The Physical World

Whereas a hydrogen atom, H is comparatively stable, a neutron in free space decays soon into proton and electron together with a unit of half spin, known as a neutrino. The photon that mediates interation between positive and negative charges carries one unit (h) of angular momentum. 

The half-spin of elementary waves (called fermions) appears as a chiral disturbance in the wave held and its mirror image has the opposite charge and anti-spin. An electron and its mirror equivalent, called positron, destroy each other on contact - all that remains is a high-energy photon  

The same applies to protons, neutrons and more complex matter. In the physical world annihilation of matter and anti-matter is prevented by separation on an interface in the vacuum. Without such an interface matter cannot exist and this mandates a space-time topology that allows the appearance of this interface. 

The fusion of H atoms and neutrons into larger atoms is ascribed to nuclear interaction and further fusion of atoms into molecules and aggregates 

In some instances encounter between accumulated masses of matter and antimatter across the interface releases enormous quantities of energy by mutual annihilation. As a result of such activity intergalactic space is saturated with stray radiation, plasma and electromagnetic fields. The visible effects of such activity are difficult to interpret and often highly confusing because of multiple images created by complicated involution of space-time. 

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When we talk about knowledge of the physical world, we generally refer to facts derived from systematic observation, study, and experimentation as well as the concepts and theories based on these facts. This is contrasted with belief (faith, intuition) in the spiritual or supernatural. 

Interpretation. Development of relations between the mathematical results and their meaning in the physical world. 

In the physical world nothing else takes plaice but this variation, subject (possibly) to the law of continuity. 

A question which chemical enumerators should not ignore is that of the extent to which their results are realistic in the physical world. Thus in [BlaCSla] it is stated that the number of alkanes (paraffins) with 40 carbon atoms is 62,491,178,805,831. Can we really be sure that all these compounds can exist or could it be that factors not catered for in the enumeration render some of them chemically infeasible In this connection we should note the paper [KleD81], in which it is shown jthat because of such factors the chemical tree enumerations by Polya and others give numbers that are consistently higher than the number of compounds that are in fact chemically possible. This does not detract from the mathematical value of these results it merely shows that care is needed in relating them to problems of real life. 

Pais, Abraham. Inward Bound Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World. New York Oxford University Press, 1986. 

Time is a fundamental property of the physical world. Because time encompasses the antinomic qualities of transience and duration, the definition of time poses a dilemma for the formulation of a comprehensive physical theory. The partial elimination of time is a common solution to this dilemma. In his mechanical philosophy, Newton appears to resort to the elimination of the transient quality of time by identifying time with duration. It is suggested, however, that the transient quality of time may be identified as the active component of the Newtonian concept of inertia, a quasi occult quality of matter that is correlated with change, and that is essential to defining duration. The assignment of the transient quality of time to matter is a necessary consequence of Newton s attempt to render a world system of divine mathematical order. Newton s interest in alchemy reflects this view that matter is active and mutable in nature... 

Akan, quiet and studious, a boy whose thirst for knowledge was matched only by his hunger for truth and Nefar, beautiful and brilliant, a girl as filled with wonder and unfathomable ambition as Han himself. Together they discovered that in union, theirs was a power unmatched in the physical world"... 

The term information often comes up in discussions of biogenesis, so a brief survey of its meaning is called for. Just as with the problem of the definition of the term life , there seems to be no generally accepted definition of the term information . The state of the physical world can be described in terms of three basic quantities ... 

Eddington AS (1932) The Nature of the Physical World. Cambridge University Press... 

Real data, as we have seen, is far too complicated to work with to try to obtain fundamental understanding, just as the physical world is often too complicated to study directly in toto. Therefore work such as was presented in the Linearity in Calibration chapter is needed, creating a simplified system where the characteristic of interest can be isolated and studied - just as physical experiments often work with a simplified portion of the physical world for the same reason. This might be categorized as Experimental Chemometrics , controlling the nature of the data in a way that allows us to relate the properties of the data to the behavior of the model. Does this mimic the real world No, but it does provide a window into the inner workings of the calibration calculations, and we need as many such windows as we can get. 

A.S. Eddington, The nature of the physical world, 1948, University Press, Cambridge. 

In accordance with our primary object as stated in the preface, we shall confine our attention mainly to the physical aspect of Alchemy but in order to understand its theories, it appears to us to be essential to realise the fact that Alchemy was an attempted application of the principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical world. The supposed analogy between man and the metals sheds light on what otherwise would be very difficult to understand. It helps to make plain why the alchemists attributed moral qualities to the metals — some are called "imperfect," "base" others are said to be "perfect," "noble." And especially does it help to explain the alchemistic... 

Most functions arise for the experimenter from the physical world not from the mathematical world. 

Chemistry is the science that deals with matter. The Earth on which we live, as well as the rest of the physical world that surrounds us, is formed by quite different kinds of matter. The first task of the chemist is to identify and isolate all the component entities that, together, constitute the material world. It is interesting to remember here that the old Alchemy was considered as "the noble art of separation". 

GEN.l 1.1. Prigogine, Unite et pluralite du monde physique (Unity and plurahty of the physical world). Syntheses 276, 12-20 (1969). 

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