December 9, 2024
The spinors of the group Spin(N) of rotations in N spacetime dimensions are indexed by a bitcode with [N/2] bits. A well-known promising grand unified group that contains the standard-model group is Spin(10). Fermions in the standard model are described by five bits durgb, consisting of two weak bits d and u, and three color bits r, g, b. If a sixth bit T is added, necessary to accommodate a time dimension, then the enlarged Spin(11,1) algebra contains the standard-model and Dirac algebras as commuting subalgebras, unifying all four forces. The largest subgroup of Spin(11,1) that commutes with the Poincare group is Spin(5)xSpin(6), suggesting that the latter is a partial unification on the way to complete unification in Spin(11,1). The Spin(5)xSpin(6) algebra contains a subalgebra with precisely the properties of the electroweak Higgs field. The Spin(5)xSpin(6) symmetry contains, and is spontaneously broken by, a U(1) symmetry related to the U_{B-L}(1) symmetry. Grand unification is associated with a change in the dimensionality of spacetime.
The talk addresses the ethics of responsible scientific refereeing.