Symmetry Principles of the Unified Field Theory (a "Theory of Everything") - Part I

(revised May, 2014)

JOHN A. GOWAN
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The Charges of Matter are the Symmetry Debts of Light

Abstract:

The conceptual basis of the Unified Field Theory as presented in these pages may be summarized as:
The charges of matter are symmetry debts of light.

The "Big Bang" origin of the cosmos is the conversion of pure, symmetric electromagnetic energy (light) into asymmetric "information" (our "matter only" universe). "Noether's Theorem" states that in a multicomponent field such as the electromagnetic field (or the metric field of spacetime), symmetries are associated with conservation laws and vice-versa. Hence the symmetry of light (and spacetime) must be conserved. Noether's Theorem provides the key to Einstein's dream of a "Unified Field Theory" through the seminal concept that the symmetry of light, no less than its energy, must be conserved.

(Questions such as "What existed before the "Big Bang"?" (probably the "multiverse"), and "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (the universe exists because God exists, and life is why God bothered), are questions for philosophy/religion, not science.)

Our asymmetric "matter-only" Universe was created (in the "Big Bang") from all-symmetric free electromagnetic energy (light), by an unknown weak force interaction, resulting in a loss of cosmic symmetry and a compensating gain in symmetry-conserving (charge-conserving) bound energy states ("matter"). For conservation reasons (energy/entropy/symmetry), matter is furthermore embedded in a secondary entropic and causal domain (historic spacetime), created by gravity from light's primary entropic and acausal domain (space). The negative energy of gravity not only creates time from space, it also balances the positive energy of the "Big Bang" such that no net energy is required to produce the cosmos. Our "matter-only" Universe is the original "light-only" universe (present today as the universal spatial dimension with its 2.7 kelvin "cosmic background radiation"), plus a small portion which was "frozen" by symmetry conservation (charge conservation) into various familiar material forms (present today as atomic matter, gravity, and historic spacetime). Today's matter atom is exactly one-half of an original charge-balanced (neutral, symmetric) matter-antimatter particle-pair, which somehow escaped annihilation by its antimatter partner
(see: primordial symmetry-breaking by the weak force during the "Big Bang"). Hence the charges of matter, originally intended to conserve symmetry via matter-antimatter annihilations, remain, due to the absence of antimatter, as unbalanced symmetry debts of light.  In matter, light's (broken) symmetries are conserved by charge and spin; in spacetime, light's symmetries are protected by "velocity c", inertial/entropic forces, and are conserved (when broken) by gravitational forces associated with mass (Gm).

All forms of energy originate (directly or indirectly) from light; matter carries charges (including gravity) which are the symmetry debts of the light which created it. Charges produce forces which act to return the material system to its original symmetric state (light), repaying matter's primordial symmetry debts. Repayment is exampled by any spontaneous interaction producing net free energy, including: chemical reactions and matter-antimatter annihilation reactions; radioactivity, particle and proton decay; the nucleosynthetic pathway of stars, the gravitational conversion of bound to free energy (as in supernovas and quasars), and Hawking's "quantum radiance" of black holes. Identifying the broken symmetries of light associated with each of the 4 charges and forces of physics is the first step toward a conceptual "Unified Field Theory".

 In weak gravitational fields (as on planet Earth), gravity only pays the entropy "interest" on the symmetry debt of matter (which is carried as "location charge": Gm), converting space to time, in effect producing an alternative entropic drive and dimension (time/history) in which charge conservation (and causality) can have an extended duration and consequential significance. In stronger fields (as in our Sun), gravity additionally pays down the "principal" of matter's symmetry debt, converting mass to light. This latter conversion continues in supernovas and quasars, and finally goes to completion via Hawking's "quantum radiance" of black holes. The conversion of mass to light reduces the total gravitational field of the cosmos, resulting in the apparent "acceleration" of cosmic expansion, as recently observed (see: Science 7 Oct. 2011 Vol. 334 Page 30). (See: "A Description of Gravity".)

The symmetry-conserving requirement of charge invariance, through time, despite entropy, and despite relative and variable motion/acceleration, is the key to understanding the rationale for the local action of the "4 forces" ("global/local gauge forces"), including the quantization of charge and other conserved parameters. In the mathematical terms of Evariste Galois' "Group Theory", our "Tetrahedron Model" is a description of the symmetry group of light, including its destruction by asymmetric weak force decays (resulting in our asymmetric "matter-only" Cosmos), and the on-going spontaneous restoration of cosmic symmetry in obedience to Noether's Theorem of symmetry conservation (as in the conversion of bound to free energy in stars). (See: Neuenschwander, Dwight E. Emmy Noether's Wonderful Theorem. 2011. The Johns Hopkins University Press.)

Biology is included in our physical unification scheme through the notion of "information": information charts a "lawful" (charge-conserved) pathway for matter's return to light's symmetry, while simultaneously producing a way for the universe to achieve localized consciousness, know itself in part as well as in whole, and diversify its experience and perspective through a multitude of evolutionary forms. Life is the rationale for the existence of the universe. While atomic nuclei promote symmetry conservation through high-energy, exothermic nucleosynthetic pathways in stars, their associated electron shells create life through low-energy, neg-entropic chemical pathways on planets. Using energy and heavy elements ultimately provided by gravity, stars, and the galaxy, the "Information Pathway" of planetary biology is the means whereby the universe comes to life, awakens to itself, achieves consciousness, experiences and elaborates itself, explores new modes of creativity and evolves new forms of beauty and symmetry. Carbon is the crucial link between the abiotic and biotic information systems of the Cosmos. "We come trailing clouds of glory..."
(See also: "The Higgs Boson and the Alternative Charge Carriers".)  (See also: "The Information Pathway".)
(Abstract revised Dec. 2016.)

See: the "Tetrahedron Model" (simple version) (diagram)
The Tetrahedron Model (complete version) (diagram)
"The Fractal Organization of the Universe" (text)