All in Action

• Main Author: Arto Annila
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2010-11-01
• Series: Entropy
• Subjects: entropy; free energy; hierarchy; evolution; natural process; natural selection; statistical physics; thermodynamics
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/12/11/2333/

The principle of least action provides a holistic worldview in which Nature in its entirety and every detail is described in terms of actions. Each and every action is ultimately composed of one or multiple of the most elementary actions which relates to Planck’s constant. Elements of space are closed actions, known as fermions, whereas elements of time are open actions, known as bosons. The actions span an energy landscape, the Universe, which evolves irreversibly according to the 2nd law of thermodynamics by diminishing energy density differences in least time. During evolution densely-curled actions unfold step-by-step when opening up and expelling one or multiple elementary actions to their surrounding sparser space. The energy landscape will process from one symmetry group to another until the equivalence to its dual, i.e., the surrounding density has been attained. The scale-free physical portrayal of nature in terms of actions does not recognize any fundamental difference between fundamental particles and fundamental forces. Instead a plethora of particles and a diaspora of forces are perceived merely as diverse manifestations of a natural selection for various mechanisms and ways to decrease free energy in the least time.