Relativity Theory, Quantum Theory, Quantum Field Theory, & Superstring Theory Characterised By Systemic Functional Linguistics

Davies & Gribbin (1992: 8):

First came the theory of relativity, which demolished Newton's assumptions about space and time — assumptions which still hold sway in our everyday 'common sense' view of the world. The very arena in which the clockwork universe acted out its drama was now exposed as subject to shifting and warping.

Then came the quantum theory, which totally transformed our image of matter. The old assumption that the microscopic world of atoms was simply a scaled-down version of the everyday world had to be abandoned. Newton's deterministic machine was replaced by a shadowy and paradoxical conjunction of waves and particles, governed by the laws of chance rather than the rigid rules of causality.

An extension of the quantum theory, known as quantum field theory, goes beyond even this; it paints a picture in which solid matter dissolves away, to be replaced by weird excitations and vibrations of invisible field energy. In this theory, little distinction remains between material substance and apparently empty space, which itself seethes with ephemeral quantum activity.

The culmination of these ideas is the so-called superstring theory, which seeks to unite space, time and matter, and to build all of them from the vibrations of sub-microscopic loops of invisible string inhabiting a ten-dimensional imaginary universe.

Blogger Comments:

The General Theory of Relativity models space and time as dimensions that are affected by the presence of matter. From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, intervals of space are relatively more contracted with increasing proximity to a centre of mass, whereas intervals of time are relatively more expanded.

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the wave-particle duality of Quantum Theory is the duality of potential and instance, with probability ("the laws of chance") being the quantification of that potential, such that the instantiations of potential are the instantiations of probabilities.

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, a quantum field is a spatio-temporal domain of quantum instantiations, and excitations of the field (ephemeral quantum activity) are instantiations of quantum potential, whose durations instantiate the probabilities of the potential.

Superstring Theory, on the other hand, is an exploration of the mathematical possibilities of theoretical physics.