The First Physics Picture of Contractions from a Fundamental Quantum Relativity Symmetry Including all Known Relativity Symmetries, Classical and Quantum

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified framework for all known relativity theories, quantum and classical, using the fundamental symmetry group SO(2,4), and explores how various theories emerge through symmetry contractions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach to derive all relativity theories from a single fundamental quantum relativity symmetry, expanding understanding of their interrelations.

Findings

Unified description of quantum and classical relativity theories

Explicit contraction pathways from SO(2,4) to lower-level theories

Connections established with covariant quantum mechanics

Abstract

In this article, we utilize the insights gleaned from our recent formulation of space(-time), as well as dynamical picture of quantum mechanics and its classical approximation, from the relativity symmetry perspective in order to push further into the realm of the proposed fundamental relativity symmetry $SO(2,4)$ of our quantum relativity project. We explicitly trace how the diverse actors in this story change through various contraction limits, paying careful attention to the relevant physical units, in order to place all known relativity theories -- quantum and classical -- within a single framework. More specifically, we explore both of the possible contractions of $SO(2,4)$ and its coset spaces in order to determine how best to recover the lower-level theories. These include both new models and all familiar theories, as well as quantum and classical dynamics with and without Einsteinian special relativity. Along the way, we also find connections with covariant quantum mechanics. The emphasis of this article rests on the ability of this language to not only encompass all known physical theories, but to also provide a path for extensions. It will serve as the basic background for more detailed formulations of the dynamical theories at each level, as well as the exact connections amongst them.