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Article . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Article . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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A Periodic Table of Physical Descriptions II - A Taxonomy of Degree-of-Freedom Bases Across Physics

Authors: Cooney, Paul;

A Periodic Table of Physical Descriptions II - A Taxonomy of Degree-of-Freedom Bases Across Physics

Abstract

This paper builds on the atlas view introduced in A Periodic Table of Physical Descriptions I by showing that physical descriptions exhibit a deeper periodic structure. Physics repeatedly shifts not only by scale, but by what kind of object is treated as primary in a description: values, distributions, collective fields, invariants, correlations, relations, topology, and phase classes. We introduce a universal “row ladder” of primary objects and combine it with two additional axes—the carrier of description (material, geometric, informational) and the coarse level (micro, meso, macro)—to form a periodic taxonomy of degree-of-freedom (DOF) bases across physics. This lattice organizes familiar theories, reveals non-obvious kinships across subfields, and highlights underdeveloped but structurally predicted descriptive regimes such as geometric kinetic theory, geometric hydrodynamics, and invariant-first summaries of matter. Crucially, the taxonomy makes an operational prediction: observables associated with different rows exhibit different stability under changes of representation. Using real weak-lensing mass maps reconstructed from identical data with different priors, we show that a value-based statistic is highly basis-sensitive while a relational graph invariant is nearly basis-invariant. The underlying sky is the same; only the implicit DOF basis changes. This demonstrates that the primary-object axis captures a real feature of inference. The contribution is not new dynamics but a classification of how physics chooses its variables, and empirical evidence that this choice materially affects what is stable under representation change. Keywords: degrees of freedom, effective theory, coarse-graining, renormalization group, emergence, quasiparticles, hydrodynamics, general relativity, topology, graph invariants, weak lensing, descriptive frameworks, foundations of physics

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
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