Comparing Physics Theories

Character is the foundation stone upon which one must build to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character. Without character, all effort to attain dignity is superficial, and results are sure to be disappointing. - R.C. Samsel Would you buy this house? The worst aspect of physics today is the continued blunder of building theories on unsound foundations. Spring-And-Loop Theory never set out to be the radical underdog, but has taken on that mantle as the only viable approach. This talk will be a deconstruction of mainstream theories, with the hope that aiming a high-intensity torch on the dingy basement of physics will reveal where the largest dust balls swirl.   That dark, dingy, cobwebbed basement had taken all my life from me. That place was where I gave myself up, destroyed my own will, and now it was gone. My will was dead, so I might as well be dead. - Margaux Fragoso   A painter's eye House painting in America is not complex. A single trip to your favorite big box retailer will net you brushes, rollers and more paint than you'll need. For about fifty bucks. One coat finishes and latex cleanup mean your wreck room will sport new tones in an afternoon. But let's have a lot at how Europeans approach this task.   Bright bulbs, and longevity My voyage to Europe has yet to occur, but I began to look at paint differently when I hawked acrylics for Benny Moore. Where I met Curt. German to his core, he had done it all. Apprenticing in Europe, his life journey had fatefully led him to a paint and paper dealership in my territory. Over the course of a dozen late-night, coffee-fueled chats, he applied my finish coat. Layer by layer. And with uncompromising quality.     Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him. - John Locke Right the first time In America, change is freedom. In Europe, quality is freedom. Rather than flitting from house to house, Europeans think a good home needs a sound root system. I can't speak for their foundation stones, but I can say they embrace their inner painter.   A cultivated person's first duty is to be always prepared to rewrite the encyclopedia. - Umberto Eco More refined palates Whatever you do, avoid any suggestion of single coats, rerollering or cheap wall finishes. Americans want three bedrooms. Europeans want three coats. At least. Oh, and they use sand paper. After each coat. And in between coats?  Inspection passes, with a 300 watt light bulb.   A little dabble doom ya I don't like to dabble in anything I don't do well. - J.B. Smoove Let's unroll a few yards of pristine artist's paper and see what a new theory of physics would look like if begun from scratch. For starters, we need to right-size our bricks. Physics today covets the Brownstonian Standard Model, but mile high structures need smarter material choices. From the get-go.   Plancks all the way down The idea of an atomic scale is 2,500 years old. Sub-atomic building blocks, though, are barely 100 years old. Then, just fifty years ago, string theory drew a line in the sand. Planck-sized units, but no smaller. Had String Theory made just one more good assumption, we might be living in a String Theory described world today.   A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up familiar with it. - Max Planck The loops have it Lee Smolin described what happened next with acuity in "Three Roads To Quantum Gravity". Anyone sincerely trying to make progress in physics should consider it a "must read". The problem with quantum theory is that nothing in our experience behaves in the way the theory describes. - "Three Roads To Quantum Gravity" For what it is worth, I think LQG's most unfortunate design choice was to try to describe the Planck world using quantum mechanics. Despite this, TRTQG is authoritative in explaining how we ended up with the various theories we have today. Though perusing the entire book is still recommended, pages 110 to 113 unearth the roots of the most critical decision. Page 113's punchline: We thus have two pictures. In one, the strings are fundamental and the field lines are an approximate picture. In the other, the field lines are fundamental and the strings are the derived entities. The first became String Theory. The second became Loop Quantum Gravity. In TRTQG, Professor Smolin also suggests there is a third picture, where the first two pictures are equally fundamental. The "then a miracle was needed" option.   Gravity breaks the field theories Loop Quantum Gravity.     Quantum Field Theory.         Gauge Theory. Three Titans. With a common Achilles. They all imagine gravity as a field distributed everywhere. Interestingly TRTQG notes, almost as an afterthought, that General Relativity allows for a universe with no gravity at all. Spring-And-Loop Theory allows for this as well. Had LQG, QFT or GT kept this in mind, they might not have made their most fateful assumption.   Question everything or end up with nothing Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. - The Buddha With just a few basic assumptions, we have already pigeonholed every major branch of physics. The Standard Model is too mathematically sterile, spliced together with the greatest number of assumptions. And many of the worst ones at that. Quantum mechanics has taken the untouchable approach, once common in royal circles, of insisting we never look it in the eye.   String Theory got the scale right, then reverted to Standard Model levels of mathematical fantasy.   The various field theories made better choices about granularity, and -- in some cases -- size.  Then defined gravity's role exactly backwards.     The young upstart Then there is Spring-And-Loop Theory. Spring-And-Loop Theory refused the amorous advances of mathematics. Until et=mc3. One of the most amazing things about mathematics is the people who do math aren’t interested in application, because mathematics itself is truly a beautiful art form. - Danica McKellar Nary a nail was hammered until gravity was figured out. At every scale. The theory of evolution, like the theory of gravity, is a scientific fact. - Neil deGrasse Tyson A fledgling theory at first, Spring-And-Loop Theory quickly grew to become a theory of space. And light. And darkness.   Redesigning the world of the atom, and the quantum took more time.   But then resiliency, and versatility, are Spring-And-Loop Theory strong suits.   Finally, Spring-And-Loop Theory has become a soothsayer, explaining and predicting phenomena that existing theories can't. Because they simply cannot get here, from there.   The unsolved problems pile up and inevitably produce catastrophes at regular intervals. - Luigi Barzini   The last step is a doozy It took 15 years before Special Relativity was accepted. And another 40 years for General Relativity to become "central to physics and astronomy". And this at a time when just two fundamental forces were known. How hard will it be for a truly new theory to make a mark today?     In every age there is a turning point, a new way of seeing and asserting the coherence of the world. - Jacob Bronowski     The ether to the rescue? Again? In 1905, when Special Relativity was published, a fundamentally different approach was active in the world of physics. At the time it was more "core" than "fringe", yet ether theories quickly evaporated as the world breathed in Einstein's relativities. Wouldn't it be interesting if an ether theory ultimately won out?   Compatibility prevails The most important aspect of Relativity, particularly General Relativity, is that it extended Newton's gravity, while being reducable to it in the simplest case. Relativity was a true superset. Yet an equally elegant formula.   For 100 years, no subsequent theory has been able to make such claims.   A new sprout Spring-And-Loop Theory, too, is a superset. But also a corrector. And an extender. A reform is a correction of abuses; a revolution is a transfer of power. - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton Spring-And-Loop Theory harmonizes completely with Einstein's equation, while also extending it. And where Newton kept gravity mysterious, the Spring-And-Loop Theory model despookifies gravity's distance-spanning power.   The fact that the universe is governed by simple natural laws is remarkable, profound and, on the face of it, absurd.  How can the vast variety in nature, the multitude of things and processes all be subject to a few simple, universal laws? - Heinz Pagels   It really is that simple Spring-And-Loop Theory is an almost magical eraser. Which is to say good assumptions cure everything. Regardless of how dead we feel in a crowd, we cling to the uniquely American assumption that associating is good and necessary, and  solitude  is suspect. - Laurie Helgoe Problems with 120 zeroes after them disappear. By definition. Dogmatic notions of explosive creation are blocked by the agnostic wall of basic building blocks. And mythical particle-wave-particle potentates are reverted back to their "things in an ether" overalls.   Of all insults, the temporary condescension of a master to a slave is the most outrageous and galling. That potentate who most condescends, mark him well; for that potentate, if occasion come, will prove your uttermost tyrant. - Herman Melville   Unless Unless you have fallen in love with your pet theory. Unless ego is what drives you. Unless you're in it for the money.   And until Ostriches have been around some 30 plus million years. It is probable they will continue for at least a few million more. But I wouldn't bet too much on the longevity of quantum, string or standard stuff.   Proof is at hand If anyone would like to discuss the future of physics, in the forum of their choosing, Spring-And-Loop Theory would be happy to join the contestation. Even though it is a bit of an unfair fight.   Drop me a line if you think otherwise.     COASALT Introduction The Speed Of Light   Black Holes   Einstein's Equation   The Ether   Gravity 222 Answers   The Atom   Quantum World   Neutrino   Black Holes Revisited The Comedy Of Science   et=mc3   Comparing Physics Theories Diffuse Interstellar Bands   Einstein's Ether Talk   No Strong Force The Electron   Relativity   Unification   Assumptions   Modeling   The Greatest Story     My Theory   Physics Quotes & Thoughts Big Bang   Dark Matter/Dark Energy   Dogma   Forget The Fields   Math Sucks   Particle Physics   Peer Review   Standard Model   Star Gazing   String Theory   tEmP Theories/Theorists   The Control System   Trolls       Spring-And-Loop Theory by Floyd Maxwell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Other subjects   Site Map   Contact   Quotes provided by: Click here to access the 40k Quote Archive)