Formula For PI Turns Up In Quantum Mechanics

A very beautiful thing.

I truly believe the purpose of the universe is to process information and the universe is basically calculating itself. This is why are evolution occurs alongside technology that's used to process more information.

We go from the telegram, to phone, computer, internet and now machine intelligence. There's no surprise that machine intelligence is needed at this point because we're swamped with big data that we can't make sense of. So we need machines to learn from the data and eventually humans will be engulfed in big data to the point we will have to augment our brains or nature will wipe out flesh and blood humans in some way but the machines will still be here processing more information.

The universe could be trying to solve an equation that it can't solve. So it's some quantum entity that's calculating every possible state trying to solve this equation. Maybe some super intelligence came up with an equation that can't be solved but at the same time will cause this quantum entity to calculate every possible state trying to solve this equation.

Here's more from the article:

Two scientists were surprised to find pi lurking in a quantum mechanics formula for the energy states of the hydrogen atom.

“We didn’t just find pi,” says Tamar Friedmann, a visiting assistant professor of mathematics and a research associate of high energy physics at the University of Rochester, and coauthor of a paper published in the Journal of Mathematical Physics.

“We found the classic seventeenth century Wallis formula for pi, making us the first to derive it from physics, in general, and quantum mechanics, in particular.”

The Wallis formula—developed by British mathematician John Wallis in his book Arithmetica Infinitorum—defines pi as the product of an infinite string of ratios made up of integers. For Friedmann, discovering the Wallis formula for pi in a quantum mechanics formula for the hydrogen atom’s energy states underscores pi’s omnipresence in math and science.

“The value of pi has taken on a mythical status, in part, because it’s impossible to write it down with 100 percent accuracy,” says Friedmann, “It cannot even be accurately expressed as a ratio of integers, and is, instead, best represented as a formula.”

www.futurity.org...

He also said:

"It was a complete surprise - I jumped up and down when we got the Wallis formula out of equations for the hydrogen atom," said Friedmann. "The special thing is that it brings out a beautiful connection between physics and math. I find it fascinating that a purely mathematical formula from the 17th century characterizes a physical system that was discovered 300 years later."

With local realism being shattered at every turn, it seems like our universe is built on things like math and information not any objective physical reality. What we call "material" seems to be like playdough which conforms and is shaped by information that's being processed.

a reply to: neoholographic

They have found it and that's amazing, but do they have any idea how to explain it?

WOW.

The universe could be trying to solve an equation that it can't solve. So it's some quantum entity that's calculating every possible state trying to solve this equation.

i never looked at it from that viewpoint.

and on a side note, is this posting format parsing html?

originally posted by: neoholographic

The universe could be trying to solve an equation that it can't solve. So it's some quantum entity that's calculating every possible state trying to solve this equation. Maybe some super intelligence came up with an equation that can't be solved but at the same time will cause this quantum entity to calculate every possible state trying to solve this equation.

I'm not seeing this massive logical leap you've from the source material.

a reply to: neoholographic

Mathematician Moshe Machover of King’s College London calls the finding a “cunning piece of magic.”

www.futurity.org...



I like. Thanks for this thread, S&F!

a reply to: neoholographic

Awesome! Source code for the Matrix?








(The last one just for illustrative purposes )

a reply to: neoholographic

what the hell even is a quantum entity? i dont see anything about that in the article.

a reply to: neoholographic

The answer is 42. Unfortunately our presence on Earth screwed up the calculation to determine what the question is; so I can't help you there.

originally posted by: neoholographic


With local realism being shattered at every turn, it seems like our universe is built on things like math and information not any objective physical reality. What we call "material" seems to be like playdough which conforms and is shaped by information that's being processed.

Mind over matter

Buckle your seat belt folks we seriously are about to truly wake up.

a reply to: neoholographic

The universe is emergent from a few natural laws and a few fundamental pieces. Therefore it is not surprising that patterns mirroring these fundamental natural laws show up in macro-nature.

Nature and the universe are emergent, like a Fractal: A complex system (seemingly chaotic, but not) can emerge from just a few simple rules; and sometimes those simple rules can re-appear in the apparent chaos of the larger system.

Natural is cool like that. Mathematical patterns can be seen in nature because the rules of mathematics itself is emergent from the few fundamental rules that govern nature.

I can't even begin to pretend I understand the full extent of what this means. But from what I do understand it is beginning to show reality is not what we think it is.

Wow

Wow

Wow

originally posted by: liteonit6969
I can't even begin to pretend I understand the full extent of what this means. But from what I do understand it is beginning to show reality is not what we think it is.

Wow

Wow

Wow

Exactly!

originally posted by: liteonit6969
I can't even begin to pretend I understand the full extent of what this means. But from what I do understand it is beginning to show reality is not what we think it is.

Wow

Wow

Wow

i love how you go from "cant even begin to pretend" to pretending just fine.

but go on, please.

Can someone with good knowledge of the subject explain this. Not quite a "Contact" (Carl Sagan book, later a film) level finding, but interesting and would be nice to know more about exactly what this is and what it means. Thanks.

I thought PI was simply the definition of a part of nature, in that it is the the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which means that in any circle or sphere, it will exist. This would be true also for the energy orbit of the hydrogen atom.

I am highly bad at math however, but from what I can gather, at lower energy states, the orbit becomes less defined... while at higher energy states, it becomes more defined. So ..

"At the lower energy orbits, the path of the electron is fuzzy and spread out," Hagen explained. "At more excited states, the orbits become more sharply defined and the uncertainty in the radius decreases."

Nah I still don't really get it... lol

it means what exactly.. why is it actually going to change things?? Did god put this there? PI proves god doesn't exist you know, how can an all knowing creator have created something that is infinite and unknowable...



I'll stick to the temperature of beer. less orbiting and more pie...

a reply to: laminatedsoul

i would rather talk to the scientists themselves than listen to their data being interpreted by an anonymous internet user. anyway we can set that up, to avoid confusion and/or misrepresentation?

originally posted by: liteonit6969
I can't even begin to pretend I understand the full extent of what this means. But from what I do understand it is beginning to show reality is not what we think it is.

Wow

Wow

Wow

How so?

To me (as I mentioned above), it may illustrate the emergent aspect of nature. If a few basic laws of physics can describe nature, then it's possible that patterns displaying tho basic laws may become apparent at a more complex macro level -- just like a fractal.

Mathematics is part of nature, because it was developed to describe nature. Therefore, we may see mathematical patterns in larger emergent systems in nature (again, like a fractal). There is no real chaos, because every system that appears chaotic is actually just following the basic laws of physics.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: neoholographic

The answer is 42. Unfortunately our presence on Earth screwed up the calculation to determine what the question is; so I can't help you there.

I was actually looking for this post.

Glad you beat me to it.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

There is no real chaos, because every system that appears chaotic is actually just following the basic laws of physics.

If everything on this magnetically contained planet was created from the same source, then this would have to be considered the most logical conclusion.

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

There is no real chaos, because every system that appears chaotic is actually just following the basic laws of physics.

If everything on this magnetically contained planet was created from the same source, then this would have to be considered the most logical conclusion.

Maybe. But it could also be a logical conclusion if everything in this universe was created from the same source (the basic laws of physics).