Events as fundamental entities in physics

Abstract

Bergson and Whitehead have proposed a point of view where events rather than particles are fundamental entities. We follow this point of view as developed further by Capek and by Stapp by suggesting a framework in which fundamental events are taken to be point-like entities which interact with other fundamental events. Different kinds of fundamental events are to be distinguished by the rules of interaction. Examples of simple rules of interaction are given which lead to propagating patterns of events that can be interpreted as particles. The particles exhibit a wave structure and possess invariants, quantum numbers and quarklike constituents. They can react with each other and decay to form other particles, including antiparticles. A relativistic space-time co-ordinate system appears to be a natural way of organizing the event pattern. We argue that this kind of framework can provide a basis for unifying the concepts of quantum mechanics, elementary-particle structure and relativity.