Save Gaza for the sake of Jesus' memory at least.
When Mary and Jesus alayhim a'salaam took refuge in Egypt, they couldn't have done so by crossing the Nejef dessert. It must have been close by the shoreline , though not directly on the coastline of course to escape jewish persecution. So it was via Gaza that their refuge was accomplished.
And no Jesus was not a jew, anymore than Mohamed was a polytheist or Moses was a Horus worshiper .
Save Gaza, the holy land from the same hands that choked it and the truth for so many decades. Save them from the same hands that bankrupted world economy for the n-th time. From the same hands that brought us the bolshevik massacres and brought on the fascist massacres of the 20th century. Fro the same hands that used the crown jewel of physical theory to build atomic weapons. From the same hands that impoverished the world and spread guns alcohol and pornography in it.
Save Gaza. This is the last call !
... Read more
27 December 2008
26 December 2008
Genetically modified lies
examples of uninformed apathetic design extend above & beyond the domain of software. GM crops with their tons of fertilizers and insecticides apparently do not match the crop yields of Akkadian farmers of 40 centuries ago - and we're not even talking the unusually rich egyptian soil - without any of the disasters attendant on GM agro.
... Read more
18 December 2008
information waves - two further notes
- As pulses, sequences of local (one-to-one) information transfer among autonomous agents are better conceived as solitons rather than continuous waves.
- the medium of information transfer which is comprised of constituent agents has a further property of latency (as well as a delay effect in the case of messages incoming from different sources). The latency is not only caused by processing but also by routing decisions - whether and when to pass a message on.
earlier notes on information waves:
informatic notions applied to us macroscopically ... Read more
- the medium of information transfer which is comprised of constituent agents has a further property of latency (as well as a delay effect in the case of messages incoming from different sources). The latency is not only caused by processing but also by routing decisions - whether and when to pass a message on.
earlier notes on information waves:
informatic notions applied to us macroscopically ... Read more
17 December 2008
wormhole problematics
Image: Corvin Zahn, physics education group (Kraus), Theoretische Astrophysik Tübingen, Space Time Travel (http://www.spacetimetravel.org/)
click on image to go to article
... Read more
1. Would require negative energy density
* don't know yet why this requirement,
* but it is done via Riemann tensor in spacetimetravel.org
* also mentioned in Motion Mountain - adventures in Physics
by Christoph Schiller
* nature asserts limits on energy, mass and length-to-mass ratio:
* energy cannot be negative
* mass cannot be negative
* limits on Length to mass ratio
2. Would require an infinite horizon
* I don't know if this refers to the Minkowsky space plane
that is involved with spherical topology
* or whether this refers to the gravitational horizon,
as in event horizon, the Schwarzchild limit.
* a general horizon equation is derived from the principle
of maximum force in Schiller, p. 445 eq. (238), III ch. 6.
3. Would require enormous radial tension
* radial tension, if i'm not mistaken is known in english
(wikipedia) as radial stress which refers to the pressure
on matter such as iron rings around a barrel.
* weirdly, it is measured in (unit mass x unit Area) per
unit length - don't know why yet.
* requirement is said to be for the material of the wormhole. BUT !
* why would we need a material per se, is not the wormhole
a matter of bending space, or connecting space, or otherwise
acting on the space topology? Why would a material be needed,
other than for gravitational mass requirements?
* unless the radial tension refers to that to which objects transiting
via the wormhole are subjected. But isn't the idea of wormholing
to remove amount of time in transit? ie, with a wormhole,
there should be no transit! that's the whole point.
the displacement through the wormhole should be indistinguishable
from "local" displacement.
4. Question on the behavior of light in or through the wormhole
* namely the inability of light exterior to the wormhole
to interact with its interior , or vice versa.
13 December 2008
Confucius says
47. 困 K'ouen:
Six at the third place:
This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Confucius says about this line:
"If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?" ... Read more
Six at the third place:
This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Confucius says about this line:
"If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?" ... Read more
10 December 2008
the great natural compressors
the great natural compressors are mathematical formalisms that serve to describe a generalized physical perspective or theory.
For example, there is the group theoretic description of different particles of physics that encapsulates and catalogs their different properties. It is not the only possible way to describe and classify the fundamental particles or fields of nature, but one that happens to be for the moment convenient and popular.
There is also the Hamiltonian formalism to describe the motion of a rigid body , or a chain of them. A system of differential equations can be used to describe completely the thermodynamic behavior and state of an arbitrary physical system. And so on.
The phrase "mathematical formalism" thus refers not merely to a bunch of theorems, but to a distinct coherent scheme of description or model; often one among other possible ones. They encapsulate a great deal of information in terms of two important things. Namely:
(A) the laws and theorems themselves that go into the description or the model.
The formalism usually boils down to (ie, is expressed as / takes the form of a formula of) a single quantity or object
( eg,
the Hamiltonian is the value of the total energy of a system;
the Lagrangian is the action of some segment of a time dependent path (of motion / or in configuration space) defined in terms of some local property of the path ;
the group description is a "representation" (think of it as a set function) of groups of invariant/symmetric and skew/hermitean transformations on observables
).
Despite this, the laws of physics that enter into play in the system being modeled are all derivable from the formalism. For instance, the Lorenz-Maxwell equations of electro-magnetism are all derivable from the Lagrangian formulation. (see [Shankar] ch. 2 for an explicit example of how ; I don't yet know how particle field equations are derivable from group representations).
(B) The formalism readily gives "solutions" that are empirically verifiable when input data is plugged into it.
This is why mathematical formalisms in physics (as in other fields) appear like compression dictionaries (or they are compression schemes). Both functions served by the formalism seem like obvious acts of compression, giving rather fine-detailed and formal descriptions of nature (or whatever the domain of study which is also ultimately a natural subset). These formalisms are a number of conceptual layers up from the underlying "physical theory" (ie the set of proven laws).
They represent a creative act in physical conceptualization / or theoretical thinking, not merely a deductive act. For useful though they are they are interchangeable , not unique. One gaining favor over another by accomplishing a better feat of compression (what is often refered as simplicity, brevity, conciseness, and gaining more generality by separating the field of application from the formal description and manipulation - very much the same way we like to separate content and presentation on computers).
mathematics - ؟ -
These formalisms are even more conceptual layers up from the basic alphabets of literals and idioms and formal patterns we call mathematics. For this seems to be if not the most immediate , than a reasonably good definition of mathematics. It is a set of conventions of linguistic manipulations. Again the spectre of an isomorhpism can be raised between the process of formal reasoning and mathematical expression.
That those conventions have as their by-product the ability to compute, to induct, deduce, the ability to calculate - ie the aspect of calcul or calculus or حساب in mathematics - is the reason we employ them. It's what's great about them.
The quaint thing is, formal though they are, they must be considered part of natural language.
natural vs. formal languages
I do not know why this notion is often ignored (or maybe it isn't) but whatever formal dialects and languages we concoct that are utterly human-readable are to me reasonably considered a subset of natural languages. For two reasons:
1. "we concoct"ed them
2. they are utterly "human-readable".
The arbitrary languages we figuratively feed into state machines in automata theory classes are reasonably formal. Those are the sets of strings acceptable to or generated by FSA ; such as for instance AB*A.
Likewise the programming languages that people develop which are utterly defined , geared to the constraints of a computer architecture are reasonably formal - but frankly the higher-level they are , the more human-readable they become.
But again computer architectures are natural systems.
nature
When we look at what differences there are between the myriad ecological systems that have developed through this planet's history, and the systems that we humans have built ("artificially"), one is tempted to view as a major difference the notion that our artificial systems were consciously developed - rather than emerged.
But nature does not care for conscious acts. although we can study it, bend it to our will, damage it , and hopefully fix it, nature is oblivious to our "will" and our "conscious" efforts.
Our artificial systems are artificial only to ourselves. To any reasonably distant perspective they remain natural systems, as natural as the next quark pair or the next asteroid.
Even within the bowels of human design and architecture, emergence is a common feature and patterns and architectures grow and develop in spite of us.
References
... ... Read more
For example, there is the group theoretic description of different particles of physics that encapsulates and catalogs their different properties. It is not the only possible way to describe and classify the fundamental particles or fields of nature, but one that happens to be for the moment convenient and popular.
There is also the Hamiltonian formalism to describe the motion of a rigid body , or a chain of them. A system of differential equations can be used to describe completely the thermodynamic behavior and state of an arbitrary physical system. And so on.
The phrase "mathematical formalism" thus refers not merely to a bunch of theorems, but to a distinct coherent scheme of description or model; often one among other possible ones. They encapsulate a great deal of information in terms of two important things. Namely:
(A) the laws and theorems themselves that go into the description or the model.
The formalism usually boils down to (ie, is expressed as / takes the form of a formula of) a single quantity or object
( eg,
the Hamiltonian is the value of the total energy of a system;
the Lagrangian is the action of some segment of a time dependent path (of motion / or in configuration space) defined in terms of some local property of the path ;
the group description is a "representation" (think of it as a set function) of groups of invariant/symmetric and skew/hermitean transformations on observables
).
Despite this, the laws of physics that enter into play in the system being modeled are all derivable from the formalism. For instance, the Lorenz-Maxwell equations of electro-magnetism are all derivable from the Lagrangian formulation. (see [Shankar] ch. 2 for an explicit example of how ; I don't yet know how particle field equations are derivable from group representations).
(B) The formalism readily gives "solutions" that are empirically verifiable when input data is plugged into it.
This is why mathematical formalisms in physics (as in other fields) appear like compression dictionaries (or they are compression schemes). Both functions served by the formalism seem like obvious acts of compression, giving rather fine-detailed and formal descriptions of nature (or whatever the domain of study which is also ultimately a natural subset). These formalisms are a number of conceptual layers up from the underlying "physical theory" (ie the set of proven laws).
They represent a creative act in physical conceptualization / or theoretical thinking, not merely a deductive act. For useful though they are they are interchangeable , not unique. One gaining favor over another by accomplishing a better feat of compression (what is often refered as simplicity, brevity, conciseness, and gaining more generality by separating the field of application from the formal description and manipulation - very much the same way we like to separate content and presentation on computers).
mathematics - ؟ -
These formalisms are even more conceptual layers up from the basic alphabets of literals and idioms and formal patterns we call mathematics. For this seems to be if not the most immediate , than a reasonably good definition of mathematics. It is a set of conventions of linguistic manipulations. Again the spectre of an isomorhpism can be raised between the process of formal reasoning and mathematical expression.
That those conventions have as their by-product the ability to compute, to induct, deduce, the ability to calculate - ie the aspect of calcul or calculus or حساب in mathematics - is the reason we employ them. It's what's great about them.
The quaint thing is, formal though they are, they must be considered part of natural language.
natural vs. formal languages
I do not know why this notion is often ignored (or maybe it isn't) but whatever formal dialects and languages we concoct that are utterly human-readable are to me reasonably considered a subset of natural languages. For two reasons:
1. "we concoct"ed them
2. they are utterly "human-readable".
The arbitrary languages we figuratively feed into state machines in automata theory classes are reasonably formal. Those are the sets of strings acceptable to or generated by FSA ; such as for instance AB*A.
Likewise the programming languages that people develop which are utterly defined , geared to the constraints of a computer architecture are reasonably formal - but frankly the higher-level they are , the more human-readable they become.
But again computer architectures are natural systems.
nature
When we look at what differences there are between the myriad ecological systems that have developed through this planet's history, and the systems that we humans have built ("artificially"), one is tempted to view as a major difference the notion that our artificial systems were consciously developed - rather than emerged.
But nature does not care for conscious acts. although we can study it, bend it to our will, damage it , and hopefully fix it, nature is oblivious to our "will" and our "conscious" efforts.
Our artificial systems are artificial only to ourselves. To any reasonably distant perspective they remain natural systems, as natural as the next quark pair or the next asteroid.
Even within the bowels of human design and architecture, emergence is a common feature and patterns and architectures grow and develop in spite of us.
References
... ... Read more
complex vector algebra must be taught in pre-college curricula
Complex vector algebra (with the generalization of dot product, the inner or scalar product) should be taught in preparatory school curricula , following vector algebra.
This is addition to other absolute necessities in science such as affine geometry, topology , group theory (feasibly one step up from set theory which also are already in pre-college curricula), conditional probability and so on.
It is true not everyone will set out to work in the theoretical physics of fields. Significant patterns in information processing however involve analogues of physical measures (i don't know why they don't call them metaphors) taken in abstract spaces such as data spaces, search spaces, associated weight spaces, etc.
So thus far, complex vector algebra is seen in first in modern physics then in informatics with the myriad applications of its methods in nearly every field.
Sociological research for instance needs to resort to population sampling methods less and less as more comprehensive data is generated state and citizens (societies).
The more creative a researcher can get with what information to induct from and what to search for in the data would depend on how well they can study the input data space. Even though such skills are largely taken up by the software tools they use, the emphasis is on "creative", as in what more information is hidden and not revealed by the classical battery of statistical tools.
In any case, whether all pupils grow up to enter science or not, we all learned real vector algebra in preparatory and secondary grades, and the same should be affored for complex algebra and topology.
So why in prep. grades rather than freshman year at college? Because as is known, the earlier the intake of a technical dialect the more solid its foundation becomes. ... Read more
This is addition to other absolute necessities in science such as affine geometry, topology , group theory (feasibly one step up from set theory which also are already in pre-college curricula), conditional probability and so on.
It is true not everyone will set out to work in the theoretical physics of fields. Significant patterns in information processing however involve analogues of physical measures (i don't know why they don't call them metaphors) taken in abstract spaces such as data spaces, search spaces, associated weight spaces, etc.
So thus far, complex vector algebra is seen in first in modern physics then in informatics with the myriad applications of its methods in nearly every field.
Sociological research for instance needs to resort to population sampling methods less and less as more comprehensive data is generated state and citizens (societies).
The more creative a researcher can get with what information to induct from and what to search for in the data would depend on how well they can study the input data space. Even though such skills are largely taken up by the software tools they use, the emphasis is on "creative", as in what more information is hidden and not revealed by the classical battery of statistical tools.
In any case, whether all pupils grow up to enter science or not, we all learned real vector algebra in preparatory and secondary grades, and the same should be affored for complex algebra and topology.
So why in prep. grades rather than freshman year at college? Because as is known, the earlier the intake of a technical dialect the more solid its foundation becomes. ... Read more
note on notation and choice of indices
examples of Poisson-Bracket notation:
*[(d)]
*[(f)]
* note how version (f) opts for supercripted indices for one set of canonical
coords. and subscripted for the other, while the (d) equivalent chooses
the simpler notation with all indices subscripted.
* In [Siegel] [Srednicki] [Aitchison] and others there are discussions on the
importance of the choice of indexing scheme used in the QFT commutator formalism
- which is already so complicated (;;) .
* Notation in another version (r) uses square brackets for the PB on the LHS,
eg. [f,g] , thus making it indistinguishable from the notation used to designate
the related quantum commutator, the Lie Bracket [a,b]. (Cf. introduction of the
commutator in [Shankar])
* Indeed in __Fields__, Siegel devotes §§A,B in the Symmetry chapter to
"Coordinates" and "Indices" resp. [Siegel]
* [Sussman] calls the superscript indices "traditional"
* Indexing is usually (almost universally) zero-based.
-- 24.xi.2008
refs: (of the better/more detailed discussions on indices)
[Aitchison] Gauge theories in particle physics volume 1, 3rd ed.
[Shankar] R. Shankar, Principles of quantum mechanics, 2ed., Yale UP 1992/4.
[Siegel] Warren Siegel, Fields.
[Srednicki] Srednicki, Quantum Field Theory, (c) 2006 , \\ [[http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~mark/qft.html|book website]]
[Sussman] [Sussman 2001] Gerald Jay Sussman and Jack Wisdom with Meinhard E. Mayer, Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics, The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001,
http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~gjs/6946/sicm-html/book.html , retrieved 08 aug 2006, 20 nov 2007 and nov/dec 2008. ... Read more
06 December 2008
linearity ≅ whole=∑parts?
In general, the main condition or step in proving a set to be a linear space is to show that for any two members f, g of the set under consideration, and for any two reals α,β
As an illusration, consider an operator qcq , L: D → ℝℝ , where D is some set of functions , and ℝℝ is the set of all real valued functions of a real variable.
This suggests some meaning. Viz., that operations on / properties of the whole are equal to sums of operations on / props of the parts.
This property appears to be akin to that of self-similarity, suggesting a rather profound meaning for the character of natural organization.
The ubiquity of linearity in the abstract algebra by which we represent natural systems** (as noted earlier) has such consequences as the integrable character of physical law (discussed elsewhere).
** if theory were complete then one could say up to an isomorphism, ie, the mathematical formalism is in a one-to-one, onto and domain-covering image of the fields of the physical system being described. ... Read more
a. the linear combination αf + βg is in the set
b. this satisfies closure, from whence follow the remaining axioms
if applicable.
As an illusration, consider an operator qcq , L: D → ℝℝ , where D is some set of functions , and ℝℝ is the set of all real valued functions of a real variable.
L is linear, ie, is a linear space if , ∀y∈D, ∀z∈D, ∀α∈ℝ , ∀β∈ℝ
L(αy+βz)= αL(y)+βL(z)
This suggests some meaning. Viz., that operations on / properties of the whole are equal to sums of operations on / props of the parts.
This property appears to be akin to that of self-similarity, suggesting a rather profound meaning for the character of natural organization.
The ubiquity of linearity in the abstract algebra by which we represent natural systems** (as noted earlier) has such consequences as the integrable character of physical law (discussed elsewhere).
** if theory were complete then one could say up to an isomorphism, ie, the mathematical formalism is in a one-to-one, onto and domain-covering image of the fields of the physical system being described. ... Read more
03 December 2008
Next big wave of jazz: South Korea?
South Korea probably has the best music education in the world this decade. Some of the most elaborate orchestration and scores I've heard this decade was on South Korean movies.
This tells me to set my eyes on what *is* going on in their modern music scene - that is jazz , fusion and electronica.
I think digging through some of that music may be worth its while.
As an optimist, I keep hoping for new directions both for jazz and for popular music (e.g., rock).
Something tells me the language barrier is just not going to afford us the spectacle of a rock revival emanating from the far east - except maybe in terms of hardcore and thrash metal - though these need no revival - they thrive.
But things may be a lot easier going for pop music and jazz. ... Read more
This tells me to set my eyes on what *is* going on in their modern music scene - that is jazz , fusion and electronica.
I think digging through some of that music may be worth its while.
As an optimist, I keep hoping for new directions both for jazz and for popular music (e.g., rock).
Something tells me the language barrier is just not going to afford us the spectacle of a rock revival emanating from the far east - except maybe in terms of hardcore and thrash metal - though these need no revival - they thrive.
But things may be a lot easier going for pop music and jazz. ... Read more
