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From: gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: [brooks: Quantum Field Theory]
Message-ID: <220@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 27-Jul-85 21:32:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.220
Posted: Sat Jul 27 21:32:20 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 31-Jul-85 00:58:17 EDT
References: <439@sri-arpa.ARPA>
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
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> I would be very interested to hear an explanation of how the four
> dimensional space we live in is defined in terms of quantum field theory.

Excellent question; perhaps the folks who've been saying that their pet
theory explains everything will explain this (ha!).

The only halfway sensible answers I've seen to this were contained
in some of the more speculative work of Heisenberg and of Eddington.
Unfortunately, the latter died before finishing his explanation
(which was algebraic) ...

Some schools of epistemology would say that it is possible that no
better answer is available than "the three dimensions of space and
one of time are tied directly to our perceptual abilities and are
unlikely to be reducible to simpler concepts".