A Sheaf-Theoretic Topos Model of the Physical “Continuum” and its Cohomological Observable Dynamics ELIAS ZAFIRIS University of Athens Department of Mathematics Panepistimiopolis, 15784 Athens Greece Abstract The physical “continuum” is being modeled as a complex of events interconnected by the relation of extension and forming an abstract partially ordered structure. Operational physical procedures for dis- cerning observable events assume their existence and validity locally, by coordinatizing the informational content of those observable events in terms of real-valued local observables. The localization process is effectuated in terms of topological covering systems on the events “con- tinuum”, that do not presuppose an underlying structure of points on the real line, and moreover, respect only the fundamental relation of extension between events. In this sense, the physical “continuum” is represented by means of a fibered topos-theoretic structure, modeled as a sheaf of algebras of continuous real-valued functions. Finally, the dy- namics of information propagation, formulated in terms of continuous real-valued observables, is described in the context of an appropriate sheaf-cohomological framework corresponding to the localization pro- cess. 0E-mail : ezafi
[email protected] 1 Keywords: Observables; Modern Differential Geometry; Topos and Sheaf Theory; Functoriality; Connection; De Rham Cohomology. 2 1 Prologue The semantics of the physical “continuum” in the standard interpretation of physical systems theories is associated with the codomain of valuation of physical attributes (Butterfield and Isham (2000)). Usually the notion of “continuum” is tied with the attribute of position, serving as the range of values characterizing this particular attribution. The model adopted to represent these values is the real line R and its powers, specified as a set the- oretical structure of points that are independent and possess the property of infinite distinguishability with absolute precision.