D'Ariano Giacomo Mauro
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy
INFN, Gruppo IV, Sezione di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2018 Apr 28;376(2118). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2017.0224.
I argue for a full mathematization of the physical theory, including its axioms, which must contain no physical primitives. In provocative words: 'physics from no physics'. Although this may seem an oxymoron, it is the royal road to keep complete logical coherence, hence falsifiability of the theory. For such a purely mathematical theory the physical connotation must pertain only the interpretation of the mathematics, ranging from the axioms to the final theorems. On the contrary, the postulates of the two current major physical theories either do not have physical interpretation (as for von Neumann's axioms for quantum theory), or contain physical primitives as 'clock', 'rigid rod', 'force', 'inertial mass' (as for special relativity and mechanics). A purely mathematical theory as proposed here, though with limited (but relentlessly growing) domain of applicability, will have the eternal validity of mathematical truth. It will be a theory on which natural sciences can firmly rely. Such kind of theory is what I consider to be the solution of the sixth Hilbert problem. I argue that a prototype example of such a mathematical theory is provided by the novel algorithmic paradigm for physics, as in the recent information-theoretical derivation of quantum theory and free quantum field theory.This article is part of the theme issue 'Hilbert's sixth problem'.
我主张对物理理论进行全面的数学化,包括其公理,这些公理不能包含任何物理原语。用激进的话说:“无物理之物理”。尽管这看似自相矛盾,但这是保持完全逻辑一致性从而使理论具有可证伪性的必经之路。对于这样一个纯粹的数学理论,其物理内涵必须仅涉及从公理到最终定理的数学解释。相反,当前两大物理理论的假设要么没有物理解释(如量子理论的冯·诺依曼公理),要么包含如“时钟”“刚性杆”“力”“惯性质量”等物理原语(如狭义相对论和力学)。这里提出的纯粹数学理论,尽管其适用范围有限(但在不断扩大),将具有数学真理的永恒有效性。它将是一门自然科学可以坚定依赖的理论。我认为这样的理论就是希尔伯特第六问题的解决方案。我认为这种数学理论的一个原型例子由新的物理算法范式提供,如在最近量子理论和自由量子场论的信息论推导中。本文是“希尔伯特第六问题”主题特刊的一部分。