Phillip Kaufman
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Gabriele Carcassi
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Physics / LSA
Program:
Authors: Phillip Kaufman, Gabriele Carcassi
Session: Session 1: 9:00 am – 9:50 am
Poster: 67
Abstract
Despite many physicists pursuing a theory of everything in the hopes of finding one theory that describes the world we live in, few people are concerned with constructing physics based on assumptions, in a similar vein to the way in which the field of mathematics is built on a number of different foundational axioms. This project aims to determine these foundational assumptions and give the field of physics, along with science in general, a stronger foundation with a sturdier mathematical basis while also establishing deeper connections between different fields of knowledge, such as math, science, and philosophy. To this end, Assumptions of Physics employs two approaches. The first, “reverse physics,” utilizes our current understanding of physics to derive the assumptions they are built on to discern the foundational assumptions required to construct the entirety of classical mechanics. The second, “physical mathematics,” aims to derive mathematics in a manner that can be physically justified, which has been used to describe verifiable statements, experimental domains, domain relationships, properties, and quantities. These discoveries allow individuals to better understand the fields of physics and math, with work currently being done to derive the foundational assumptions on which quantum mechanics and relativistic mechanics are built, along with the mathematical framework required to do so. Understanding these foundational assumptions in physics, along with deriving mathematics in a way that is physically meaningful, will allow physicists and mathematicians to better understand why physical systems exhibit certain behaviors and how these behaviors are related to each other.
