Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Dynamics of Difference

  • Published:
Foundations of Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A proposal is made for a fundamental theory, in which the history of the universe is constituted of diverse views of itself. Views are attributes of events, and the theory’s only be-ables; they comprise information about energy and momentum transferred to an event from its causal past. A dynamics is proposed for a universe constituted of views of events, which combines the energetic causal set dynamics with a potential energy based on a measure of the distinctiveness of the views, called the variety (Smolin in Found Phys 46(6):736–758, 2016). As in the real ensemble formulation of quantum mechanics (Barbour and Smolin in Variety, complexity and cosmology, arXiv: hep-th/9203041), quantum pure states are associated to ensembles of similar events; the quantum potential of Bohm then arises from the variety.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Causal set models of quantum spacetime were introduced in [1] Energetic causal set models differ from other spacetime-free causal set approaches, e.g. [2] proposed causal sets based on quantum information processing systems, and Ref. [3] proposed causal sets constructed out of standard model particles.

  2. For more details of the construction of energetic causal sets, see [4,5,6].

References

  1. Bombelli, L., Lee, J., Meyer, D., Sorkin, R.D.: Spacetime as a causal set. Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 521–524 (1987)

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Markopoulou, F.: Quantum causal histories. Class. Quant. Grav. 17, 2059–2072 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1088/0264-9381/17/10/302. arXiv:hep-th/9904009

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  3. Furey, C..: Notes on algebraic causal sets, unpublished notes (2011). Cambridge Part III research essay (2006)

  4. Cortês, M., Smolin, L.: The universe as a process of unique events. Phys. Rev. D 90, 084007 (2014). arXiv:1307.6167 [gr-qc]

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Cortês, M., Smolin, L.: Energetic causal sets. Phys. Rev. D 90, eid 044035. arXiv:1308.2206 [gr-qc]

  6. Cortês, M., Smolin, L.: Spin foam models as energetic causal sets. Phys. Rev. D 93, 084039 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.084039. arXiv:1407.0032

  7. Cortês, M., Smolin, L.: Reversing the irreversible: from limit cycles to emergent time symmetry. arXiv:1703.09696

  8. Amelino-Camelia, G., Freidel, L., Kowalski-Glikman, J., Smolin, L.: The principle of relative locality. Phys. Rev. D 84, 084010 (2011). [arXiv:1101.0931 [hep-th]]

    Article  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Freidel, L., Smolin, L.: Gamma ray burst delay times probe the geometry of momentum space. arxiv:hep-th/arXiv:1103.5626

  10. Smolin, L.: A real ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics. Found. Phys. (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-012-9666-4. arXiv:1104.2822

  11. Smolin, L.: Quantum mechanics and the principle of maximal variety. Found. Phys. 46(6), 736–758 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-016-9994-x. arXiv:1506.02938

  12. Unger, R.M., Smolin, L.: The singular universe and the reality of time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2015)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. Smolin, L.: Time Reborn. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Penguin and Random House Canada (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Smolin, L.: Linking topological quantum field theory and nonperturbative quantum gravity J. Math. Phys. 36 (1995) 6417 gr-qc/9505028, CGPG-95/4-5, IASSNS-95/29

  15. Wieland, W.M.: New action for simplicial gravity in four dimensions. Class. Quantum Gravity 32, 015016 (2015). arXiv:1407.0025

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. Barbour, J., Smolin, L.: Variety, complexity and cosmology. hep-th/9203041

  17. Barbour, J., Bertotti, B.: Mach’s principle and the structure of dynamical theories. Proc. R. Soc. (Lond.) A 382, 295 (1982)

  18. Konopka, T., Markopoulou, F., Severini, S.: Quantum graphity: a model of emergent locality. Phys. Rev. D 77 104029 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.77.104029. arXiv:0801.0861

Download references

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Marina Cortes and Roberto Mangabeira Unger, for their collaboration on the larger project of developing the hypothesis that time is fundamental and irreversible, of which this is a part. I am also grateful to Henrique Gomes for a careful reading of the manuscript. Finally, thank you to Julian Barbour for decades of conversation. This research was supported in part by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported by the Government of Canada through Industry Canada and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation. This research was also partly supported by grants from NSERC, FQXi and the John Templeton Foundation. Funding were provided by John Templeton Foundation (Grant No. 999) and Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (CA).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON, N2J 2Y5, Canada

    Lee Smolin

Authors
  1. Lee Smolin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lee Smolin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smolin, L. The Dynamics of Difference. Found Phys 48, 121–134 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-018-0141-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-018-0141-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation