Israel`s barbaric attacks and its geopolitical consequences

More than 48 hours since Israel`s barbaric attack on Flotilla aid ship , the illegal blockade of Gaza has gained a new momentum in the international arena. At a recent emergency meeting , the U.N member states ( except U.S of course ) have all called for the end  of  the  illegal blockade by Israel. But from all the countries present at the meeting , Turkey was clearly the most critical of Israel due to the  killings of  Turkish activists on the ship , but also due to Turkey`s  geopolitical  position as  a  key player standing between the West and the Middle East - Asian regions. Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu called for a strong international response against Israel`s " massacre " and for the immediate release of the ship and the activists on board. However , I think  Turkey is just playing a hard voice game for its domestic audience and international audience ( specially muslim majority countries ) , in reality Turkey knows  it cannot implement much of its hard talk without at least  the backing of  key EU member states , because we all  know  the U.S is unlikely to be on board of anything that goes against Israel ! Nevertheless , as  a  key Nato  member  and  having  good  relations with  countries  such  as  Iran , Turkey can strategically  make  life  vey  difficult  for the Zionist  regime in Tel Aviv.

In another  amazing  U turn , Egypt  decided  to  re open  the Rafah  border  crossing  for  an  indefinite time ! The  Mubarak  regime  is  obviously  under  domestic  and  international  pressure  to  do  so , with  this  move  the  regime  also  wants  to  distance  itself  from  its  Zionist  counterpart , but  ironically  anyone  who  follows  the  Gaza  humanitarian  crisis  knows  that  Egypt  is  part  of  the  illegal  blockade  and  so  the Mubarak  regime  is  as  guilty  as  the  Zionist  regime. Now  since  Israel  says  the  blockade  will  continue , the key  questions  are  :
-  For  how long  Rafah  will  remain  open ?  Will  Egypt  dare  opening  Rafah  for  a  period  over  6 months ?
- What  will  Israel  do  about  it ?

How serious is Obama on Middle East peace process ?

 In  recent  months  Obama  has  shown ( at  least  in  rhetoric )  signs  of  willingness  to  start  " real "  peace  process, however  the  signs  have  been  always  overshadowed  by  the  unwillingness  of  the  Zionist  regime  to  stop  the  illegal  settlements, in  fact  the  regime  humiliated U.S  vice president  Joe  Biden  by  announcing  the  construction  of  1600  illegal  houses  in  East  Jerusalem  during  Biden`s  recent  visit. President  Obama  is  said  to  be  " furious "  about  the  announcement  of  the  constructions  to  which  prime  minister  Netanyahu  said  he  didn`t  know  about  and  offered  his  apologies  to  Washington ! Now  few  weeks  later  in  his  AIPAC  speech , Netanyahu  said  " Jerusalem  is  not  a  settlement. It  is  our  capital ". In  other  words , Israel  considers  the  illegal  settlements  as  " legal ".
Interestingly  at  the  same  AIPAC stage , sec. of  state  Hillary  Clinton  said  that  the status quo between Israelis and Palestinians was “unsustainable” and that building over  East Jerusalem hurt efforts to advance the peace process.

Personal  answer  to  the  posting. Obama  is  serious  enough  for  hard talk , but  not  serious  enough  for  concrete  actions  to  force  the  Zionist  regime  stop  its  violations  of  international  law ! In  fact  Obama  seems  now  to  be  more  focused  on  Iran`s  nuclear  program  than  on  Palestinian  issue !

Quantum mechanics and axiomatic methods in physics

Quantum mechanics is without doubts the most challenging subject in modern physics. In one hand , its predictions have been successfully verified with great accuracy over the last 85 years. On the other hand , the foundations of the subject still for many physicists obscure and puzzling ! Now we may ask ourselves how come ? There are quite many reasons to be intrigued with quantum mechanics , but I will consider the following one :

• Prior to quantum mechanics , from Newton to Einstein , a fundamental physical theory has always evolved from simple and intuitive physical principles. Take for example Newton`s principle “ An object remains at rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force “ or Einstein`s principle “ The speed of light is the same in all inertial frames “. With these simple principles , both physicists were able to successfully derive the mathematical frameworks of their respective theories. On the other hand , standard quantum mechanics as formulated in the late twenties does not provide any physical principle that justifies the use of its abstract mathematical framework. In fact , many attempts have been made to find the physical principles ( if there is any ! ) underlying the abstract mathematical framework of the subject , but so far none of the attempts have gained a universal acceptance.

The abstract Hilbert space approach to quantum mechanics is due to von Neumann , it was definitely the starting point for applications of axiomatic methods to quantum mechanics. Few years earlier , there were two versions of quantum mechanics , namely Heisenberg`s matrix mechanics and Schrodinger wave mechanics. However von Neumann realized that the two versions had something deep in common , that deep was of course the mathematical structure of “ separable “ complex Hilbert space. Indeed the “ separable “ condition was initially included in the definition of Hilbert space , but later it was dropped in order to include non - separable Hilbert spaces !

Now before von Neumann’s Hilbert space approach to quantum mechanics , David Hilbert proposed his sixth problem , where he calls for the axiomatization of physics ( see David Hilbert and the Axiomatization of Physics by Leo Corry ).In his words :

To treat in the same manner, by means of axioms , the physical sciences in which mathematics plays an important part ; in the first rank are the theory of probabilities and mechanics.

Also in his own words :

If geometry is to serve as a model for the treatment of physical axioms, we shall try first by a small number of axioms to include as large a class as possible of physical phenomena, and then by adjoining new axioms to arrive gradually at the more special theories.…. The mathematician will have also to take into account not only of those theories coming near reality , but also , as in geometry , of all logically possible theories. He must be always alert to obtain a complete survey off all conclusions derivable from the system of axioms assumed.

Now since physicists are still debating about the foundations of quantum mechanics for decades now , without any general consensus , can a better axiomatization of quantum mechanics kill the debate ?

My view is yes , a better axiomatization of quantum mechanics will not only kill the debate , but will also give a new insights on Hilbert sixth problem by bringing quantum mechanics close to pure mathematics ! But , what I mean with “ better “ axiomatization ?

By a better axiomatization , I mean an axiomatization that starts with a small number of fundamental axioms that enable us to derive the Hilbert space approach , the algebraic approach and classical mechanics as special cases !

But why do we need to add more abstraction ? Isn`t abstraction the main problem of quantum mechanics ?

First in my view , quantum mechanics is just a very special case of a general axiomatic scheme that hasn`t been yet clarified or fully understood by physicists ! This axiomatic scheme is abstract by nature , it often lacks the so - called “ physical principles “ , but nonetheless it has an astonishing power of prediction. Second , I think abstraction is not a problem , but the only viable option to clarify and give this scheme a firm foundations. In this regard , let us take the example of classical probability theory. Before Kolmogorov , the foundations of the subject was very obscure , indeed some thought it would remain obscure forever ! However , after Kolmogorov came along with his abstract axiomatic treatment of the subject using measure theoretic methods , the nature of the subject become more clear. Similarly I think we need a kolmogorov like approach to quantum mechanics , of course this doesn`t necessarily implies employing measure theoretic methods to such axiomatization of quantum mechanics.