Exceptional Periodicity

As was hinted at in a previous post, it is possible to view the exceptional Lie algebras as the tip of an infinite algebraic spectrum.  This novel concept, we coined Exceptional Periodicity (EP), is now available for download on the arXiv: arXiv:1711.07881 [hep-th].

This EP structure was inspired by certain Yang-Mills-like gradings of the exceptional Lie algebras, as well as higher dimensional spin groups, used in approaches to unification.  It differs from the conventional infinite dimensional generalizations of e8 in that the Jacobi identity is not in general obeyed by these higher algebras, yet do retain structure similar to lattice vertex algebras.  Moreover, building on the "Magic Star" projection of e8, each of these higher algebras can be projected to higher Magic Stars, that generalize that of e8.  At the six inner vertices of the star, the cubic Jordan algebras are generalized to a cubic ternary algebra, first envisioned by Vinberg, dubbed T-algebras.  Such T-algebras are reminiscent of spin factors and Peirce decompositions of cubic Jordan algebras.

The e8 Magic Star thus encodes the exceptional Jordan algebra on its six star vertices, which exhibits triality, from its off-diagonal 8D components.  These higher stars do not retain this triality, as the bosonic off-diagonal parts do not grow as fast as the spinor part, which grows exponentially.

So what can be done with these higher EP Magic Stars?  The T-algebras appear to encode a rich matter sector, that generalize the 16, 32, 64 and 128 spinors found in the exceptional Lie algebras.  Such higher stars can be used to design higher mathematical universes, in a periodic, algebraic fashion.  More details will be given in a series of upcoming papers.  Stay tuned.

A Kind of Magic

It is a wondrous result that one can construct the Freudenthal Magic Square from the normed division algebras.  Using tensored division algebras to generate the Magic Square has also proven to be useful in the double copy procedure for Yang-Mills theories and gravity, resulting in the Magic Pyramid.  However, Landsberg and Manivel found midway between e7 and e8 there should be a non-reductive Lie algebra e7(1/2), which is related to the 'sextonions', a six-dimensional algebra midway between the quaternions and octonions.  This implies a generalization of the Freudenthal Magic Square and Magic Pyramid.  Marrani and Borsten took this analysis to its logical completion in A Kind of Magic, by filling in the "missing gaps" with the 3-dimensional "ternions" and the sextonions, and even studying their U-duality counterparts.  On the M-theory side, one can then ask, what type of compactification leads to such non-reductive Lie algebraic symmetries?  Or even better, are these symmetries hinting at something larger, beyond 11-dimensions? 

The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis

Over at Backreaction, Max Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH) was evaluated.  What is the MUH exactly?

The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH): Our external physical reality is a mathematical structure.

 What kind of structure could this be?  We have general relativity and quantum field theory, and these are based on (pseudo) Riemannian geometry and Lie algebraic fiber bundle theory, respectively.  Tegmark has asserted the MUH implies a so-called "Theory of Everything" (TOE) will be a purely mathematical theory.  This seems reasonable, and the devil is always in the details.  So what are the details?

One can approach the problem by uniting general relativity with quantum field theory, and this is usually dubbed quantum gravity.  Being that general relativity does not inherently contain, say, SU(3) symmetry, which is central to our understanding of quarks and gluons and baryonic matter in general, it is logical to seek a mathematical formalism that does include it, and attempt to derive general relativity at large scales.

Some remark that general relativity is akin to a hydrodynamic theory which cannot discern individual H2O molecules and their bonding properties.  In the case of spacetime, the "molecules" would analogously be gravitons.  Garrett Lisi's E8 model takes the Lie algebraic structure as an axiom and studies a unified model in which spacetime and the standard model arise from gradings of the largest exceptional Lie algebra.  Alain Connes refines fiber bundle theory with noncommutative geometry and takes a certain C*-algebra that acts on finite points as encoding the standard model over a 4D base space.  In string theory, there are D-brane models that encode standard model structure in worldvolumes, and this is also an example of noncommutative geometry.  Once the graviton is identified, it is possible, such as in string theory, to show large curvature in general relativity is equivalent to a coherent state of gravitons.


Surely progress is being made in our search for a TOE.  And the closer we get, Max Tegmark's hypothesis seems much more likely.  However, the MUH does not give the mathematical structure we seek.  To find such a structure, researchers must journey past the boundaries of known mathematics and physics.  And no single road will dominate all searches, and one must be versed in a myriad of approaches to arrive at the coveted TOE.