Twistors in TGD Universe

This article was inspired by a longer paper "TGD view about McKay Correspondence, ADE Hierarchy, Inclusions of Hyperfinite Factors, and Twistors". I found it convenient to isolate the part of paper related to twistors. In twistor Grassmannian approach to N=4 SYM twistors are replaced with supertwistors and the extreme elegance of the description of various helicity states using twistor space wave functions suggests that super-twistors are realized at the level of M⁸ geometry. These supertwistors are realized at the level of momentum space.

In TGD framework M⁸-H duality allows to geometrize the notion of super-twistor in the sense that different components of super-field correspond to components of super-octonion each of which corresponds to a space-time surfaces satisfying minimal surface equations with string world sheets as singularities - this is geometric counterpart for masslessness.

In TGD particles are massless in 8-D sense and in general massive in 4-D sense but 4-D twistors are needed also now so that a modification of twistor approach is needed. The incidence relation for twistors suggests the replacement of the usual twistors with either non-commutative quantum twistors or with octo-twistors. Quantum twistors could be associated with the space-time level description of massive particles and octo-twistors with the description at imbedding space level. A possible alternative interpretation of quantum spinors is in terms of quantum measurement theory with finite measurement resolution in which precise eigenstates as measurement outcomes are replaced with universal probability distributions defined by quantum group. This has also application in TGD inspired theory of consciousness.

The outcome of octo-twistor approach together with M⁸-H duality leads to a nice picture view about twistorial description of massive states based on quaternionic generalization of twistor (super-)Grassmannian approach. A radically new view is that descriptions in terms of massive and massless states are alternative options, and correspond to two different alternative twistorial descriptions and leads to the interpretation of p-adic thermodynamics as completely universal massivation mechanism having nothing to do with dynamics.

The basic problem of the ordinary twistor approach is that the states must be massless in 4-D sense. In TGD framework particles would be massless in 8-D sense. The meaning of 8-D twistorialization at space-time level is relatively well understood but at the level of momentum space the situation is not at all so clear.

1. In TGD particles are massless in 8-D sense. For M⁴_L description particles are massless in 4-D sense and the description at momentum space level would be in terms of products of ordinary M⁴ twistors and CP₂ twistors. For M⁴_T description particles are massive in 4-D sense. How to generalize the twistor description to 8-D case?
   

   The incidence relation for twistors and the need to have index raising and lowering operation in 8-D situation suggest the replacement of the ordinary l twistors with eitherwith octo-twistors or non-commutative quantum twistors.
   
   

2. Octotwistors can be expressed as pairs of quaternionic twistors. Octotwistor approach suggests a generalization of twistor Grassmannian approach obtained by replacing the bi-spinors with complexified quaternions and complex Grassmannians with their quaternionic counterparts. Although TGD is not a quantum field theory, this proposal makes sense for cognitive representations identified as discrete sets of spacetime points with coordinates in the extension of rationals defining the adele implying effective reduction of particles to point-like particles.
   
   
3. The notion of super-twistor can be geometrized in TGD framework at M⁸ level but at H level local many-fermion states become non-local but still having collinear light-like momenta. One would have a proposal for a quite concrete formula for scattering amplitudes!
   

   Even the existence of sparticles have been far from obvious hitherto but now it becomes clear that spartners indeed exist and SUSY breaking would be caused by the same universal mechanism as ordinary massivation of massless states. The mass formulas would be supersymmetric but the choice of p-adic prime identifiable as ramified prime of extension of rationals would depend on the state of super-multiplet. ZEO would make possible symmetry breaking without symmetry breaking as Wheeler might put it.
   
   

4. What about the interpretation of quantum twistors? They could make sense as 4-D space-time description analogous to description at space-time level. Now one can consider generalization of the twistor Grassmannian approach in terms of quantum Grassmannians.
   
   

See the article Twistors in TGD Universe.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

Articles and other material related to TGD.