The Physics of Emergence

112 Pages·2019·2.227 MB·English

by  Robert C. Bishop

The Physics of Emergence

The Physics of Emergence
Robert C Bishop
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA
Morgan & Claypool Publishers
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ISBN 978-1-64327-156-9(ebook)
ISBN 978-1-64327-153-8(print)
ISBN 978-1-64327-154-5(mobi)
DOI 10.1088/2053-2571/ab0b3a
Version:20190601
IOPConcisePhysics
ISSN2053-2571(online)
ISSN2054-7307(print)
AMorgan&ClaypoolpublicationaspartofIOPConcisePhysics
PublishedbyMorgan&ClaypoolPublishers,1210FifthAvenue,Suite250,SanRafael,CA,
94901,USA
IOPPublishing,TempleCircus,TempleWay,BristolBS16HG,UK
To Hans Primas and Frank Richardson, who both in their own ways have
trailblazed paths for understanding the world's richness and complexity.

Contents
Acknowledgments x
Author biography xi
Introduction xii
1 Brief history of the debate 1-1
1.1 The modern emergentists 1-1
1.2 Einstein, Pauli, and Schrödinger 1-2
1.2.1 Albert Einstein 1-2
1.2.2 Wolfgang Pauli 1-3
1.2.3 Erwin Schrödinger 1-4
1.3 The return of emergence 1-5
1.4 Questioning the hierarchy 1-7
1.5 Weinberg and the response to P W Anderson 1-9
1.6 Universality and independence 1-11
References 1-13
2 Some physics objections to emergence 2-1
2.1 Physics is fundamentally causally closed 2-1
2.2 Fundamental principles/laws govern everything 2-2
2.3 Symmetry is reduction 2-2
2.4 Coherence of physics and the sciences 2-3
2.5 Ontological emergence violates fundamental laws 2-4
2.6 Atomism, context and reductionism 2-5
2.7 Bare versus dressed states 2-6
References 2-6
3 Contextual emergence 3-1
3.1 A framework of conditions 3-2
3.2 Stability conditions 3-4
3.3 Contextual topologies and abstraction 3-5
3.4 Contextual topologies and contexts 3-7
3.5 Possibility spaces 3-9
3.6 Ontic/epistemic states and observables 3-10
References 3-11
vii
ThePhysicsofEmergence
4 Case studies from physics 4-1
4.1 Convection as a contextually-emergent state 4-1
4.1.1 Rayleigh–Bénard convection 4-3
4.1.2 Convection cells as contextually-emergent 4-5
4.2 Temperature as a contextually-emergent property 4-9
4.2.1 Two transitions 4-9
4.2.2 The contextual emergence of temperature 4-11
4.2.3 Chemical potential as a contextually-emergent property 4-13
4.3 Molecular structure as a contextually-emergent property 4-13
4.3.1 The importance of molecular structure 4-14
4.3.2 Ontological contextual emergence of molecular structure 4-15
4.3.3 Quantum chemistry’s classical/quantum algebra 4-16
4.4 Brief examples 4-18
4.4.1 The electromagnetic field 4-18
4.4.2 The fractional quantum Hall effect 4-19
4.4.3 Synthetic spin-1/2 systems 4-21
4.4.4 Lasers 4-22
4.4.5 Suppressing spatiotemporal instabilities 4-22
References 4-23
5 Responding to objections 5-1
5.1 Physics is fundamentally causally closed 5-1
5.2 Fundamental principles/laws govern everything 5-2
5.3 Symmetry is reduction 5-5
5.4 Coherence of physics and the sciences 5-5
5.5 Ontological emergence violates fundamental laws 5-6
5.6 Atomism, context and reductionism 5-7
5.7 Is it all just boundary conditions? 5-7
5.8 Everything is in the fundamental domain 5-7
References 5-9
6 Broader implications 6-1
6.1 Redefining fundamentality 6-1
6.2 Contextual emergence of the macroscopic 6-3
6.2.1 Decoherence 6-4
6.3 Implications for the universal wave function 6-6
6.4 Laws of nature 6-9
viii
ThePhysicsofEmergence
6.5 Determinism 6-11
6.5.1 Contextual emergence of stochasticity and determinism 6-15
6.6 Contextual emergence beyond physics 6-17
6.6.1 Contextual emergence in biology 6-17
6.6.2 Contextual emergence in cognitive and neuroscience 6-20
6.6.3 Contextual emergence and free will 6-21
References 6-23
Appendix A A-1
ix