[Paper Review] Event-Symmetric Physics

Phil E. Gibbs|ArXiv.org|May 16, 1995

Quantum Mechanics and Applications60 references6 citations

TL;DR

This paper explores event-symmetric physics through toy models to investigate phase transitions, symmetry breaking, and duality in a framework where spacetime events are treated as fundamental, symmetric entities. It proposes that physical laws emerge from combinatorial structures of events, with key results showing how global symmetries and dualities can arise from discrete event configurations, offering a novel perspective on quantum gravity foundations.

ABSTRACT

I examine various aspects of event-symmetric physics such as phase changes, symmetry breaking and duality by studying a number of simple toy-models.

Motivation & Objective

• To investigate the emergence of physical laws from fundamental, symmetric arrangements of spacetime events.
• To understand how phase transitions and spontaneous symmetry breaking can arise in a discrete, event-based framework.
• To examine dualities in simple models where event permutations lead to equivalent physical descriptions.
• To explore the role of combinatorial structures in generating continuous spacetime symmetries and dynamics.
• To lay a conceptual foundation for a theory of quantum gravity based on event symmetry rather than spacetime geometry.

Proposed method

• Constructing simple toy models using finite sets of discrete events with permutation symmetries.
• Analyzing the system's behavior under global event permutations to identify invariant structures and conserved quantities.
• Introducing a Hamiltonian-like formalism based on event configurations to model dynamics in the absence of background geometry.
• Studying phase transitions via order parameters derived from event clustering and symmetry realization.
• Applying duality transformations that map one event configuration to another while preserving physical observables.
• Using combinatorial enumeration to explore the space of possible event arrangements and their physical implications.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can continuous spacetime symmetries emerge from a fundamental theory based on discrete, symmetric events?
• RQ2 What mechanisms lead to spontaneous symmetry breaking in an event-symmetric framework?
• RQ3 In what ways can duality be realized as a permutation symmetry among event configurations?
• RQ4 How do phase transitions manifest in systems defined purely by event combinatorics?
• RQ5 Can physical dynamics and conservation laws be derived from event-level symmetries without assuming spacetime structure?

Key findings

• Global symmetries in the event set can lead to conserved quantities analogous to energy and momentum, even without a background metric.
• Spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs when event configurations select a preferred structure from a symmetric ensemble, analogous to condensation in statistical systems.
• Duality is realized as a permutation of events that preserves the physical content, suggesting that different event arrangements can describe the same physics.
• Phase transitions are observed as abrupt changes in the order parameter of event clustering, indicating a shift from symmetric to broken phases.
• The emergence of continuous symmetries is tied to the degeneracy of event configurations under permutation, suggesting that spacetime geometry may be an effective, low-energy description.
• The model demonstrates that fundamental physics can be derived from combinatorial event structures without prior geometric assumptions.