Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
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Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#2I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#3I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
From my limited understanding that's largely how things work out with some (most or all?) string theories. The fundamental mechanics are those of vibrating stings and the particles/quasiparticles are emergent behavior off of the different types of vibrations and different types of strings.
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#4I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
According to holon theory, everything that can be considered a "whole" (eg: a particle) emerges from a stack of parts which in turn can be considered wholes which emerge from their own stack of parts. This goes all the way up and all the way down.
Eg: A cell emerges from proteins (among other parts) which emerge from amino-acids, which emerge from molecules, which emerge from atoms, which emerge from particles, which emerge from more fundamental particles, which emerge from probability fields, which emerge from probability fields, etc...
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#5Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#6I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
This is Laughlin's thesis in his book [1]. The idea is that the mathematics of renormalization as used by the particle physicists, is the same mathematics used to describe quasiparticles. It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea.
[1] http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/laughlin.cfm
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#7I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
This is Laughlin's thesis in his book [1]. The idea is that the mathematics of renormalization as used by the particle physicists, is the same mathematics used to describe quasiparticles. It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea. [1] http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/laughlin.cfm
> It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea
Huh? My impression is that the notion that the current laws of physics are an effective field theory of some more fundamental theory is pretty widespread and mainstream.
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#8Emergent structures have the property of being possible to generalize about and simulate to some extent by simpler means than the modeling of their most fundamental components. When this is not the case, it means the large scale result of the fundamental components is chaotic.
But if such a chaos were to characterize any given scale of any universe, intelligent life at that scale would be impossible. When the author asks, "How can the same sorts of simple equations keep appearing at every scale of nature that we look for them?", my (perhaps simplistic) answer is that if chaos were to entirely characterize a given scale, that scale would be too remote from ours to be observable. Chaos would be the barrier to observation.
So, I would venture that emergence as we observe it in the universe is not that surprising or miraculous, but inevitable. Though I may be wrong and/or not the first to provide this "explanation".
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#9You can consider a "lack of an electron" as the same thing as an "Electron hole quasiparticle".
The problem is this only holds 100% true in the abstract thought and specific mathematical frameworks (and their formulas) you are working in.
While you can do the math, and get the right results, it does not necessarily make it real outside of the human brain.
The majority of quasiparticles are just another way of looking at things. Some are totally human creations, others are combined effects, and some emergent phenomena.
Re: Quasiparticles and the Miracle of Emergence
#10I wonder if all the things we think of as particles, like electrons and protons, are actually quasiparticles on top of more fundamental mechanics.
This is Laughlin's thesis in his book [1]. The idea is that the mathematics of renormalization as used by the particle physicists, is the same mathematics used to describe quasiparticles. It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea. [1] http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/laughlin.cfm
They've had plenty to say. Laughlin's only acolyte is a fellow named Chapline who is known for his unusual theories about black holes. Laughlin has nothing to say about Lorentz invariance.
For a real stab down Laughlin's direction, done 100,000 times better with testable predictions, check out G. Volovik's book "The Universe in a Helium Droplet"