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The Wolfram Physics Project: A One-Year Update

A progress report one year after launch, emphasising what is new or advanced since the 2020 announcement.

Claim tags: [setup] · [derived-in-model] (within Wolfram’s models as described) · [conjecture].

Overview

The headline shift is the elevation of multiway systems from exploratory device to central formalism, extended into two new directions: branchial space (a candidate space of quantum states) and rulial space (the space of all possible rules, in which an observer occupies a “reference frame”). Wolfram reports deeper formal connections to general relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, plus early steps toward gauge theory/particle physics and new black-hole simulations. The established theories are framed as “slices of computational reducibility” within generic computational irreducibility.

What progressed in the first year

• Multiway systems become foundational. A multiway graph (nodes = complete universe states, edges = all possible updating events). New: local multiway systems and token-event graphs to cut redundancy and improve scalability. [setup]
• Branchial space / quantum states. Branchial graphs limit to branchial space, said to “correspond to a space of quantum states,” with the graph encoding entanglement. [setup→claimed correspondence]
• Rulial space (new). A rulial multiway graph applies updates with all possible rules: “The universe follows all possible rules, but an observer in a particular rulial frame describes its operation according to particular rules.” [setup/conjecture]
• General relativity — claimed to emerge “exactly” as large-scale collective behaviour “with certain assumptions.” [derived-in-model]
• Quantum mechanics — claimed to “correspond to” categorical quantum mechanics, framed as a “proof by compilation.” [derived-in-model]
• Second Law — “derived” via coarse-graining by a computationally bounded observer. [derived-in-model]
• Gauge theory / Standard Model — only early steps: fiber-bundle structure and local gauge invariance “can arise”; an E(8) subgroup “would be very satisfying if we were to find.” [conjecture]
• Black holes — direct simulations where over-spinning makes spacetime “disconnect”; merger ring-down reproduced; efficiency vs numerical relativity hedged. [derived-in-model]/[conjecture]
• Collaborators — Jonathan Gorard is the only individual named, credited as “a driving force behind many of the advances.”

Key terminology

• Multiway graph / system — all possible histories, branching and merging.
• Branchial graph / space — relates states sharing a common ancestor; the bridge to quantum states/entanglement.
• Rulial space — the space generated by applying all possible rules; observers occupy rulial reference frames.
• Token-event graph — mixes update events and “tokens” that knit into states; reduces multiway redundancy.
• Slices/pockets of computational reducibility — islands of predictability; Wolfram maps the three we know onto GR, QM, and statistical mechanics.

⚠️ Anachronism note: the terms “Ruliad” and “multicomputation/multicomputational” do not appear in this 2021 essay — they are later coinages (the Ruliad essay is November 2021). “Rulial space” here is the predecessor idea. Do not attribute “Ruliad” to this source.

Notable claims

• Multiway/branchial/rulial structures are now central. [setup]
• GR, QM, and the Second Law all claimed to emerge within the models under stated assumptions. [derived-in-model]
• QM corresponds to the multiway formalism via categorical QM (“proof by compilation”). [derived-in-model]
• Gauge theory, Standard Model gauge group, CPT, spin-statistics — explicitly tentative. [conjecture]
• Elementary length ≈ 10⁻⁹⁰ m and time ≈ 10⁻¹⁰⁰ s — self-labelled an “unreliable estimate,” ~70 orders below experiment. [conjecture]
• “We haven’t ‘found the electron’ yet, but we’re definitely getting closer.” [aspiration]

Caveats

• Self-published, not peer-reviewed; cites a couple of arXiv preprints but is not journal-reviewed. Treat “derived” claims as internal to the framework.
• Hedging matters — gauge theory, Standard Model, CPT, spin-statistics use “started to,” “can arise,” “may be.” Don’t restate as established physics.
• No novel confirmed prediction; mostly reproduces known physics; the ~10⁻⁹⁰ m scale is unobservable and self-labelled unreliable.
• Strong rhetorical framing (“climbing the right mountain”) is Wolfram’s assessment, not consensus.

Grounded facts we can safely state

1. Published April 2021 as a one-year progress update.
2. Central development: multiway systems, extended to branchial space (quantum states) and rulial space (all rules + observer frames).
3. GR, QM, and the Second Law are claimed to emerge within the models under stated assumptions.
4. QM is claimed to correspond to multiway structure via categorical quantum mechanics.
5. New spinning-black-hole simulations are presented (with a hedged efficiency claim).
6. Gauge theory / Standard Model connections are early-stage and tentative.
7. Jonathan Gorard is the only individually named collaborator.
8. “Ruliad” and “multicomputation” are absent here (later coinages).

Supports concept pages

Multiway systems · branchial space & quantum states · rulial space & observers · causal invariance · computational irreducibility & pockets of reducibility · emergence of GR/QM/Second Law (claim-level) · gauge theory (conjectural) · black holes · token-event graphs · project methodology & open science.

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