Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
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UNDERSTANDING NATURE
CONTENTS• DEFINING CONCEPTS• SEARCHING/FINDING UNDERSTANDING• MODELS / REALITY• EMERGENCE
• PRESENT STAGE• WHERE ARE WE NOW• WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED
Tapio Rantalahttp://www.tut.fi/~trantala
Electronic Structure TheoryTheoretical and Computational Materials Physics, TUT
http://www.tut.fi/semiphys
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
NATURE2
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
UNDERSTANDING3
FORMATION OF CONCEPTS AND RELATIONS BY OBSERVING WHAT’S GOING ON:
! Observations: recording for concept formation
! Interpretation: classification, sorting, ...
! Understanding: finding/learning relations forming a model
! Prediction of new phenomena from causal relations
! Naming the concepts for communication
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
MODELING AND REALITY OF NATURE
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MODEL! Do we have any better than models and theories?! What is REALLY, out there? MODEL vs. REALITY ?
FURTHER QUESTIONS! Ontology, metaphysics, philosophy of nature
! where we come from – where are we going?! what are the limits of our understanding?! origin and purpose of life! who we are: self consciousness, free will
How do we find understanding – models, reality, emergence ?
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
SEARCHING FOR UNDERSTANDING5
PHILOSOPHY! Ontology, metaphysics, philosophy of nature
RELIGIONS! Belief in authorities
OBSERVATIONS! Do we have any better than returning back to observations?! Can we find any other way to find general agreement?! In history, NATURE has shown that ALL OTHER ALTERNATIVES FAIL
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
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SCIENCE
Characteristics of science:• general concepts, no cultural
dependence• experimental observations,
objective truth or probability• consistence, no discrepancies• criticality: self-correcting• cumulative, progressive• publicity, no authorities
Every day observations and empirism
Systematic observations and experiments, interpretation, understanding and prediction
I can explain this to you
F1 D1 = F2 D2
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
EMERGENCE FROM SIMULATIONS7
USING! Simulator device/machine (mechanical, functional) or ”mathematical” model COMPUTER SIMULATION
WHY! Less expensive than experiment! More detailed understanding of role of parameters/factors! Test of the model and test of the theory! Simulation may be the only way of gaining understanding
Object ofstudy Model
Experimentalstudy
Exact simula-tion of model
Analytical(approx)solution
Test of model
Test of theory(analytical)
Outcome Outcome Outcome
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE8
SHOULD BE BASED ON MODERN PHYSICS:
RELATIVITY! New concepts – do not fit to everyday experience! ...
QUANTUM THEORY! New concepts – do not fit to everyday experience ! E.g. ”REALITY” needs to be defined! Locality becomes an issue! ...
Department of Physics, TCOMP RCTI – 13 Aug 2013Tapio Rantala: UNDERSTANDING NATURE
PRESENT STAGE9
HISTORY has shown that! progress continues (in a long enough time scale)
and understanding will increase,no end expected
! unexpected discoveries can be expected
PREREQUISITES! science! evolution ?! ...