De Sitter Projective Relativity


Book Description

This book presents the Projective approach to de Sitter Relativity. It traces the development of renewed interest in models of the universe at constant positive curvature such as "vacuum" geometry. The De Sitter Theory of Relativity, formulated in 1917 with Willem De Sitter's solution of the Einstein equations, was used in different fields during the 1950s and 1960s, in the work of H. Bacry, J.M. LevyLeblond and F.Gursey, to name some important contributors. From the 1960s to 1980s, L. Fantappié and G. Arcidiacono provided an elegant group approach to the De Sitter universe putting the basis for special and general projective relativity. Today such suggestions flow into a unitary scenario, and this way the De Sitter Relativity is no more a "missing opportunity" (F. Dyson, 1972), but has a central role in theoretical physics. In this volume a systematic presentation is given of the De Sitter Projective relativity, with the recent developments in projective general relativity and quantum cosmology.




Beyond Peaceful Coexistence; The Emergence Of Space, Time And Quantum


Book Description

'It may be that a real synthesis of quantum and relativity theories requires not just technical developments but radical conceptual renewal.'J S BellBeyond Peaceful Coexistence: The Emergence of Space, Time and Quantum brings together leading academics in mathematics and physics to address going beyond the 'peaceful coexistence' of space-time descriptions (local and continuous ones) and quantum events (discrete and non-commutative ones). Formidable challenges waiting beyond the Standard Model require a new semantic consistency within the theories in order to build new ways of understanding, working and relating to them. The original A. Shimony meaning of the peaceful coexistence (the collapse postulate and non-locality) appear to be just the tip of the iceberg in relation to more serious fundamental issues across physics as a whole.Chapters in this book present perspectives on emergent, discrete, geometrodynamic and topological approaches, as well as a new interpretative spectrum of quantum theories after Copenhagen, discrete time theories, time-less approaches and 'super-fluid' pictures of space-time.As well as stimulating further research among established theoretical physicists, the book can also be used in courses on the philosophy and mathematics of theoretical physics.




Chemical Cosmology


Book Description

The composition of the most remote objects brought into view by the Hubble telescope can no longer be reconciled with the nucleogenesis of standard cosmology and the alternative explanation, in terms of the Λ-Cold-Dark-Matter model, has no recognizable chemical basis. A more rational scheme, based on the chemistry and periodicity of atomic matter, opens up an exciting new interpretation of the cosmos in terms of projective geometry and general relativity. The response of atomic structure to environmental pressure predicts non-Doppler cosmical redshifts and equilibrium nucleogenesis by α­-particle addition, in accord with observed periodic variation of nuclear abundance. Inferred cosmic self similarity elucidates the Bode –Titius law, general commensurability in the solar system and the occurrence of quantum phenomena on a cosmic scale. The generalized periodic function involves both matter and anti-matter in an involuted mapping to a closed projective plane. This topology ensures the same symmetrical balance in a chiral universe, wrapped around an achiral vacuum interface, without singularities. A new cosmology emerges, based on the theory of projective relativ­ity, presented here as a translation of Veblen’s original German text. Not only does it provide a unification of gravity, electromagnetism and quantum theory, through gauge invariance, but also supports the solution of the gravitational field equations, obtained by Gödel for a rotating universe. The appearance of an Einstein–Rosen bridge as outlet from a black hole, into conjugate anti-space, accounts for globular clusters, quasars, cosmic radiation, γ-ray bursters, pulsars, radio sources and other re­gions of plasma activity. The effects of a multiply-connected space-time manifold on observa­tions in an Euclidean tangent space are unpredictable and a complete re-assessment of the size and structure of the universe is indicated. The target readership includes scientists, as well as non-scientists – everybody with a scientific or philosophical interest in cosmology and, especially those cosmologists and mathematicians with the ability to recast the crude ideas presented here into appropriate mathematical models.




The de Sitter (dS) Group and its Representations


Book Description

This book reviews the construction of elementary systems living in de Sitter (dS) spacetime, in both the classical and quantum senses. Field theories on dS spacetime are among the most studied mathematical models of the Universe, whether for its earlier period (inflationary phase) or for its current phase of expansion acceleration (dark energy or cosmological constant). Classical elementary systems are Hamiltonian phase spaces, which are associated with co-adjoint orbits of the relativity group. On the other hand, quantum elementary systems are associated with (projective) unitary irreducible representations of the (possibly extended) relativity group (or one of its covering). This study emphasizes the conceptual issues arising in the formulation of such systems and discusses known results in a mathematically rigorous way. Particular attention is paid to: “smooth” transition from classical to quantum theory; physical content under vanishing curvature, from the point of view of a local (“tangent”) Minkowskian observer; and thermal interpretation (on the quantum level), in the sense of the Gibbons-Hawking temperature. Such a mathematical construction is of paramount importance to the understanding of the early Universe (due to the critical role that the dS metric plays in the inflationary cosmological scenarii) as well as to the construction of possible models for late-time cosmology (since a small positive cosmological constant or dark energy seems to be required by recent data). In this sense, this book uniquely blends mathematical physics (spacetime symmetry on classical and quantum levels) and theoretical physics (quantization, quantum field theory, and cosmology). Moreover, the level of exposition varies in different parts of the book so that both experts and beginners alike can utilize the book.




Literature 1985, Part 1


Book Description

Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts aims to present a comprehensive documen tation of the literature concerning all aspects of astronomy, astrophysics, and their border fields. It is devoted to the recording, summarizing, and indexing of the relevant publications throughout the world. Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts is prepared by a special department of the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union. Volume 39 records literature published in 1985 and received before August 15, 1985. Some older documents which we received late and which are not surveyed in earlier volumes are included too. We acknowledge with thanks contributions of our colleagues all over the world. We also express our gratitude to all organiza tions, observatories, and publishers which provide us with complimentary copies of their publications. On account of the introduction of an object index the scope of index information will be considerably enlarged beginning with this volume. In connection with the subject index an additional source to satisfy the needs of retrieval is opened up. Starting with Volume 33, all the recording, correction, and data processing work was done by means of computers. The recording was done by our technical staff members Ms. Helga Ballmann, Ms. Mona El-Choura, Ms. Monika Kohl, Ms. Sylvia Matyssek. Ms. Karin Burkhardt, Ms. Susanne Schlotelburg, and Mr. Stefan Wagner supported our task by careful proofreading. It is a pleasure to thank them all for their encouragement. Heidelberg, September 1985 The Editors Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . .




Fractals in Biology and Medicine


Book Description

"Fractals in Biology and Medicine, Volume 2" explores the potential of the fractal geometry in understanding how to analyse natural shapes. The volume devotes special emphasis to the complex field of human tumours.







De Sitter Invariant Special Relativity


Book Description

Einstein's Special Relativity (E-SR) is the cornerstone of physics. De Sitter invariant SR (dS/AdS-SR) is a natural extension of E-SR, hence it relates to the foundation of physics. This book provides a description to dS/AdS-SR in terms of Lagrangian-Hamiltonian formulation associated with spacetime metric of inertial reference frames.One of the outstanding features of the book is as follows: All discussions on SR are in the inertial reference frames. This is a requirement due to the first principle of SR theory. The descriptions on dS/AdS-SR in this book satisfy this principle. For the curved spacetime in dS/AdS-SR theory, it is highly non-trivial.




From Electrons to Elephants and Elections


Book Description

This highly interdisciplinary book, covering more than six fields, from philosophy and sciences all the way up to the humanities and with contributions from eminent authors, addresses the interplay between content and context, reductionism and holism and their meeting point: the notion of emergence. Much of today’s science is reductionist (bottom-up); in other words, behaviour on one level is explained by reducing it to components on a lower level. Chemistry is reduced to atoms, ecosystems are explained in terms of DNA and proteins, etc. This approach fails quickly since we can’t cannot extrapolate to the properties of atoms solely from Schrödinger's equation, nor figure out protein folding from an amino acid sequence or obtain the phenotype of an organism from its genotype. An alternative approach to this is holism (top-down). Consider an ecosystem or an organism as a whole: seek patterns on the same scale. Model a galaxy not as 400 billion-point masses (stars) but as an object in its own right with its own properties (spiral, elliptic). Or a hurricane as a structured form of moist air and water vapour. Reductionism is largely about content, whereas holistic models are more attuned to context. Reductionism (content) and holism (context) are not opposing philosophies — in fact, they work best in tandem. Join us on a journey to understand the multifaceted dialectic concerning this duo and how they shape the foundations of sciences and humanities, our thoughts and, the very nature of reality itself.