Could the Universe be doing Yangian quantum arithmetics?

One of the old TGD inspired really crazy ideas about scattering amplitudes is that Universe is doing some sort of arithmetics so that scattering amplitude are representations for computational sequences of minimum length. The idea is so crazy that I have even given up its original form, which led to an attempt to assimilate the basic ideas about bi-algebras, quantum groups, Yangians and related exotic things. The work with twistor Grassmannian approach inspired a reconsideration of the original idea seriously with the idea that super-symplectic Yangian could define the arithmetics. I try to describe the background, motivation, and the ensuing reckless speculations in the following.

Do scattering amplitudes represent quantal algebraic manipulations?

1. I seems that tensor product ⊗ and direct sum ⊕ - very much analogous to product and sum but defined between Hilbert spaces rather than numbers - are naturally associated with the basic vertices of TGD. I have written about this a highly speculative chapter - both mathematically and physically.
   
   
   1. In ⊗ vertex 3-surface splits to two 3-surfaces meaning that the 2 "incoming" 4-surfaces meet at single common 3-surface and become the outgoing 3-surface: 3 lines of Feynman diagram meeting at their ends. This has a lower-dimensional shadow realized for partonic 2-surfaces. This topological 3-particle vertex would be higher-D variant of 3-vertex for Feynman diagrams.
      
      
   2. The second vertex is trouser vertex for strings generalized so that it applies to 3-surfaces. It does not represent particle decay as in string models but the branching of the particle wave function so that particle can be said to propagate along two different paths simultaneously. In double slit experiment this would occur for the photon space-time sheets.
      
2. The idea is that Universe is doing arithmetics of some kind in the sense that particle 3-vertex in the above topological sense represents either multiplication or its time-reversal co-multiplication.
   

The product, call it •, can be something very general, say algebraic operation assignable to some algebraic structure. The algebraic structure could be almost anything: a random list of structures popping into mind consists of group, Lie-algebra, super-conformal algebra quantum algebra, Yangian, etc.... The algebraic operation • can be group multiplication, Lie-bracket, its generalization to super-algebra level, etc...). Tensor product and thus linear (Hilbert) spaces are involved always, and in product operation tensor product ⊗ is replaced with •.

1. The product A_k⊗ A_l→ C= A_k• A_l is analogous to a particle reaction in which particles A_k and A_l fuse to particle A_k⊗ A_l→ C=A_k• A_l. One can say that ⊗ between reactants is transformed to • in the particle reaction: kind of bound state is formed.
   
   
2. There are very many pairs A_k, A_l giving the same product C just as given integer can be divided in many manners to a product of two integers if it is not prime. This of course suggests that elementary particles are primes of the algebra if this notion is defined for it! One can use some basis for the algebra and in this basis one has C=A_k• A_l= f_klmA_m, f_klm are the structure constants of the algebra and satisfy constraints. For instance, associativity A(BC)=(AB)C is a constraint making the life of algebraist more tolerable and is almost routinely assumed.
   

   For instance, in the number theoretic approach to TGD associativity is proposed to serve as fundamental law of physics and allows to identify space-time surfaces as 4-surfaces with associative (quaternionic) tangent space or normal space at each point of octonionic imbedding space M⁴× CP₂. Lie algebras are not associative but Jacobi-identities following from the associativity of Lie group product replace associativity.
   
   

3. Co-product can be said to be time reversal of the algebraic operation •. Co-product can be defined as C=A_k→ ∑_lm f_k^lmA_l⊗ B_m is co-product in which one has quantum superposition of final states which can fuse to C (A_k⊗ B_kl→ C=A_k• B_l is possible). One can say that • is replaced with ⊗: bound state decays to a superposition of all pairs, which can form the bound states by product vertex.
   

There are motivations for representing scattering amplitudes as sequences of algebraic operations performed for the incoming set of particles leading to an outgoing set of particles with particles identified as algebraic objects acting on vacuum state. The outcome would be analogous to Feynman diagrams but only the diagram with minimal length to which a preferred extremal can be assigned is needed. Larger ones must be equivalent with it.

The question is whether it could be indeed possible to characterize particle reactions as computations involving transformation of tensor products to products in vertices and co-products to tensor products in co-vertices (time reversals of the vertices). A couple of examples gives some idea about what is involved.

1. The simplest operations would preserve particle number and to just permute the particles: the permutation generalizes to a braiding and the scattering matrix would be basically unitary braiding matrix utilized in topological quantum computation.
   
   
2. A more complex situation occurs, when the number of particles is preserved but quantum numbers for the final state are not same as for the initial state so that particles must interact. This requires both product and co-product vertices. For instance, A_k⊗ A_l→ f_kl^mA_m followed by A_m→ f_m^rsA_r⊗ A_s giving A_k→ f_kl^mf_m^rsA_r⊗ A_s representing 2-particle scattering. State function reduction in the final state can select any pair A_r⊗ A_s in the final state. This reaction is characterized by the ordinary tree diagram in which two lines fuse to single line and defuse back to two lines. Note also that there is a non-deterministic element involved. A given final state can be achieved from a given initial state after large enough number of trials. The analogy with problem solving and mathematical theorem proving is obvious. If the interpretation is correct, Universe would be problem solver and theorem prover!
   
   
3. More complex reactions affect also the particle number. 3-vertex and its co-vertex are the simplest examples and generate more complex particle number changing vertices. For instance, on twistor Grassmann approach on can construct all diagrams using two 3-vertices. This encourages the restriction to 3-vertice (recall that fermions have only 2-vertices)
   
   
4. Intuitively it is clear that the final collection of algebraic objects can be reached by a large - maybe infinite - number of ways. It seems also clear that there is the shortest manner to end up to the final state from a given initial state. Of course, it can happen that there is no way to achieve it! For instance, if • corresponds to group multiplication the co-vertex can lead only to a pair of particles for which the product of final state group elements equals to the initial state group element.
   
   
5. Quantum theorists of course worry about unitarity. How can avoid the situation in which the product gives zero if the outcome is element of linear space. Somehow the product should be such that this can be avoided. For instance, if product is Lie-algebra commutator, Cartan algebra would give zero as outcome.
   

Generalized Feynman diagram as shortest possible algebraic manipulation connecting initial and final algebraic objects

There is a strong motivation for the interpretation of generalized Feynman diagrams as shortest possible algebraic operations connecting initial and final states. The reason is that in TGD one does not have path integral over all possible space-time surfaces connecting the 3-surfaces at the ends of CD. Rather, one has in the optimal situation a space-time surface unique apart from conformal gauge degeneracy connecting the 3-surfaces at the ends of CD (they can have disjoint components).

Path integral is replaced with integral over 3-surfaces. There is therefore only single minimal generalized Feynman diagram (or twistor diagram, or whatever is the appropriate term). It would be nice if this diagram had interpretation as the shortest possible computation leading from the initial state to the final state specified by 3-surfaces and basically fermionic states at them. This would of course simplify enormously the theory and the connection to the twistor Grassmann approach is very suggestive. A further motivation comes from the observation that the state basis created by the fermionic Clifford algebra has an interpretation in terms of Boolean quantum logic and that in ZEO the fermionic states would have interpretation as analogs of Boolean statements A→ B.

To see whether and how this idea could be realized in TGD framework, let us try to find counterparts for the basic operations ⊗ and • and identify the algebra involved. Consider first the basic geometric objects.

1. Tensor product could correspond geometrically to two disjoint 3-surfaces representing 3-particles. Partonic 2-surfaces associated with a given 3-surface represent second possibility. The splitting of a partonic 2-surface to two could be the geometric counterpart for co-product.
   
   
2. Partonic 2-surfaces are however connected to each other and possibly even to themselves by strings. It seems that partonic 2-surface cannot be the basic unit. Indeed, elementary particles are identified as pairs of wormhole throats (partonic 2-surfaces) with magnetic monopole flux flowing from throat to another at first space-time sheet, then through throat to another sheet, then back along second sheet to the lower throat of the first contact and then back to the thirst throat. This unit seems to be the natural basic object to consider. The flux tubes at both sheets are accompanied by fermionic strings. Whether also wormhole throats contain strings so that one would have single closed string rather than two open ones, is an open question.
   
   
3. The connecting strings give rise to the formation of gravitationally bound states and the hierarchy of Planck constants is crucially involved. For elementary particle there are just two wormhole contacts each involving two wormhole throats connected by wormhole contact. Wormhole throats are connected by one or more strings, which define space-like boundaries of corresponding string world sheets at the boundaries of CD. These strings are responsible for the formation of bound states, even macroscopic gravitational bound states.
   

Super-symplectic Yangian would be a reasonable guess for the algebra involved.

1. The 2-local generators of Yangian would be of form T^A₁= f^A_BCT^B⊗ T^C, where f^A_BC are the structure constants of the super-symplectic algebra. n-local generators would be obtained by iterating this rule. Note that the generator T^A₁ creates an entangled state of T^B and T^C with f^A_BC the entanglement coefficients. T^A_n is entangled state of T^B and T^C_n-1 with the same coefficients. A kind replication of T^A_n-1 is clearly involved, and the fundamental replication is that of T^A. Note that one can start from any irreducible representation with well defined symplectic quantum numbers and form similar hierarchy by using T^A and the representation as a starting point.
   

   That the hierarchy T^A_n and hierarchies irreducible representations would define a hierarchy of states associated with the partonic 2-surface is a highly non-trivial and powerful hypothesis about the formation of many-fermion bound states inside partonic 2-surfaces.
   
   

2. The charges T^A correspond to fermionic and bosonic super-symplectic generators. The geometric counterpart for the replication at the lowest level could correspond to a fermionic/bosonic string carrying super-symplectic generator splitting to fermionic/bosonic string and a string carrying bosonic symplectic generator T^A. This splitting of string brings in mind the basic gauge boson-gauge boson or gauge boson-fermion vertex.
   

   The vision about emission of virtual particle suggests that the entire wormhole contact pair replicates. Second wormhole throat would carry the string corresponding to T^A assignable to gauge boson naturally. T^A should involve pairs of fermionic creation and annihilation operators as well as fermionic and anti-fermionic creation operator (and annihilation operators) as in quantum field theory.
   
   

3. Bosonic emergence suggests that bosonic generators are constructed from fermion pairs with fermion and anti-fermion at opposite wormhole throats: this would allow to avoid the problems with the singular character of purely local fermion current. Fermionic and anti-fermionic string would reside at opposite space-time sheets and the whole structure would correspond to a closed magnetic tube carrying monopole flux. Fermions would correspond to superpositions of states in which string is located at either half of the closed flux tube.
   
   
4. The basic arithmetic operation in co-vertex would be co-multiplication transforming T^A_n to T^A_n+1 = f^A_BCT^B_n ⊗ T^C. In vertex the transformation of T^A_n+1 to T^A_n would take place. The interpretations would be as emission/absorption of gauge boson. One must include also emission of fermion and this means replacement of T^A with corresponding fermionic generators F^A, so that the fermion number of the second part of the state is reduced by one unit. Particle reactions would be more than mere braidings and re-grouping of fermions and anti-fermions inside partonic 2-surfaces, which can split.
   
   
5. Inside the light-like orbits of the partonic 2-surfaces there is also a braiding affecting the M-matrix. The arithmetics involved would be therefore essentially that of measuring and "co-measuring" symplectic charges.
   

   Generalized Feynman diagrams (preferred extremals) connecting given 3-surfaces and many-fermion states (bosons are counted as fermion-anti-fermion states) would have a minimum number of vertices and co-vertices. The splitting of string lines implies creation of pairs of fermion lines. Whether regroupings are part of the story is not quite clear. In any case, without the replication of 3-surfaces it would not be possible to understand processes like e-e scattering by photon exchange in the proposed picture.

This was not the whole story yet

The proposed amplitude represents only the value of WCW spinor field for single pair of 3-surfaces at the opposite boundaries of given CD. Hence Yangian construction does not tell the whole story.

1. Yangian algebra would give only the vertices of the scattering amplitudes. On basis of previous considerations, one expects that each fermion line carries propagator defined by 8-momentum. The structure would resemble that of super-symmetric YM theory. Fermionic propagators should emerge from summing over intermediate fermion states in various vertices and one would have integrations over virtual momenta which are carried as residue integrations in twistor Grassmann approach. 8-D counterpart of twistorialization would apply.
   
   
2. Super-symplectic Yangian would give the scattering amplitudes for single space-time surface and the purely group theoretical form of these amplitudes gives hopes about the independence of the scattering amplitude on the pair of 3-surfaces at the ends of CD near the maximum of Kähler function. This is perhaps too much to hope except approximately but if true, the integration over WCW would give only exponent of Kähler action since metric and poorly defined Gaussian and determinants would cancel by the basic properties of Kähler metric. Exponent would give a non-analytic dependence on α_K.
   

   The Yangian supercharges are proportional to 1/α_K since covariant Kähler-Dirac gamma matrices are proportional to canonical momentum currents of Kähler action and thus to 1/α_K. Perturbation theory in powers of α_K= g_K²/4πhbar_eff is possible after factorizing out the exponent of vacuum functional at the maximum of Kähler function and the factors 1/α_K multiplying super-symplectic charges.
   

   The additional complication is that the characteristics of preferred extremals contributing significantly to the scattering amplitudes are expected to depend on the value of α_K by quantum interference effects. Kähler action is proportional to 1/α_K. The analogy of AdS/CFT correspondence states the expressibility of Kähler function in terms of string area in the effective metric defined by the anti-commutators of K-D matrices. Interference effects eliminate string length for which the area action has a value considerably larger than one so that the string length and thus also the minimal size of CD containing it scales as h_eff. Quantum interference effects therefore give an additional dependence of Yangian super-charges on h_eff leading to a perturbative expansion in powers of α_K although the basic expression for scattering amplitude would not suggest this.
   
   

See the chapter Classical part of the twistor story or the article Classical part of the twistor story.