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<div style="float:right;padding:20px;">__TOC__</div>
{{InfoboxProject
|project=Graph, Wall, Tome
|image=[[File:Ascending and Descending.jpg]]
|topic=Graph, Wall, Tome
|leader=[https://twitter.com/AardvarkLaurant Aardvark (Aardvark#5610)]<br>[https://twitter.com/Tim_Melon Tim (TimFH#7940)]
|startdate=27 January 2020
|customlabel1=<!-- Placeholder -->
|customdata1=<!-- Placeholder -->
|customlabel2=Google Drive
|customdata2=[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1706CBEJQEMppV60OU8OtcXxicluk2T3Y?usp=sharing Drive]
|customlabel3=Master Planning
|customdata3=[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9AvvFZzODw1WiGRZwRsFFZdPdBzYVJGLHiqWNrMtIA/edit?usp=sharing Doc]
|customlabel4=Reference Material
|customdata4=[https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rN-zfv41xeH3WFNOrZNb7Clz-yu1dgulP4bcEPKbcY/edit?usp=sharing Doc]
|link1title=Website
|link1=[https://graphwalltome.com/ Homepage]
|link2title=<!-- Projects Page -->
|link2=<!-- Projects Page Link -->
|link3title=
|link3=
|link4title=Discord
|link4=[https://discord.gg/Z3u3pPm Invite]
}}


Fundamental physics is an unknown world to most people. Equations, symbols, and incomprehensible terms abound, and unless you've studied post-grad mathematics and physics, this world is inaccessible to you. Although there are several great resources to map the way toward complete understanding. Most people will not undertake the journey to understand the source code to the world that we all inhabit.
The knowledge of fundamental physics and the mathematics necessary to perform and understand it are known to few, maybe some tens of thousands of people at most, and commitment to reach those levels entails almost a decade of graduate and post-graduate study. Yet what if it was all much easier and much harder to understand? What if the necessary knowledge was finite and more rapidly attainable to a broader population than those select few? What if there was a way to identify and abstract the most basic physical structures, a list of all the tools to build and operate on those structures, and a user's guide to describe how to use those tools?


''The goal of the Graph, Wall, Tome project is to solve this problem by building a portal anyone can use to travel to the amazing world that we call fundamental physics.''
The '''Graph, Wall, Tome''' project demonstrates that these resources exist and already cover much of the necessary ground, but also that they are still flawed and need refinement. Edward Witten, perhaps the most intelligent living physicist, wrote a [[#Graph|paragraph]] in 1987 (from his address at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Berkeley, August 1986) that linguistically encodes and abstracts the most basic structures underlying physics, such that their function can still be understood even if the particular underlying equation may change. This is the '''Graph'''. Jim Simons, billionaire physicist, commissioned the [[#Wall|iconic Wall at State University of New York Stony Brook]] which has inscribed upon it the equations of what Witten says in addition to some of history's most important mathematical and physical results. This is the '''Wall'''. [[Sir Roger Penrose]], Nobel laureate and intellectual descendant of Albert Einstein’s school of geometric physics, wrote a book titled [[#Tome|''The Road to Reality'']], which describes and summarizes how to use the mathematics and physics contained within the Wall and the Graph. This is the '''Tome'''.


The name of the project stems from the observation that there are three resources that themselves contain all that you need for an almost complete understanding of the world.
Already in these objects together is enough information to begin a serious study of physics at its most fundamental level and comprehend the deep connections between mathematics and physics. Yet, almost no one knows or seeks them. Further still, as recently as the 1950s we were confused about the structure of the universe: we didn't know the world is left-right asymmetric, as discovered by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chien-Shiung_Wu Madame Wu], and we didn't know the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aharonov%E2%80%93Bohm_effect Aharonov-Bohm effect], which demonstrated that the electromagnetic field is less important than the electromagnetic potential. In the mid-1970s as well, Jim Simons and C.N. Yang showed that particle theory is completely geometric. Both of these developments are little known among the public. That the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome and these recent foundational developments are unknown is evidence that something is off in how we communicate science and hand down our knowledge.


# [[#The Graph|The Graph]] - A paragraph written by Edward Witten
The aims of Graph, Wall, Tome lie in an extremely focused presentation of its core elements, improving and expanding upon the originals where necessary, to chart the path to learning fundamental physics for as many willing people as can be reached. <!-- It is not an easy road to travel, but it is one extremely rewarding, and it is the one that, in the past 100 years alone, is responsible for the comforts and relative peace we enjoy today. -->
# [[#The Wall|The Wall]] - The iconic wall of Stony Brook University
# [[#The Tome|The Tome]] - The book 'The Road to Reality' by Roger Penrose


These resources are available to everyone, but will be sought by almost none. A goal of the Graph, Wall, Tome project is to convert these resources into a medium that can be widely disseminated, and which can not be ignored.
Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the '''Search''', the search for a theory of everything. Ventures that may be considered part of the search are String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Garrett Lisi's E8, and [[Eric Weinstein|Eric Weinstein's]] [[Theory of Geometric Unity|Geometric Unity]]. Graph, Wall, Tome can serve as a road to participate in the Search, though it should not be confused for the Search, and the Search should not be confused for it.


This project will require bi-directional information transfer, and the minds of people with many different aptitudes.
__TOC__


* We need mathematicians, topologists, geometers, and physicists to understand these resources, and all of their implications.
=== Prime Directive ===
* We need explainers and educators, to convey this information to a wider audience, and
<blockquote style="width: 600px; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; font-size: 125%; background: #f3f3ff; border-color: #ddd;">
* We need artists, linguists, and programmers to create intuitive visualisations.
A request:


The Portal will create a community of people, working together to achieve these aims.  
Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:


Success will generate yet further insights, opening up a more fundamental understanding of the nature of reality - for the individuals involved, and - for humanity as a whole.
The Paragraph gets edited,


== Ongoing Sub-Projects ==
The Wall gets defaced and graffitied,


* [[The Road to Reality Study Notes|Studying the Tome]] - The Tome can be intimidating. This problem can be solved 1.) by creating resources that make it easier to digest its content and 2.) by going through the chapters together.
The Sacred Tome gets rewritten.
* [[Annotating the Wall]] - The goal is to provide understandable explanations for all concepts shown on the Wall.
* [[Animating the Wall]] - The goal is to make the wall more inviting and the symbols on it less cryptic.
* [[Defacing the Wall]] - How can the wall be improved?
* [[Decoding the Graph-Wall-Tome Connection]] - What are the common themes that appear in the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome? What do they hint at?
* [[Editing the Graph]] - The goal is to create an updated version of the Graph since there are several small aspects of it  that can and should be improved.
* [[Geometry|Geometry Project]] - The aim is to create and collect resources related to Frederic P. Schuller's lecture series titled "Lectures on Geometrical Anatomy of Theoretical Physics" that provides a great introduction to geometrical concepts that are essential for the Graph, Wall, Tome project.
* [[Holonomy Project]] - The goal is to create visualizations for the effect known as "holonomy", whereby parallel transporting a vector around a loop in a curved space leads to the vector changing upon returning to the start of the loop. How/how much the vector changes orientation/position in space is the holonomy of that loop in that space. This effect reveals deep information about the curvature of the space itself.


== Eric Weinstein's Prompt ==
But follow the skeins through each.
 
The Graph points to the Wall,
 
And the Wall to the Tome,


<blockquote style="width:500px">
A request: <br>
Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:<br>
The paragraph gets edited.<br>
The wall gets defaced and grafittied.<br>
The Sacred Tome gets Re-Written<br>
But follow the skeins through each.<br>
The graph points to the wall.<br>
And the wall to the Tome.<br>
And the Tome leads to the Search.
And the Tome leads to the Search.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


== The Graph, The Wall, The Tome ==
=== Graph ===
The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's 1987 paper [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics and Geometry] at the bottom of page 20. In language it concisely encodes the general structure of reality:
<div class="projects-container">
    <div class="grid-column">
<blockquote style="max-width:575px; min-width:300px; font-size: 125%; background: #f3f3ff; border-color: #ddd;">
If one wants to summarize our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations:


===The Graph===
(i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $$M$$, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.


[[file:The-graph.png|right|class=shadow|350px]]
(ii) Over $$M$$ is a vector bundle $$X$$ with a non-abelian gauge group $$G$$.


The Graph is a paragraph (at the bottom of page 20) from Edward Witten's paper [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics and Geometry]:
(iii) Fermions are sections of $$(\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_{-} \otimes V_{\tilde{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\tilde{R}$$ are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in representation difference $$\Delta$$ in some underlying theory.


<blockquote style="width:850px">
If one wants to summarize our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations:
(i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $$M$$, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.
(ii) Over M is a vector bundle $$X$$ with a non-abelian gauge group $$G$$.
(iii) Fermions are sections of $$(\hat{S}{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S} \otimes V_{\bar{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\bar{R}$$ are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in representation difference $$\Delta$$ in some underlying theory.
All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the gauge fields, and the fermions are to be interpreted in quantum mechanical terms.
All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the gauge fields, and the fermions are to be interpreted in quantum mechanical terms.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
    </div>
    <div class="grid-column" style="display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;">
[[File:The-graph.png|class=shadow|650px]]
    </div>
</div>
Implicit in each respective section is:
# Spin-2 Force Field for Gravity, the Einstein Field Equations
# Spin-1 Vector Boson Theory, Yang-Mills-Maxwell Equations
# Spin-1/2 Matter Theory, Dirac Equation


An updated version of the Graph can be found [[Editing_the_Graph|here]].
These are the gauge fields referred to by the last sentence.


===The Wall===
Note that the quantum (e.g. quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum measurement, etc...) is mentioned only after the key geometric insights.


The following [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html image is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University]. It contains many of the most fundamental equations of physics, providing a formulaic representation of all reality.
=== Wall ===
The [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html following image] is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University, completed and unveiled in May 2015. It contains many equations and mathematical results that have contributed to the human understanding of reality. In specific relation to the Graph, there are the Einstein Field Equations (item 5), the Yang-Mills Equations (item 9), and the Dirac Equation (item 7).
<div style="text-align: center;">'''[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ Click here for an interactive version of the Wall]'''</div>


<div style="text-align: center;">'''[https://dev.theportal.dev/wall/ click here for an interactive version of the Wall].'''</div>
<gallery mode="packed" heights=600px>
<gallery mode="packed" heights=600px>
File:Newwall.png|center|class=shadow|400px|The Wall
File:Newwall.png|center|class=shadow|400px|The Wall
File:Key-to-wall.png|center|class=shadow|400px|Explanations for the Wall
File:Key-to-wall.png|center|class=shadow|800px|Legend
</gallery>
</gallery>


=== The Tome ===
=== Tome ===
{{InfoboxBook
|title=The Road to Reality
|image=[[File:The-tome.png|150px]]
|author=[[Sir Roger Penrose]]
|language=English
|genre=Physics
|publisher=Vintage
|publicationdate=9 January 2007
|pages=1136
|isbn13=978-0679776314
}}


The Tome is ''[[The Road to Reality]]'' by Nobel laureate [[Sir Roger Penrose]], which contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe, as it was understood circa 2007, in 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages with diagrams and equations. For the information contained in the [[Graph, Wall, Tome#Graph|Graph]] and the [[Graph, Wall, Tome#Wall|Wall]], this book serves as an index of concepts to chart a path of learning. It also demonstrates how these concepts can be explained and arranged to encourage productive learning.
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 Road to Reality by Sir Roger Penrose on Amazon]


[[File:The-tome.png|right|class=shadow|150px]]
The community is reading through the tome and gathering relevant resources on the wiki.
* [https://discord.gg/3xgrNwJ The Portal Book Club] - We have a weekly group that meets to talk about this book. Come join us in Discord!
* [[The_Road_to_Reality_Study_Notes|Community study notes]]
* [[The Road to Reality|Reference material by chapter]]


The Tome is the book Road to Reality by Roger Penrose which contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe. To gain an understanding and intuition for the information contained in 'The Graph', and 'The Wall', reading this book will provide a great head-start. With 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages, including diagrams, equations, and descriptions, there are multiple avenues for understanding all concepts.
== Core Sub-projects ==
The essence of Graph, Wall, Tome is viewing each as part of a singular idea. What content is common among them is what should be expanded, and their unique content should be promoted if it is a part of fundamental physics toolkit, or removed if it isn't.
=== Graph-Wall-Tome Connection ===
* [[Decoding the Graph-Wall-Tome Connection]] - What are the common themes that appear in the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome? What do they point to?


* ISBN: 978-0679776314
<div class="projects-container">
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 Road to Reality by Roger Penrose on Amazon]
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
* Purchase the book somehow, then get the [https://www.academia.edu/351112/The_Road_to_Reality_Sir_Roger_Penrose PDF here]
|header=
* There appears to be a [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe-ebook/dp/B01BS7NTA6 Kindle Edition] that isn't available in the US. If anyone in the community has a way to get a Kindle version of the book, please add it here.
===Editing the Graph===
|content='''[[Editing the Graph]]''' - Though the original Graph aptly summarizes our physical knowledge, there are some minor alterations and additions to be made in order for it to accurately capture current physics.}}
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
|header=
===Defacing the Wall===
|content='''[[Defacing the Wall]]''' - Update and improve the wall so that it is conciliant with fundamental theoretical physics. Remove extraneous information and reorganize to make clear the relations between underlying principles.}}
{{GenericBoxWithHeader
|header=
===Rewriting the Tome===
|content='''[[Rewriting the Tome]]''' - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation. Received wisdom does not need to be accepted wholesale, the original Tome is a good example but not the ideal solution.}}
</div>


Study notes for the Tome can be found [[The_Road_to_Reality_Study_Notes|here]].
=== Resources ===
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t9AvvFZzODw1WiGRZwRsFFZdPdBzYVJGLHiqWNrMtIA/edit?usp=sharing Master Planning Doc]
* [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1706CBEJQEMppV60OU8OtcXxicluk2T3Y?usp=sharing Drive Folder]
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/18rN-zfv41xeH3WFNOrZNb7Clz-yu1dgulP4bcEPKbcY/edit?usp=sharing List of Reference Material]


== Further Project Ideas==
== Other Sub-projects ==
* [[The Road to Reality Study Notes|Studying the Tome]] - The Tome can be intimidating. This problem can be solved 1) by creating resources that make it easier to digest its content and 2) by going through the chapters together.
* [[Holonomy Project]] (Stalled) - The goal is to create visualizations for the effect known as "holonomy", whereby parallel transporting a vector around a loop in a curved space leads to the vector changing upon returning to the start of the loop. How the vector changes orientation/position in space is the holonomy of that loop in that space. This effect reveals deep information about the curvature of the space itself.


* Organize expeditions - (guided or unguided) tours through the portal and into the wonderful world we call physics. Intellectual tourism.  
== Archived Sub-projects ==
* Create/assemble resources that provide a geometric intuition for the equations and principles of fundamental physics - Geometric interpretations are most amenable to being visually represented.  An example, is shown [[Example Visualization|here]].  
* [[Climbing the Cliff]] (Archived) - Create a learning guide through ''The Road to Reality''.
* Create [[Accelerators:|Accelerators: 2 minute guides to fundamental principles.]]
* [[Deface the Wall]] (Completed) - Cam and boqu made a new wall that's interactive.
* Create/assemble resources that allow uninitiated to quickly and easily get up to speed with state of the project.
* [[Geometry|Geometry Project]] (Archived) - The aim is to create and collect resources related to Frederic P. Schuller's lecture series titled "Lectures on Geometrical Anatomy of Theoretical Physics" that provides a great introduction to geometrical concepts that are essential for the Graph, Wall, Tome project.
* Create/assemble resources that provide analogies for more complex principles - to demonstrate a key feature of the principle.
* [[Interactive Wall]] (Completed) - Demp and boqu made a wall that you can pan and zoom and click on! It also pulls information from the wiki based on what is in view.
* Annotate/colorize the most important equations
* Publish discussions and comments on chapters of the Tome.
* Publish study guide for the Tome.
* Publish roadmaps for navigating through the Tome.
* Create dependency graphs for chapters of the Tome.
* Create expandable version of the Graph, i.e. multiple versions of the Graph that reveal more and more details.
* Create fully-fledged learning path like [https://github.com/bmorelli25/Become-A-Full-Stack-Web-Developer]


== Resources &amp; References ==
== Reference ==
* [https://cds.cern.ch/record/181783/files/cer-000093203.pdf Physics & Geometry by Ed Witten]
* [http://www.math.stonybrook.edu/~tony/scgp/wall-story/wall-story.html The Wall at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University]
* [https://www.amazon.com/Road-Reality-Complete-Guide-Universe/dp/0679776311 The Road to Reality by Sir Roger Penrose]


* Files related to the projected can be found in a [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yPZHTNy47jUpmD-RMRCVtitfD-gQBRhP Google Drive Folder].
== Related Material ==
* [https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sB_LTltdq8J6mIKyPRaHQWKEuLk0ZXuwYQZb78BnNuk List of Tasks related to the Project] (no longer up to date)
* [https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein/status/928296366853328896 Eric's tweets about the Graph]
* [https://www.dropbox.com/s/xdickldblj574mf/eric%20wall%20-%20tome%20-%20graph.m4a?dl=0| Recording of original call w/ Eric]
* [[20: Sir Roger Penrose - Plotting the Twist of Einstein’s Legacy|Roger Penrose on The Portal Podcast]]
* [[Eric’s Most Important Set of Books]]
* [[15: Garrett Lisi - My Arch-nemesis, Myself|Garrett Lisi on The Portal Podcast]]
* [https://physicstravelguide.com/ The Physics Travel Guide] - a didactic Wiki that explains math and physics concepts in three levels of difficulty.
* [[14: London Tsai - The Reclusive Dean of The New Escherians|London Tsai on The Portal Podcast]]
* [https://github.com/rossant/awesome-math Awesome Math] - a curated list of useful math resources.
* [[A Portal Special Presentation- Geometric Unity: A First Look|Geometric Unity First Presentation]]
* Information about the GWT project were first collected in a Google Doc titled [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bo5ny0UyC8gEHiAaDR2Al2OSGscUWPS8NFI-hvB1z4o/edit?pli=1 Graph, Wall, Tome - Problem Solving].
* [[Theory of Geometric Unity]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiDYF_g45BA3abSyNl7M4pFzihZdoHT Relevant conversations with Eric on The Portal Discord Server]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2nG7-eXxko Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 134]
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TiDYF_g45Az5qgAP5Lj8Y3qKPSib1eP Misc recordings on The Portal Server for project and other notable conversations]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZJNe7YtE Eric on the Lex Fridman Podcast 88]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf0_nMaQ6tA Eric on JRE 1453]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWCN3CPhTI Eric on JRE 1320]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9JLij1obHY Eric on JRE 1203]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJx3gLkebIA Theories of Everything on PBS Space Time]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0AZ4Y4Ip4 Eric and Stephen Wolfram with Brian Keating on Into the Impossible]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjsPb3kBGnk Eric on Into the Impossible]
* [https://youtu.be/57SMQj3lOm0?t=4376 Into the Impossible – Sir Roger Penrose: Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, Black Holes Nobel Prize w/ Eric Weinstein Janna Levin]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvPvFDF9dAE Into the Impossible - Eric Weinstein: Imposter Syndrome, Donald Trump, & the Future of Theoretical Physics]
[[Category:Graph, Wall, Tome]]
[[Category:Projects]]
[[Category:Requested Project]]

Latest revision as of 16:14, 12 July 2021

Graph, Wall, Tome
Ascending and Descending.jpg
Information
Topic Graph, Wall, Tome
Leader Aardvark (Aardvark#5610)
Tim (TimFH#7940)
Start Date 27 January 2020
Google Drive Drive
Master Planning Doc
Reference Material Doc
Links
Website Homepage
Discord Invite
All Projects

The knowledge of fundamental physics and the mathematics necessary to perform and understand it are known to few, maybe some tens of thousands of people at most, and commitment to reach those levels entails almost a decade of graduate and post-graduate study. Yet what if it was all much easier and much harder to understand? What if the necessary knowledge was finite and more rapidly attainable to a broader population than those select few? What if there was a way to identify and abstract the most basic physical structures, a list of all the tools to build and operate on those structures, and a user's guide to describe how to use those tools?

The Graph, Wall, Tome project demonstrates that these resources exist and already cover much of the necessary ground, but also that they are still flawed and need refinement. Edward Witten, perhaps the most intelligent living physicist, wrote a paragraph in 1987 (from his address at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Berkeley, August 1986) that linguistically encodes and abstracts the most basic structures underlying physics, such that their function can still be understood even if the particular underlying equation may change. This is the Graph. Jim Simons, billionaire physicist, commissioned the iconic Wall at State University of New York Stony Brook which has inscribed upon it the equations of what Witten says in addition to some of history's most important mathematical and physical results. This is the Wall. Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel laureate and intellectual descendant of Albert Einstein’s school of geometric physics, wrote a book titled The Road to Reality, which describes and summarizes how to use the mathematics and physics contained within the Wall and the Graph. This is the Tome.

Already in these objects together is enough information to begin a serious study of physics at its most fundamental level and comprehend the deep connections between mathematics and physics. Yet, almost no one knows or seeks them. Further still, as recently as the 1950s we were confused about the structure of the universe: we didn't know the world is left-right asymmetric, as discovered by Madame Wu, and we didn't know the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which demonstrated that the electromagnetic field is less important than the electromagnetic potential. In the mid-1970s as well, Jim Simons and C.N. Yang showed that particle theory is completely geometric. Both of these developments are little known among the public. That the Graph, the Wall, and the Tome and these recent foundational developments are unknown is evidence that something is off in how we communicate science and hand down our knowledge.

The aims of Graph, Wall, Tome lie in an extremely focused presentation of its core elements, improving and expanding upon the originals where necessary, to chart the path to learning fundamental physics for as many willing people as can be reached.

Beyond Graph, Wall, Tome is the Search, the search for a theory of everything. Ventures that may be considered part of the search are String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity, Garrett Lisi's E8, and Eric Weinstein's Geometric Unity. Graph, Wall, Tome can serve as a road to participate in the Search, though it should not be confused for the Search, and the Search should not be confused for it.

Prime Directive

A request:

Try to draw the lines through the three. View it as a unified idea:

The Paragraph gets edited,

The Wall gets defaced and graffitied,

The Sacred Tome gets rewritten.

But follow the skeins through each.

The Graph points to the Wall,

And the Wall to the Tome,

And the Tome leads to the Search.

Graph

The Graph is a paragraph from Edward Witten's 1987 paper Physics and Geometry at the bottom of page 20. In language it concisely encodes the general structure of reality:

If one wants to summarize our knowledge of physics in the briefest possible terms, there are three really fundamental observations:

(i) Spacetime is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold $$M$$, endowed with a metric tensor and governed by geometrical laws.

(ii) Over $$M$$ is a vector bundle $$X$$ with a non-abelian gauge group $$G$$.

(iii) Fermions are sections of $$(\hat{S}_{+} \otimes V_{R}) \oplus (\hat{S}_{-} \otimes V_{\tilde{R}})$$. $$R$$ and $$\tilde{R}$$ are not isomorphic; their failure to be isomorphic explains why the light fermions are light and presumably has its origins in representation difference $$\Delta$$ in some underlying theory.

All of this must be supplemented with the understanding that the geometrical laws obeyed by the metric tensor, the gauge fields, and the fermions are to be interpreted in quantum mechanical terms.

The-graph.png

Implicit in each respective section is:

  1. Spin-2 Force Field for Gravity, the Einstein Field Equations
  2. Spin-1 Vector Boson Theory, Yang-Mills-Maxwell Equations
  3. Spin-1/2 Matter Theory, Dirac Equation

These are the gauge fields referred to by the last sentence.

Note that the quantum (e.g. quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum measurement, etc...) is mentioned only after the key geometric insights.

Wall

The following image is carved into a wall at Stony Brook University, completed and unveiled in May 2015. It contains many equations and mathematical results that have contributed to the human understanding of reality. In specific relation to the Graph, there are the Einstein Field Equations (item 5), the Yang-Mills Equations (item 9), and the Dirac Equation (item 7).

Click here for an interactive version of the Wall

  • The Wall

  • Legend

Tome

The Road to Reality
The-tome.png
Information
Author Sir Roger Penrose
Language English
Genre Physics
Publisher Vintage
Publication Date 9 January 2007
Pages 1136
ISBN-13 978-0679776314

The Tome is The Road to Reality by Nobel laureate Sir Roger Penrose, which contains a comprehensive account of the physical universe, as it was understood circa 2007, in 34 chapters spread over 1000 pages with diagrams and equations. For the information contained in the Graph and the Wall, this book serves as an index of concepts to chart a path of learning. It also demonstrates how these concepts can be explained and arranged to encourage productive learning.

The community is reading through the tome and gathering relevant resources on the wiki.

Core Sub-projects

The essence of Graph, Wall, Tome is viewing each as part of a singular idea. What content is common among them is what should be expanded, and their unique content should be promoted if it is a part of fundamental physics toolkit, or removed if it isn't.

Graph-Wall-Tome Connection

Editing the Graph

Editing the Graph - Though the original Graph aptly summarizes our physical knowledge, there are some minor alterations and additions to be made in order for it to accurately capture current physics.

Defacing the Wall

Defacing the Wall - Update and improve the wall so that it is conciliant with fundamental theoretical physics. Remove extraneous information and reorganize to make clear the relations between underlying principles.

Rewriting the Tome

Rewriting the Tome - For everything that is in the new Graph and Wall, write their elaboration and explanation. Received wisdom does not need to be accepted wholesale, the original Tome is a good example but not the ideal solution.

Resources

Other Sub-projects

  • Studying the Tome - The Tome can be intimidating. This problem can be solved 1) by creating resources that make it easier to digest its content and 2) by going through the chapters together.
  • Holonomy Project (Stalled) - The goal is to create visualizations for the effect known as "holonomy", whereby parallel transporting a vector around a loop in a curved space leads to the vector changing upon returning to the start of the loop. How the vector changes orientation/position in space is the holonomy of that loop in that space. This effect reveals deep information about the curvature of the space itself.

Archived Sub-projects

  • Climbing the Cliff (Archived) - Create a learning guide through The Road to Reality.
  • Deface the Wall (Completed) - Cam and boqu made a new wall that's interactive.
  • Geometry Project (Archived) - The aim is to create and collect resources related to Frederic P. Schuller's lecture series titled "Lectures on Geometrical Anatomy of Theoretical Physics" that provides a great introduction to geometrical concepts that are essential for the Graph, Wall, Tome project.
  • Interactive Wall (Completed) - Demp and boqu made a wall that you can pan and zoom and click on! It also pulls information from the wiki based on what is in view.

Reference

Related Material

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