Emergence in Solid State Physics and Biology

Abstract

There has been much controversy over weak and strong emergence in physics and biology. As pointed out by Phil Anderson in many papers, the existence of broken symmetries is the key to emergence of properties in much of solid state physics. By carefully distinguishing between dfferent types of symmetry breaking and tracing the relation between broken symmetries at micro and macro scales, I demonstrate that the emergence of the properties of semiconductors is a case of strong emergence. This is due to the existence of quasiparticles such as phonons. Furthermore time dependent potentials enable downward causation as in the case of digital computers. Additionally I show that the processes of evolutionary emergence of living systems is also a case of strong emergence, as is the emergence of properties of life out of the underlying physics. A useful result emerges: standard physics theories and the emergent theories arising out of them are all effective theories that are equally valid

arXiv comment41 pages, 2 figures. Completely rewritten to tighten up the arguments and give a more unified paper

References in corpus (5)

• Causality, Analyticity and an IR Obstruction to UV Completion
• Introduction to Effective Field Theory
• Physics without Determinism: Alternative Interpretations of Classical Physics
• The Causal Closure of Physics in Real World Contexts
• How Downwards Causation Occurs in Digital Computers

Cited by in corpus (5)

• A free energy principle for generic quantum systems
• The Causal Closure of Physics in Real World Contexts
• The world beyond physics: how big is it?
• Does Quantum Mechanics Breed Larger, More Intricate Quantum Theories? The Case for Experience-Centric Quantum Theory and the Interactome of Quantum Theories
• Artificial versus Natural Atoms: The uncanny capability of the many-body Schrödinger equation to produce emergent behavior