Science: Reality, including humans, may be a hologram projection

For a general audience 

An unproven but now accepted possibility is that our perception of a 3 dimensional spatial reality, length, width, depth) (plus the non-spatial time dimension) arises from a 2 dimensional universe (just length and width in curved space). In other words, we and what we perceive as the universe might be a holographic projection of a 2 dimensional reality. This idea arose about 25 years ago.

The hologram hypothesis was applied to concerns that when matter got sucked into black holes, the information inherent in the matter was lost by being crushed into oblivion by gravity. Information here means everything needed to be known to perfectly reassemble the exact thing that fell into the black hole, including the exact location of every single atom in the thing. One hypothesis arose that as matter fell in, all of its information content was conserved at the black hole’s event horizon. Once this understanding arose, it was immediately obvious that it could apply to the entire universe. That led to the thought that actual reality is two dimensional and the geometry of space is curved instead of flat. 

At present, existing data says the geometry of space in our universe is flat . This is different from saying space is not flat because it has three dimensions, length, width, and depth.  

Flat space geometry means Ω0 = 1 in the image below

The mind blower here is about geometry, not spatial dimensions or time. The geometry of space could look like one of these:

The Goldilocks scenario for our universe, Ω0 = 1, is the most plausible based on current data. Most cosmological evidence points to the universe’s density as being just right — the equivalent of around six protons per 1.3 cubic yards — and that it expands in every direction without curving positively or negatively. In other words, the universe is flat. (Perhaps this will come as some consolation to anyone, i.e., flat Earthers, disappointed by Earth’s roundness.)

The mind blower analogy

Start walking along the edges of a room square room until you get back to your starting place. It takes four 90 degree turns to get back to start. That is flat space, i.e., Euclidean geometry. But in a universe where Ω0 < 1 (gravity eventually pulls all matter in the universe back into a single point), space is curved into a sphere. Start walking from a point on the equator of Earth to the North Pole, turn 90 degrees and walk back to the equator, and then turn 90 degrees again and walk back to the starting point. Only three 90 degree turns were needed to get back to start. That is curved space. 😵‍💫😶‍🌫️

Researchers still cannot prove that there is a 2 dimensional universe and what we perceive is a 4 dimensional projection via quantum entanglement. Physicists and cosmologists are still trying to figure out experiments that would prove or disprove the hologram hypothesis. 

Wikipedia: The holographic principle is an axiom in string theories and a supposed property of quantum gravity that states that the description of a volume of space can be thought of as encoded on a lower-dimensional boundary to the region, such as a light-like boundary like a gravitational horizon [e.g., a black hole’s event horizon].

Germaine’s warranty is void 

if this hologram sticker is removed

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For science wonks

dS (de Stitter space) = our 4-D (four dimensional) universe (length, width, depth, time)

CFT (conformal field theory) = 2-D (or other dimensional) space where angles between lines and curves are always preserved (at least length and width)

Scientific American writes:

A quarter of a century ago a conjecture shook the world of theoretical physics. It had the aura of revelation. “At first, we had a magical statement ... almost out of nowhere,” says Mark Van Raamsdonk, a theoretical physicist at the University of British Columbia. The idea, put forth by Juan Maldacena of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., suggested something profound: that our universe could be a hologram. Much like a 3-D hologram emerges from the information encoded on a 2-D surface, our universe’s 4-D spacetime could be a holographic projection of a lower-dimensional reality.

How could a theory that included gravity be the same as a theory that had no place for gravity? How could they describe the same universe? But the duality has largely held up. In essence, it argues that we can understand what happens inside a volume of spacetime that has gravity by studying the quantum-mechanical behavior of particles and fields at that volume’s surface, using a theory with one less dimension, one in which gravity plays no role.

.... spacetime may not be fundamental—it may be something that emerges from quantum entanglement in a lower-dimensional system. These advances all involve the theoretically plausible spacetime of anti–de Sitter space, which is not the de Sitter space that describes our universe. But physicists are optimistic that they’ll one day arrive at a duality that works for both. If that were to happen, it could lead to a theory of quantum gravity, which would combine Einstein’s general relativity with quantum mechanics. It would also imply that our universe is in truth a hologram.

The idea took some time to sink in. “There were hundreds, thousands of papers, just checking [the duality] because at first, it [seemed] so ridiculous that some nongravitational quantum theory could actually just be the same thing as a gravitational theory,” theoretical physicist Mark Van Raamsdonk says. But AdS (anti-de Sitter space )/CFT (conformal field theory) held up to scrutiny, and soon theorists were using it to answer some confounding questions.

The connection between entanglement entropy in the CFT and the geometry of spacetime in the AdS led to another important result—the notion that spacetime on the AdS side emerges from quantum entanglement on the CFT side, not just in black holes but throughout the universe. The idea is best understood by analogy. Think of a very dilute gas of water molecules. Physicists can’t describe this system using the equations of hydrodynamics because the dilute gas does not behave like a liquid. But suppose the water molecules condense into a pool of liquid water. Now those very same molecules are subject to the laws of hydrodynamics. “You could ask, originally, where was that hydrodynamics? It just wasn’t relevant,” Van Raamsdonk says. 

Something similar happens in AdS/CFT. On the CFT side, you can start with quantum subsystems—smaller subsets of the overall system you’re describing—each with fields and particles, without any entanglement. In the equivalent AdS description, you’d have a system with no spacetime. Without spacetime, Einstein’s general relativity isn’t relevant .... But when the entanglement on the CFT side starts increasing, the entanglement entropy of the quantum subsystems begins to correspond to patches of spacetime that emerge in the AdS description. These patches are physically disconnected from each other. Going from patch A to patch B isn’t possible without leaving both A and B; however, each individual patch can be described using general relativity.

Now, increase the entanglement of the quantum subsystems in the CFT even more, and something intriguing happens in the AdS: the patches of spacetime begin connecting. Eventually you end up with a contiguous volume of spacetime. “When you have the right pattern of entanglement, you start to get a spacetime on the other side,” Van Raamsdonk says. “It’s almost like the spacetime is a geometrical representation of the entanglement. Take away all the entanglement, and then you just eliminate the spacetime.” Engelhardt agrees: “Entanglement between quantum systems is important for the existence and emergence of spacetime.” The duality suggested that the spacetime of our physical universe might simply be an emergent property of some underlying, entangled part of nature.

Van Raamsdonk credits the AdS/CFT correspondence for making physicists question the very nature of spacetime. If spacetime emerges from the degree and nature of entanglement in a lower-dimensional quantum system, it means that the quantum system is more “real” than the spacetime we live in, in much the same way that a 2-D postcard is more real than the 3-D hologram it creates. “That [space itself and the geometry of space] should have something to do with quantum mechanics is just really shocking,” he says. 

 

Climate change legal development

In what is a real surprise, the Republican Supreme Court has allowed American cities to sue major polluters like oil companies for climate change damages in state courts. I did not expect this. The polluters have been fighting this for years. The Guardian writes:

‘Like a dam breaking’: experts hail decision to let US climate lawsuits advance

Cities bringing climate litigation against oil majors welcome US supreme court’s decision to rebuff appeal to move cases to federal courts

The decision, climate experts and advocates said, felt “like a dam breaking” after years of legal delays to the growing wave of climate lawsuits facing major oil companies.

Without weighing in on the merits of the cases, the supreme court on Monday rebuffed an appeal by major oil companies that want to face the litigation in federal courts, rather than in state courts, which are seen as more favorable to plaintiffs [cities].

ExxonMobil Corp, Suncor Energy Inc and Chevron Corp had asked for the change of venue in lawsuits by the state of Rhode Island and municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, California and Hawaii.

Six years have passed since the first climate cases were filed in the US, and courts have not yet heard the merits of the cases as fossil fuel companies have succeeded in delaying them. In March, the Biden administration had argued that the cases belonged in state court, marking a reversal of the position taken by the Trump administration when the supreme court last considered the issue.

Maybe this will mark a shift in the balance of power in America's climate change wars. Up to now, the polluters had all the power by corrupting the federal government in their favor. The next key questions to be answered are whether (i) the polluters will be found liable in state courts, and (ii) state court verdicts will be upheld after the polluters appeal to the rigidly pro-capitalism and pro-pollution Republican Supreme Court.

This just might turn out to be a game-changer. 

News bits: China's digital tyranny update; Etc.

China appears to be the model for the human condition if democracies fall to various kinds of tyrannies, including plutocracies, theocracies and kleptocracies. That's why I keep an eye on developments in tyranny technology there. The government there is trying to build a tyranny that will last forever. The effort is heavily grounded in an aggressive, intelligent array of digital technologies. At this point, China has built and now works to perfect a system that looks to me to be almost completely impervious to forces in favor of democracy, civil liberties and reasonably distributed power and wealth. 

The NYT writes about what is now routine tyranny practice in China, namely exerting full control over all sources of media: 

China Says Chatbots Must Toe the Party Line  

The Communist Party outlined draft rules that would set guardrails on the rapidly growing industry of services like ChatGPT 

According to the regulations, companies must heed the Chinese Communist Party’s strict censorship rules, just as websites and apps have to avoid publishing material that besmirches China’s leaders or rehashes forbidden history. The content of A.I. systems will need to reflect “socialist core values” and avoid information that undermines “state power” or national unity.”  

Experts are divided on how difficult it will be to train A.I. systems to be consistently factual. Some doubt that companies can account for the gamut of Chinese censorship rules, which are often sweeping, are ever-changing and even require censorship of specific words and dates like June 4, 1989, the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Others believe that over time, and with enough work, the machines can be aligned with truth and specific values systems, even political ones.

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The WaPo writes about Biden's announcement today: Biden announces he is running for reelection in 2024 President formalizes his intent to seek another term, setting the stage for a tumultuous election.

Maybe this could be the final beginning of the end of secular democracy and civil liberties. The rule of law has already fallen under Biden and Merrick Garland. The outcome of the 2024 elections will be very interesting indeed.

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From the Well Duh! Files: Inexplicably, the WaPo Editorial Board asserts something about the US response to COVID that was obvious years ago, while the pandemic was still raging. The Editorial Board writes:

Looking back at the U.S. response to the pandemic, many setbacks and mistakes are well-known. But a closer examination by a team of seasoned experts has brought to the surface a profoundly unsettling conclusion. The United States, once the paragon of can-do pragmatism, of successful moon shots and biomedical breakthroughs, fell down on the job in confronting the crisis. The pandemic, the experts say, revealed “a collective national incompetence in government.”

It took a team of seasoned experts to come to that beyond blatantly obvious conclusion? We’re in deep doo-doo. 

A note to the WaPo Editorial Board

Honestly, Editorial Board, what freaking planet have you been living on? It sure ain’t Earth. What do you ignorant fools think the ruthless capitalist, Christofascist Republican Party has been doing to the federal government for decades? Supporting it in good will? 

Hey idiots, here’s something you don’t know: The GOP has been attacking, subverting and destroying the federal government for decades, and it has been a significantly successful effort so far. Wake up you morons. You fools. Or, have you just been subverted and co-opted?

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From the Judicial Rot Files: It seems that another Supreme Court justice, the radical Christian nationalist, brass knuckles capitalist Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has also been hiding dirty secrets. Politico writes:

For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo.

Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals.

He and his wife closed on the house a month later, paying $1.825 million, according to a deed in the county’s record system. Gorsuch, who held a 20 percent stake, reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale on his federal disclosure forms.

Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.

Since then, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 cases before or presented to the court, according to a POLITICO review of the court’s docket.

This is just business as usual for fascist Republican elites.

Don Lemon Fired By CNN—Minutes After Tucker Carlson Out At Fox News

 

TOPLINE

 

Longtime CNN anchor Don Lemon announced Monday he was fired by the network in a move that left him “stunned,” which came less than an hour after Fox News said it had parted ways with host Tucker Carlson in another massive shakeup to the cable news landscape.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/24/don-lemon-fired-by-cnn-minutes-after-tucker-carlson-out-at-fox-news/?sh=402257af408e

Washington — Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have decided to part ways, the network announced in a statement Monday.

Carlson's final broadcast of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" aired Friday. The show "Fox News Tonight" is set to air as an interim show led by rotating hosts until his successor in the 8 p.m. time slot is named, Fox said.

"FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," Fox News said in a statement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tucker-carlson-leaving-fox-news/

SPECULATE!