- #1
Naty1
- 5,606
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Two recent posts/threads asking are spacetime and frequency continuous got me wondering: Do we live in a continuous or a discrete universe? Or a mix of both?
Your thoughts appreciated.
(Do we have experimental evidence anything is continuous...I can't think of anything..also, is this question essentially butting up against quantum vis relativity contradictions and so has no decent answer yet? )
(threads are:
Is Spacetime smooth, in the quantum physics forum:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2261914&posted=1#post2261914
and Is there a limit to frequency,in the general physics forum:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2259041#post2259041)
a few inputs for consideration:
Seems like big bang and cyclic models are discontinuous affairs starting the universe,
Seems like a lot of experimental evidence suggest discrete: all those particles in the standard model;
Relativity sure seems continuous itself;
the quantum nature of light (photons) strongly suggests EM waves are discrete;
electron "orbits" are discrete,
Pauli exclusion principle seems discrete,
and Planck minimums and maximums don't seem a continuous concept;
Quantum field theory in the standard model reflects lots of particles...all discrete, both matter and forces,
"it from bit" (John Wheeler) seems discrete,
Holographic theory seems discrete (bit per plack area),
electric charge is discrete (1/6.25 x 1018 coulombs),
all the nuclear constituents are particles, hence discrete;
dimensions we live it appear discrete (3+1) but some emergent theoretical models posit fractal and partial dimensional origins;
gravitons if they exist seem discrete;
Confinement of a particle in a box leads to a quantization of its allowed energy eigenvalues.
"...increasing the energy of an electromagnetic wave by one quantum energy step is the same as adding a single photon" Leonard Susskind
Your thoughts appreciated.
(Do we have experimental evidence anything is continuous...I can't think of anything..also, is this question essentially butting up against quantum vis relativity contradictions and so has no decent answer yet? )
(threads are:
Is Spacetime smooth, in the quantum physics forum:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2261914&posted=1#post2261914
and Is there a limit to frequency,in the general physics forum:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2259041#post2259041)
a few inputs for consideration:
Seems like big bang and cyclic models are discontinuous affairs starting the universe,
Seems like a lot of experimental evidence suggest discrete: all those particles in the standard model;
Relativity sure seems continuous itself;
the quantum nature of light (photons) strongly suggests EM waves are discrete;
electron "orbits" are discrete,
Pauli exclusion principle seems discrete,
and Planck minimums and maximums don't seem a continuous concept;
Quantum field theory in the standard model reflects lots of particles...all discrete, both matter and forces,
"it from bit" (John Wheeler) seems discrete,
Holographic theory seems discrete (bit per plack area),
electric charge is discrete (1/6.25 x 1018 coulombs),
all the nuclear constituents are particles, hence discrete;
dimensions we live it appear discrete (3+1) but some emergent theoretical models posit fractal and partial dimensional origins;
gravitons if they exist seem discrete;
Confinement of a particle in a box leads to a quantization of its allowed energy eigenvalues.
"...increasing the energy of an electromagnetic wave by one quantum energy step is the same as adding a single photon" Leonard Susskind