Re: Writing jargon

Gerry Quinn <gerryq@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1hy9h8f.m4uv5rq1139lN%spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...

In a quantised space (e.g. a chessboard) you may also have a natural
unit of length. E.g. in a cellular automaton such as Conway's life,
gliders move at 0.25c diagonally. Here c is defined as the maximum rate
of propagation of a change, which is one cell per time-step.

If you designed a rich enough CA universe to support complex behaviour
[ObSF: Permutation City]
with conservation of matter, and designed some equivalent of photons,
the "photons" would almost certainly have to move at a speed less than
the "c" of the universe, I think. I.e. in such a universe "c-light"
would be some fraction of "c-propagation". This is just my conjecture,
but I can't see any way to hold the particles (photons) together
otherwise. Of course the physics of such a universe would be extremely
different to the physics of our universe.

It might not be as different as you imagine - it depends whether c-
propagation is accessible under normal conditions.

If creatures in such a universe were large compared to the elementary
structures, the microscopic pulsations at c-propagation might be
indetectable to them. Only if a very long vertical or horizontal line
of cells were produced would they see a noticable shockwave moving at
c-propagation, and it might be that no possible configuration of the
stable matter of that universe would ever produce such a line.
c-propagation would have the same sort of theoretical existence in
their universe as microscopic rolled-up dimensions in ours.

I'm assuming that no such configuration could occur, so the "true"
propagation speed could not be measured (only, possibly, inferred).

IOW, I agree.

We were talking about real and fake science a while ago. If a paper
proposed a compactified fourth dimension in which the speed of light is
faster than ours, would you bat an eyelid?

I think I'd have to read more of it, to find out what they meant.

Jonathan

--
(Replies to things that never showed up on my newsserver -
it's still dropping stuff - around 1.5% - 2% at the moment.)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Writing jargon
    ... If you designed a rich enough CA universe to support complex behaviour ... the "photons" would almost certainly have to move at a speed less than ... would be some fraction of "c-propagation". ... their universe as microscopic rolled-up dimensions in ours. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: On the uncertainty principle for photons. An experimental counter
    ... I read about localized photons in Mandel's quantum optics. ... I mean exactly what relativity implies - things that go at C ... exists everywhere in the universe, and can absorb and release energy- ... In fact the entire idea of propagation is what is at issue here. ...
    (sci.physics.research)
  • Re: On the uncertainty principle for photons. An experimental counter
    ... I read about localized photons in Mandel's quantum optics. ... I mean exactly what relativity implies - things that go at C ... exists everywhere in the universe, and can absorb and release energy- ... If you deny propagation how would you explain ...
    (sci.physics.research)
  • Re: Big Bang Baloney....or scientific cult? [ Apparent Red Shift ]
    ... > Effect to the data of the Apparent Red Shift. ... > identify and measure a unique phenomenon in the universe. ... > photons traveling from the more distant objects. ... Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung, ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Big Bang Baloney....or scientific cult? [ Apparent Red Shift ]
    ... > Effect to the data of the Apparent Red Shift. ... > identify and measure a unique phenomenon in the universe. ... > photons traveling from the more distant objects. ... Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung, ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)