but with tools similar to the other forces and in parallel with them, opens a fresh vision on important issues in General Relativity. In particular it appears that the common and exclusive use of the Levi-Civita connection and scalar curvature introduces useless complications xii INTRODUCTION but, more importantly, misses important features of the gravitational field. One of the basic properties of fields is that they propagate. This phenomenon is more subtle than it is commonly accepted. In a realist view of fields, that is the acceptance that a field is a physical entity which occupies a definite area in the universe, and experimentally checked assumptions, we deduce fundamental equations which can be used to explore the fields which are less well known, and notably gravitation. The sixth chapter is dedicated to lagrangians. They are the work horses of Theoretical Physics, and we will review the problems, physical and mathematical, that they involve, and how to deal with them. We will see why a lagrangian cannot incorporate explicitly some variables, and build a simple lagrangian with 6 variables, which can be used in most of the problems. The seventh chapter is dedicated to continuous models. Continuous processes are not the rule in the physical world, but are the simplest to represent and understand. We will see how the material introduced in the previous chapters can be used, how the methods of Variational Calculus, and its extension to functional derivatives, can be used in solving two models, for a field of particles and for a single particle. In this chapter we introduce the concept of currents and Energy-Momentum tensor and prove some important theorems. We give guidelines which can solve the equations for the gravitational field in the vacuum in the most general concept. The eighth chapter is dedicated to discontinuous processes. They are common in the real world but their study is difficult. From the concept of propagation of fields, we shall accept that this is not always a continuous process. Discontinuities of fields then appear as particles, which can be assimilated to bosons. We show how their known properties can be deduced from this representation.

The invariance of the speed of light is taken as the fundamental of modern physics. But, in recent, the faster-than-light was observed. It requires that the fundamental of the whole physics be reassessed. In this paper, in the mathematics, the definitions in Euclidean Elements are stressed. It is pointed out that these definitions are only the concepts. They are not related to a certain real object or body. In physics, the Newtonian framework is stressed. It is pointed out that, in Newtonian theory, the abstract concepts are used as the definitions in Euclidean Elements. For example, the Sun is treated just as a point particle. And the initial law only is an abstracted concept which cannot be checked with experiment while it can be understood by our brain. According to the Euclidean Elements and Newtonian theory, some of the mathematical and physical concepts in modern physics are discussed. For example, it is pointed out that the extra dimension in modern physics is not a mathematical concept of Euclidean geometry as it is related to a real pillar. It is stressed that high and fractional coordinate systems are used to describe the object that can be described with the Cartesian one. And, the equations of physics in different coordinate systems and the transformation of the equations among different coordinate systems are discussed.

The real fundamental foundations behind theoretical physics, 2021

A philosophical approach to a natural and real physics The following work shows how fundamental philosophical considerations, together with an evaluation of the work of physicists from past centuries, can be used to define an authentic and natural approach to physics, which confirms Einstein's theory of relativity. The natural explanation for space curvature as the cause of gravity is found. Relativistic mass is a consequence of the definition of mass and is logically explained. Length contraction results as a logical consequence of the forces during acceleration. As a by-product, the desired unification of the fundamental forces is shown by common natural foundations.

Physics of Atomic Nuclei, 2009

Some aspects of the interpretation of quantum theory are discussed. It is emphasized that quantum theory is formulated in a Cartesian coordinate system; in other coordinates the result obtained with the help of the Hamiltonian formalism and commutator relations between 'canonically conjugated' coordinate and momentum operators leads to a wrong version of quantum mechanics. In this connection the Feynman integral formalism is also discussed. In this formalism the measure is not well-defined and there is no idea how to distinguish between the true version of quantum mechanics and an incorrect one; it is rather a mnemonic rule to generate perturbation series from an undefined zero order term. The origin of time is analyzed in detail by the example of atomic collisions. It is shown that the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the closed three-body (two nuclei + electron) system has no physical meaning since in the high impact energy limit it transforms into an equation with two independent time-like variables; the time appears in the stationary Schrödinger equation as a result of extraction of a classical subsystem (two nuclei) from a closed three-body system. Following the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky experiment and Bell's inequality the wave function is interpreted as an actual field of information in the elementary form. The relation between physics and mathematics is also discussed.

2019

Physics Essays, 2012

Some aspects of the interpretation of quantum theory are discussed. It is emphasized that quantum theory is formulated in a Cartesian coordinate system; in other coordinates the result obtained with the help of the Hamiltonian formalism and commutator relations between 'canonically conjugated' coordinate and momentum operators leads to a wrong version of quantum mechanics. In this connection the Feynman integral formalism is also discussed. In this formalism the measure is not well-defined and there is no idea how to distinguish between the true version of quantum mechanics and an incorrect one; it is rather a mnemonic rule to generate perturbation series from an undefined zero order term. The origin of time is analyzed in detail by the example of atomic collisions. It is shown that the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the closed three-body (two nuclei + electron) system has no physical meaning since in the high impact energy limit it transforms into an equation with two independent time-like variables; the time appears in the stationary Schrödinger equation as a result of extraction of a classical subsystem (two nuclei) from a closed three-body system. Following the Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky experiment and Bell's inequality the wave function is interpreted as an actual field of information in the elementary form. The relation between physics and mathematics is also discussed.

ONE PRINCIPLE defines NATURE. COME, WALK WITH ME, as we discuss Four New Forms of Energy. They arise when we consider a property of the vastness of space may be elastic communication; or robust entanglement. Though we currently envision atoms interacting in a kinetic manner, this picture may be incomplete. A new theory of robust entanglement describes temporary tensions created passively between entities that present when symmetries are found, forming fields. The process of creating these tensions may then repeat itself over and over again as the duration of the primary tension lasts and as conditions affording symmetries endure. This property is a bit unlike any that has ever been described. Something is actually created from nothing. Rate densities of fields incorporate distances, making each entanglement result, or field, unique. New fields allow for new symmetries to arise, and to create even more complex fields; whole species of them. Like holding cellophane, between one's hands; pulled in an ever so and in not so perfect way, as if twisting, a creasing suddenly appears. So too may the fabric of space then form creating fine structures. Classified into four general species with different properties and character , the symphony that describes field productions, motions of fields and atoms appears in discrete stop and start moments and may be either independent or conformed. Through conformations do we now understand and see each of the four fundamental forces in nature occurring simply in four vastly distinct interval classes. No more kinetic interactions, no more waves, no more particles, we see only conformations of principled players in a completely elastic world. The phenomena of light itself may be simply a visible rate of conformation of elastic events surrounding an emitting light source. Relativity is not derived from speed of light, but from distances in unique entanglements and conformed systems thereof. Energy becomes the characters and references of produced fields. Mass becomes the symphony of intra-atomic elastic events. We find the only difference between energy and mass are the conceptual margins we build to describe a group of events. We discover some unique principles never before discussed including special properties of spheres, where we see black holes form when created from vast collections of elastic events or rather our conceptions of mass and energy. We see discrete stop and start motions; and we see shifting occur, in atoms, in fields, and systems thereof. Theoretically an entity may pass through another without loss of autonomy should no communication occur between.

Boston Studies in Philosphy and History of Science, 2007

There were two philosophical breakthroughs that were made during the first decades of the 17th century. One was in the theory of knowledge, or epistemology, which was initiated by Francis Bacon. Another breakthrough was made by Galileo Galilei, in the subject of being and becoming, or of metaphysics. What we call science today appears to me to be the fruit of those two remarkable philosophical breakthroughs. I present a case for this claim.