Originally Posted By: Orac
Good luck trying to dump GR and QM :-)

You can sort of patch around newtonian physics with MOND (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_Newtonian_dynamics) which initially sort of held out some hope but recent observations cause it problems

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/09/relativity-and-dark-matter-survive-a-redshif-test.ars => DOI: 10.1038/nature10445 (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7366/full/nature10445.html)

Will give you the observational problem for MOND.


I am not sure how you would put QM into such an enviroment?


MOND is an attempt to explain some observed phenomenon. Whether it is now out or not, I am not sure. But as an attempt to modify Newtonian mechanics, I regard it as a worthwhile step. I was wondering whether the absence of a central mass in a galaxy could explain that phenomenon, but I could not arrive at any conclusion.

The drawback of SR/GR (in my opinion)is that it takes space-time as a physical concept. Take space and time as absolute, and space-time as a mathematical concept to describe the time varying space. The equations of SR/GR will still remain the same.

Similarly, the drawback of QM is that it puts forth the 'instant-duality'. Remove this, and the probability equations of QM, I think, will remain the same.

Same is the case with Newtons laws. The laws are now being used as physical laws. So a change in approach, ie, regard Newtons laws, SR/GR and QM as mathematical laws, and we will get a Physics which is Newtonian, but of course with some modifications. This may eventually lead to the theory of everything.