More Really is Different
arXiv:0809.0151 · doi:10.1016/j.physd.2008.12.016
Abstract
In 1972, P.W.Anderson suggested that `More is Different', meaning that complex physical systems may exhibit behavior that cannot be understood only in terms of the laws governing their microscopic constituents. We strengthen this claim by proving that many macroscopic observable properties of a simple class of physical systems (the infinite periodic Ising lattice) cannot in general be derived from a microscopic description. This provides evidence that emergent behavior occurs in such systems, and indicates that even if a `theory of everything' governing all microscopic interactions were discovered, the understanding of macroscopic order is likely to require additional insights.
7 pages, 5 figures
Cited by in corpus (16)
- Undecidability of the Spectral Gap (short version)
- Emergence, Reduction and Supervenience: a Varied Landscape
- Ground State Spin Logic
- Undecidability of the Spectral Gap in One Dimension
- Encoding Universal Computation in the Ground States of Ising Lattices
- Emergence in artificial life
- Strong Emergence Arising from Weak Emergence
- Hidden qubit cluster states
- Undecidability of the Spectral Gap (full version)
- Undecidability in Physics: a Review
- Classical spin Hamiltonians are context-sensitive languages
- The Free Will Function
- At the Frontier of Knowledge
- An overview of Quantum Cellular Automata
- Does Quantum Mechanics Breed Larger, More Intricate Quantum Theories? The Case for Experience-Centric Quantum Theory and the Interactome of Quantum Theories
- Undecidability of the spectral gap in rotationally symmetric Hamiltonians