Why the Laws of Physics Don't Actually Exist
Theoretical physicist Sankar Das Sarma wrote a thought-provoking essay for New Scientist magazine's Lost in Space-Time newsletter: I was recently reading an old article by string theorist Robbert Dijkgraaf in Quanta Magazine entitled "There are no laws of physics". You might think it a bit odd for a physicist to argue that there are no laws of physics but I agree with him. In fact, not only do I agree with him, I think that my field is all the better for it. And I hope to convince you of this too. First things first. What we often call laws of physics are really just consistent mathematical theories that seem to match some parts of nature. This is as true for Newton's laws of motion as it is for Einstein's theories of relativity, Schrödinger's and Dirac's equations in quantum physics or even string theory. So these aren't really laws as such, but instead precise and consistent ways of describing the reality we see. This should be obvious from the fact that these laws are not static; they evolve as our empirical knowledge of the universe improves. Here's the thing. Despite many scientists viewing their role as uncovering these ultimate laws, I just don't believe they exist.... I know from my 40 years of experience in working on real-life physical phenomena that the whole idea of an ultimate law based on an equation using just the building blocks and fundamental forces is unworkable and essentially a fantasy. We never know precisely which equation describes a particular laboratory situation. Instead, we always have to build models and approximations to describe each phenomenon even when we know that the equation controlling it is ultimately some form of the Schrödinger equation! Even with quantum mechanics, space and time are variables that have to be "put in by hand," the article argues, "when space and time should come out naturally from any ultimate law of physics. This has remained perhaps the greatest mystery in fundamental physics with no solution in sight...." "It is difficult to imagine that a thousand years from now physicists will still use quantum mechanics as the fundamental description of nature.... I see no particular reason that our description of how the physical universe seems to work should reach the pinnacle suddenly in the beginning of the 21st century and become stuck forever at quantum mechanics. That would be a truly depressing thought...!" "Our understanding of the physical world must continue indefinitely, unimpeded by the search for ultimate laws. Laws of physics continuously evolve — they will never be ultimate." Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader InfiniteZero for sharing the article!
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