Science

Big if true — a team of mathematicians has generalized the derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation from the Boltzmann equation, and of the Navier-Stokes equation from Newton’s equations. Essentially deriving the macroscopic behavior of atoms from the mesoscopic and then the microscopic scales. This would be a big step forward in axiomatizing physics (i.e., modeling the whole of physics from fewer first-principle rules).

This was one of Hilbert’s “sixth problem” on his list of 23 problems delivered to the International Congress in 1900.

Lay article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lofty-math-problem-called-hilberts-sixth-closer-to-being-solved/

Pre-print:

Big if true — a team of mathematicians has generalized the derivation of the Navier-Stokes equation from the Boltzmann equation, and of the Navier-Stokes equation from Newton’s equations. Essentially deriving the macroscopic behavior of atoms from the mesoscopic and then the microscopic scales. This would be a big step forward in axiomatizing physics (i.e., modeling the whole of physics from fewer first-principle rules).

This was one of Hilbert’s “sixth problem” on his list of 23 problems delivered to the International Congress in 1900.

Lay article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lofty-math-problem-called-hilberts-sixth-closer-to-being-solved/

Pre-print: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.01800

Aviator, diver, Etherean, nexialist, PhD in aviation ∩ climate science | Host of /diving /ethfinance /eth-staker /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

This might be the closest we’ve gotten to threading the micro-to-macro needle in physics