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The Wolfram Physics Project Q&A : (1) General

<!doctype html> <html lang="en"> <head> <!-- begin framework head en --> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>The Wolfram Physics Project Q&amp;A : (1) General</title> <meta name="description" content="Answers to general questions related to Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s project and new approach to find the fundamental theory of physics."> <meta property="og:title" content="The Wolfram Physics Project Q&amp;A : (1) General"> <meta property="og:description" content="Answers to general questions related to Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s project and new approach to find the fundamental theory of physics."> <meta name="twitter:title" content="The Wolfram Physics Project Q&amp;A : (1) General"> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Answers to general questions related to Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s project and new approach to find the fundamental theory of physics."> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/common/framework/css/framework.en.css"> <script src="//www.wolframcdn.com/consent/cookie-consent.js"></script> <script src="/common/javascript/wal/latest/walLoad.js"></script> <script defer src="/common/js/announcements/script.js"></script> <script src="/common/framework/js/head.en.js"></script> <script src="/common/js/jquery/3.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <script src="/common/js/jquery/plugins/migrate/3.5.2/jquery.migrate.min.js"></script> <script src="/common/javascript/analytics.js"></script> <!-- end framework head en --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="//www.wolframcdn.com/fonts/fira-sans/1.0/global.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/common/templates/www.wolframphysics.org/css/global.css.en"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/wp-content/themes/physics-questions/style.css"> <script src="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/wp-content/themes/physics-questions/js/isotope.js"></script> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Wolfram Physics Project Q&amp;A &raquo; (1) General Category Feed" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/category/general/feed/" /> </head> <body class="questions" id="q-and-a"> <header id="header"> <nav id="topnav"> <a href="/"><h1>Wolfram Physics Project</h1></a> <ul id="menu-list"> <li><a id="announcement-menu" href="//writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful/">Announcement</a></li> <li><a id="introduction-menu" href="/technical-introduction/">Introduction</a></li> <li><a id="materials-menu" href="/technical-documents/">Materials</a></li> <li><a id="q-and-a-menu" href="/questions/">Q&amp;A</a></li> <li><a id="livestreams-menu" href="/livestreams/">Livestreams</a></li> <li><a id="registry-menu" href="/universes/">Registry</a></li> <li><a id="tools-menu" href="/tools/">Tools</a></li> <li><a id="helping-menu" href="/help/">Helping</a></li> <li><a id="gallery-menu" href="/visual-gallery/">Gallery</a></li> <li><a id="archives-menu" href="/archives/index/">Archives</a></li> </ul> <div class="nav-toggler"> <button class="nav-open"> <div class="menu-icon"> <div></div> <div></div> <div></div> </div> <span class="menu-label">menu</span> </button> </div> <ul class="nav-drawer"> <li><a id="announcement-drawer" href="//writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful/">Announcement</a></li> <li><a id="introduction-drawer" href="/technical-introduction/">Introduction</a></li> <li><a id="materials-drawer" href="/technical-documents/">Materials</a></li> <li><a id="q-and-a-drawer" href="/questions/">Q&amp;A</a></li> <li><a id="livestreams-drawer" href="/livestreams/">Livestreams</a></li> <li><a id="registry-drawer" href="/universes/">Registry</a></li> <li><a id="tools-drawer" href="/tools/">Tools</a></li> <li><a id="helping-drawer" href="/help/">Helping</a></li> <li><a id="gallery-drawer" href="/visual-gallery/">Gallery</a></li> <li><a id="archives-drawer" href="/archives/index/">Archives</a></li> </ul> </nav> </header><main class="main"> <header class="main-header"> <div class="inner"> <div class="medium-col-width"> <a class="breadcrumb" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/">See all questions</a> <h1 class="heading">Wolfram Physics Q&amp;A</h1> <div class="tagline cf"> <a href="/questions/ask-a-question" class="button float-r submit-a-question"> <svg width="24px" height="24px" viewBox="0 0 24 24"> <g id="qa-inline" stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path d="M20,3.5 L4,3.5 C3.58578644,3.5 3.21078644,3.66789322 2.93933983,3.93933983 C2.66789322,4.21078644 2.5,4.58578644 2.5,5 L2.5,15 C2.5,15.4142136 2.66789322,15.7892136 2.93933983,16.0606602 C3.21078644,16.3321068 3.58578644,16.5 4,16.5 L6.5,16.5 L7.35355339,20.9393398 L11.7918591,16.5 L20,16.5 C20.4142136,16.5 20.7892136,16.3321068 21.0606602,16.0606602 C21.3321068,15.7892136 21.5,15.4142136 21.5,15 L21.5,5 C21.5,4.58578644 21.3321068,4.21078644 21.0606602,3.93933983 C20.7892136,3.66789322 20.4142136,3.5 20,3.5 Z" id="Combined-Shape-Copy" stroke="#fff"></path> <polygon id="Line" fill="#fff" fill-rule="nonzero" points="17 9 17 10 5 10 5 9"></polygon> <polygon id="Line" fill="#fff" fill-rule="nonzero" points="15 11 15 12 5 12 5 11"></polygon> <polygon id="Line" fill="#fff" fill-rule="nonzero" points="11 13 11 14 5 14 5 13"></polygon> <polygon id="Line" fill="#fff" fill-rule="nonzero" points="19 7 19 8 5 8 5 7"></polygon> </g> </svg> Ask a question </a> </div> <div class='tagbuttons'> <a class="tag" data-tag="all" href="/questions/main/">All</a> <a class="tag on" data-tag="general" href="/questions/general">(1) General</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="scientific-general-interest" href="/questions/scientific-general-interest">(2) Scientific General Interest</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="relations-to-other-approaches" href="/questions/relations-to-other-approaches">(3) Relations to Other Approaches</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="spacetime-relativity" href="/questions/spacetime-relativity">(4) Spacetime / Relativity</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="quantum-mechanics" href="/questions/quantum-mechanics">(5) Quantum Mechanics</a> <a class="tag" data-tag="computation-theory" href="/questions/computation-theory">(6) Computation Theory</a> </div> </div> </div> </header> <section class="section"> <div class="inner"> <div><h1 id="category">(1) General</h1><span id="count">(12)</span></div> <div id="posts" class="grid heirs-width-1-2 heirs-width-full__600"> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-08 01:38:16"> <p class="date">April 8, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/can-i-get-the-code-to-run-your-models/">Can I get the code to run your models?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;Yes! It&amp;#8217;s set up to run immediately in any &lt;a href='https://www.wolfram.com/language'&gt;Wolfram Language&lt;/a&gt; environment, including &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/'&gt;the cloud&lt;/a&gt; (i.e. through a web browser). See the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/tools/'&gt;Software Tools&lt;/a&gt; page. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="Yes! It&amp;#8217;s set up to run immediately in any &lt;a href='https://www.wolfram.com/language'&gt;Wolfram Language&lt;/a&gt; environment, including &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/'&gt;the cloud&lt;/a&gt; (i.e. through a web browser). See the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/tools/'&gt;Software Tools&lt;/a&gt; page."> Yes! It&#8217;s set up to run immediately in any <a href='https://www.wolfram.com/language'>Wolfram Language</a> environment, including <a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/'>the cloud</a> (i.e. through a web browser). See the <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/tools/'>Software Tools</a> page. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-08 02:34:08"> <p class="date">April 8, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/i-have-my-own-theory-will-you-look-at-it/">I have my own theory; will you look at it?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;We&amp;#8217;ve got our hands full studying one theory, so unless your theory is directly connected to what we&amp;#8217;re working on, we&amp;#8217;re not realistically going to be able to look at it.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="We&amp;#8217;ve got our hands full studying one theory, so unless your theory is directly connected to what we&amp;#8217;re working on, we&amp;#8217;re not realistically going to be able to look at it."> We&#8217;ve got our hands full studying one theory, so unless your theory is directly connected to what we&#8217;re working on, we&#8217;re not realistically going to be able to look at it. </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-08 03:30:13"> <p class="date">April 8, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/what-background-do-i-need-to-understand-what-youre-doing/">What background do I need to understand what you&#8217;re doing?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;We&amp;#8217;ve tried to make the general outline of what we&amp;#8217;re doing as broadly accessible as possible. But since we are connecting with existing theoretical physics, understanding the technical details requires understanding technical details of existing theoretical physics, often at a research or advanced graduate level. Some aspects of the project do not specifically require physics knowledge, but often instead require knowledge of advanced mathematics or theoretical computer science. Nevertheless, as part of the project we hope to provide &lt;a href='https://education.wolfram.com/summer/school/'&gt;educational programs&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/tools/'&gt;resources&lt;/a&gt; which will allow a wide range of people to learn what is needed to understand many aspects of our project.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="We&amp;#8217;ve tried to make the general outline of what we&amp;#8217;re doing as broadly accessible as possible. But since we are connecting with existing theoretical physics, understanding the technical details requires understanding technical details of existing theoretical physics, often at a research or advanced graduate level. Some aspects of the project do not specifically require physics knowledge, &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> We&#8217;ve tried to make the general outline of what we&#8217;re doing as broadly accessible as possible. But since we are connecting with existing theoretical physics, understanding the technical details requires understanding technical details of existing theoretical physics, often at a research or advanced graduate level. Some aspects of the project do not specifically require physics knowledge, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-08 04:27:34"> <p class="date">April 8, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/can-i-sponsor-or-donate-to-your-project/">Can I sponsor or donate to your project?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;This project has so far been funded by Stephen Wolfram and Wolfram Research, and has used internal Wolfram Research compute resources. As the project scales up, there will be opportunities for additional sponsorship to support research fellows, educational activities, outreach, computation, etc. There are also opportunities to provide large-scale computation resources. We will be setting up programs for individual donations, both financial and computational. In addition, there will be &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/help/'&gt;many opportunities for volunteers interested in the project&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="This project has so far been funded by Stephen Wolfram and Wolfram Research, and has used internal Wolfram Research compute resources. As the project scales up, there will be opportunities for additional sponsorship to support research fellows, educational activities, outreach, computation, etc. There are also opportunities to provide large-scale computation resources. &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> This project has so far been funded by Stephen Wolfram and Wolfram Research, and has used internal Wolfram Research compute resources. As the project scales up, there will be opportunities for additional sponsorship to support research fellows, educational activities, outreach, computation, etc. There are also opportunities to provide large-scale computation resources. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-08 05:24:36"> <p class="date">April 8, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/how-can-i-get-involved-in-your-project/">How can I get involved in your project?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;We plan to make this a very open project, and &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/help/'&gt;look forward to contributions from many people&lt;/a&gt;. Core research contributions will typically require research-level education in theoretical physics, mathematics or certain areas of theoretical computer science, or sophisticated algorithmic programming. However, we will be &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/livestreams/'&gt;livestreaming our working sessions&lt;/a&gt;, and anyone can join the livestream and participate in the text chat. We will be organizing a variety of educational programs around the project, notably our &lt;a href='https://education.wolfram.com/summer/school/'&gt;Summer School&lt;/a&gt;. We hope to expand our core team of researchers, as well as to have &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/contact/'&gt;academic and other affiliates&lt;/a&gt; associated with the project. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="We plan to make this a very open project, and &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/help/'&gt;look forward to contributions from many people&lt;/a&gt;. Core research contributions will typically require research-level education in theoretical physics, mathematics or certain areas of theoretical computer science, or sophisticated algorithmic programming. However, we will be &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/livestreams/'&gt;livestreaming our working sessions&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> We plan to make this a very open project, and <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/help/'>look forward to contributions from many people</a>. Core research contributions will typically require research-level education in theoretical physics, mathematics or certain areas of theoretical computer science, or sophisticated algorithmic programming. However, we will be <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/livestreams/'>livestreaming our working sessions</a>, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-09 04:55:31"> <p class="date">April 9, 2020</p> <p class="asker"><em>Answered by: Stephen Wolfram</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/what-is-left-to-do-in-the-project/">What is left to do in the project?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;A lot! We think we have identified the correct class of models and approach, but it remains to find specific rules and to connect them to all known aspects of physics, and to derive detailed experimental predictions, etc. In addition, we expect connections to many existing directions in physics and mathematics, and these remain to be elucidated in detail. Watch &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/livestreams/'&gt;the livestreams&lt;/a&gt; to see the process in action!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="A lot! We think we have identified the correct class of models and approach, but it remains to find specific rules and to connect them to all known aspects of physics, and to derive detailed experimental predictions, etc. In addition, we expect connections to many existing directions in physics and mathematics, &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> A lot! We think we have identified the correct class of models and approach, but it remains to find specific rules and to connect them to all known aspects of physics, and to derive detailed experimental predictions, etc. In addition, we expect connections to many existing directions in physics and mathematics, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-10 04:51:27"> <p class="date">April 10, 2020</p> <p class="asker"><em>Answered by: Stephen Wolfram</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/have-you-found-the-rule-for-the-universe/">Have you found The Rule for the universe?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;We believe we have found the class of rules, but (so far as we know) we have not yet found the specific rule. The phenomenon of computational irreducibility makes it difficult to determine the complete consequences of any given rule. However, a major finding of the project so far is that the core theories of current physics can be derived generically for models of the class we have identified, without needing to know the specific underlying rule. One of the more abstract findings of the project is that it is also the case that the specific rule to use to describe the universe depends on one&amp;#8217;s language for description, and so with different description languages different rules will be considered The Rule.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="We believe we have found the class of rules, but (so far as we know) we have not yet found the specific rule. The phenomenon of computational irreducibility makes it difficult to determine the complete consequences of any given rule. However, a major finding of the project so far is that the core theories of current physics can be derived generically for models of the class we have identified, &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> We believe we have found the class of rules, but (so far as we know) we have not yet found the specific rule. The phenomenon of computational irreducibility makes it difficult to determine the complete consequences of any given rule. However, a major finding of the project so far is that the core theories of current physics can be derived generically for models of the class we have identified, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-11 04:47:47"> <p class="date">April 11, 2020</p> <p class="asker"><em>Answered by: Stephen Wolfram</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/does-the-project-invalidate-existing-physics/">Does the project invalidate existing physics?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;No. But it gives a coherent foundation for what previously appeared to be disparate ideas and results. In doing this, it introduces new concepts that are different from those in existing physics. For example, it suggests that space is fundamentally discrete, rather than continuous. It also suggests that time is fundamentally different from space rather than being just part of a combined spacetime. Despite such differences&amp;#8212;which are primarily relevant on extremely small scales&amp;#8212;existing physics emerges. In addition, our model appears to dovetail very elegantly with many recent formal directions in physics. (See &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/relations-to-other-approaches'&gt;Relations to Other Approaches&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="No. But it gives a coherent foundation for what previously appeared to be disparate ideas and results. In doing this, it introduces new concepts that are different from those in existing physics. For example, it suggests that space is fundamentally discrete, rather than continuous. It also suggests that time is fundamentally different from space rather than being just part of a combined spacetime. &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> No. But it gives a coherent foundation for what previously appeared to be disparate ideas and results. In doing this, it introduces new concepts that are different from those in existing physics. For example, it suggests that space is fundamentally discrete, rather than continuous. It also suggests that time is fundamentally different from space rather than being just part of a combined spacetime. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-12 04:42:00"> <p class="date">April 12, 2020</p> <p class="asker"><em>Answered by: Jonathan Gorard</em></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/what-existing-approaches-is-the-project-closest-to/">What existing approaches is the project closest to?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;First and foremost (though it&amp;#8217;s really an extension of the same project), Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s work from 2002 in &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;A New Kind of Science&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Other approaches that have definite similarities to certain aspects of our formalism include causal dynamical triangulation (which can be thought of as corresponding to a special case of our more topologically generic description of spacetime in terms of hypergraphs&amp;#8212;namely the case in which spacetime is triangulated topologically into a simplicial complex of pentachora), loop quantum gravity (since Wolfram model evolutions can be thought of as corresponding to generalizations of spin foams in which spatial hyperedges are purely abstract, and, unlike in spin networks, do not have a compact Lie group structure explicitly defined), and twistor theory (the twistor correspondence space can be thought of as being a continuous model of the multiway causal graph, at least in certain idealized cases). The &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/relations-to-other-approaches'&gt;Relations to Other Approaches&lt;/a&gt; section of this Q&amp;#038;A gives more details. See also the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-introduction/notes-and-further-references'&gt;Notes &amp;#038; Further References&lt;/a&gt; in &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-introduction/'&gt;Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s Technical Introduction&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="First and foremost (though it&amp;#8217;s really an extension of the same project), Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s work from 2002 in &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;A New Kind of Science&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Other approaches that have definite similarities to certain aspects of our formalism include causal dynamical triangulation (which can be thought of as corresponding to a special case of our more topologically generic description of spacetime in terms of hypergraphs&amp;#8212;namely the case in which spacetime is triangulated topologically into a simplicial complex of pentachora), &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> First and foremost (though it&#8217;s really an extension of the same project), Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s work from 2002 in <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'><em>A New Kind of Science</em></a>. Other approaches that have definite similarities to certain aspects of our formalism include causal dynamical triangulation (which can be thought of as corresponding to a special case of our more topologically generic description of spacetime in terms of hypergraphs&#8212;namely the case in which spacetime is triangulated topologically into a simplicial complex of pentachora), <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-13 04:34:17"> <p class="date">April 13, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/what-is-the-history-and-background-to-the-project/">What is the history and background to the project?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#8217;s an outgrowth of Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s work in the 1990s, that led to the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/chap-9--fundamental-physics/'&gt;Fundamental Physics&lt;/a&gt; section in his 2002 book &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;A New Kind of Science&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The project that it defined was long hibernated, but restarted in late 2019. The full story&amp;#8212;going back to Stephen&amp;#8217;s early life as a physicist&amp;#8212;is in Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s post, &amp;ldquo;&lt;a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/how-we-got-here-the-backstory-of-the-wolfram-physics-project/'&gt;How We Got Here: The Backstory of the Wolfram Physics Project&lt;/a&gt;&amp;rdquo;&amp;#46;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="It&amp;#8217;s an outgrowth of Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s work in the 1990s, that led to the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/chap-9--fundamental-physics/'&gt;Fundamental Physics&lt;/a&gt; section in his 2002 book &lt;a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'&gt;&lt;em&gt;A New Kind of Science&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. The project that it defined was long hibernated, but restarted in late 2019. The full story&amp;#8212;going back to Stephen&amp;#8217;s early life as a physicist&amp;#8212;is in Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s post, &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> It&#8217;s an outgrowth of Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s work in the 1990s, that led to the <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/chap-9--fundamental-physics/'>Fundamental Physics</a> section in his 2002 book <a href='https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/'><em>A New Kind of Science</em></a>. The project that it defined was long hibernated, but restarted in late 2019. The full story&#8212;going back to Stephen&#8217;s early life as a physicist&#8212;is in Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s post, <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-04-14 04:30:33"> <p class="date">April 14, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/what-is-the-quickest-way-to-understand-the-project/">What is the quickest way to understand the project?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;It depends on your background. For a general reader, check out &lt;a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful'&gt;Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s announcement&lt;/a&gt;. For a more formal introduction, see &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-introduction/'&gt;Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s technical introduction&lt;/a&gt;. Professional physicists may find it easiest to look at Jonathan Gorard&amp;#8217;s papers on the derivations of &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-relativistic-and-gravitational-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'&gt;relativity&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-quantum-mechanical-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'&gt;quantum mechanics&lt;/a&gt;. There&amp;#8217;s also the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/visual-summary/'&gt;Visual Summary&lt;/a&gt;, which gives a high-level overview. In addition, people who want to start doing their own computer experiments can check out the &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Tools/hands-on-introduction-to-the-wolfram-physics-project.nb'&gt;Hands-On Introduction&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="It depends on your background. For a general reader, check out &lt;a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful'&gt;Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s announcement&lt;/a&gt;. For a more formal introduction, see &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-introduction/'&gt;Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s technical introduction&lt;/a&gt;. Professional physicists may find it easiest to look at Jonathan Gorard&amp;#8217;s papers on the derivations of &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-relativistic-and-gravitational-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'&gt;relativity&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-quantum-mechanical-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'&gt;quantum mechanics&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href=&quot;#more&quot; class=&quot;more chevron-after&quot;&gt;Read more&lt;/a&gt;"> It depends on your background. For a general reader, check out <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful'>Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s announcement</a>. For a more formal introduction, see <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-introduction/'>Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s technical introduction</a>. Professional physicists may find it easiest to look at Jonathan Gorard&#8217;s papers on the derivations of <a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-relativistic-and-gravitational-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'>relativity</a> and <a href='https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/wolframphysics/Documents/some-quantum-mechanical-properties-of-the-wolfram-model.pdf'>quantum mechanics</a>. <a href="#more" class="more chevron-after">Read more</a> </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> <div class="project general" data-position="normal" data-date="2020-05-02 17:34:50"> <p class="date">May 2, 2020</p> <p class="asker"></p> <h2 class="projectname"><a href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general/has-the-project-been-peer-reviewed/">Has the project been peer reviewed?</a></h2> <div class="introtext" data-text="&lt;p&gt;The project is undergoing &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/peer-review/'&gt;active, open post-publication peer review&lt;/a&gt;, and is continually being refined and developed based on community input. Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s &lt;a href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.08210' target='_blank'&gt;core paper&lt;/a&gt; is available on arXiv, and is intended for publication in an academic journal, as are &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-documents/'&gt;other project papers&lt;/a&gt;. (See also comments &lt;a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/the-wolfram-physics-project-the-first-two-weeks/#what-about-peer-review-and-all-that'&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;a class='less' href='#close'&gt;Close answer &raquo;&lt;/a&gt;" data-truncate="The project is undergoing &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/peer-review/'&gt;active, open post-publication peer review&lt;/a&gt;, and is continually being refined and developed based on community input. Stephen Wolfram&amp;#8217;s &lt;a href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.08210' target='_blank'&gt;core paper&lt;/a&gt; is available on arXiv, and is intended for publication in an academic journal, as are &lt;a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-documents/'&gt;other project papers&lt;/a&gt;. (See also comments &lt;a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/the-wolfram-physics-project-the-first-two-weeks/#what-about-peer-review-and-all-that'&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.)"> The project is undergoing <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/peer-review/'>active, open post-publication peer review</a>, and is continually being refined and developed based on community input. Stephen Wolfram&#8217;s <a href='https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.08210' target='_blank'>core paper</a> is available on arXiv, and is intended for publication in an academic journal, as are <a href='https://www.wolframphysics.org/technical-documents/'>other project papers</a>. (See also comments <a href='https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/the-wolfram-physics-project-the-first-two-weeks/#what-about-peer-review-and-all-that'>here</a>.) </div> <div class="text"> <a class="tag" data-tag="general" href="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/general">(1) General</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer id="footer"> <div class="inner"></div> </footer> <script src="https://www.wolframphysics.org/questions/wp-content/themes/physics-questions/js/scripts.js"></script> <script src="/common/templates/www.wolframphysics.org/js/global.js.en"></script> </main> <footer id="footer"> <div id="introduction-pad" class="hide"></div> <div class="inner cf"> <ul class="footer-community"> <li><a href="//community.wolfram.com/content?curTag=wolfram%20fundamental%20physics%20project">Discussion Forum</a></li> <li><a href="/education-collaboration/">Education &amp; Collaboration Opportunities</a></li> </ul> <ul class="footer-contact"> <li><a target="_blank" href="//x.com/stephen_wolfram/">X</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="//www.facebook.com/Stephen-Wolfram-188916357807416/">Facebook</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="//www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwolfram">LinkedIn</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="//www.instagram.com/stephenwolfram/">Instagram</a></li> <li><a href="/contact/">Contact</a></li> </ul> </div> </footer> <!-- begin framework footer en --> <div id ="IPstripe-wrap"></div> <script src="/common/stripe/stripe.en.js"></script> <!-- end framework footer en --> </body> </html>

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