The Omega-Theory: A New Physics of Earthquakes

Earthquake prediction remains one of the most important unsolved problems in geophysics. Numerous studies, discussions, and critical reviews have been published, with mixed and unconvincing results. Failure to recognize a pattern to allow for reliable earthquake prediction has led many scientists to believe that this problem is impossible to solve. In the last decades, however, generations of seismologists, geophysicists, and geologists have accumulated enough knowledge and information to allow for the reformulation and solution of this essential problem. The result is this new book, The Omega-Theory: A New Physics of Earthquakes, which offers a unifying mathematical framework to describe and answer the most pressing and unexamined dilemmas of earthquake sequences. Those in the fields of seismology and geology are currently faced with a vast and complex mathematical structure, involving numerous new natural laws and theorems; this book has interpreted this structure as a new physical theory and a new paradigm. The Omega-Theory opens a new chapter in our understanding of the tectonic and seismic processes within the Earth, and is an essential resource for future researchers in the fields of structural geology, physics of the Earth, and seismology.

Brings together twenty years of research in the field of geophysics and attacks the problem within the framework of, but going beyond, the Cosserat continuum theoryHeavily tested on tens of natural examples and numerical testsIncludes 350 color figures and graphsSpans across many fields of theoretical physics and geology, such as plate tectonics, synchronization of chaotic systems, solitons and fractals, mathematical set theory, and quantum mechanics

1. Introduction

I COSSERAT CONTINUUM THEORY OF FAULTING 2. Cosserat Continuum 3. The Multiple-Slip Mechanism of Plastic Cosserat Deformation 4. Stress Along the Faults 5. Wedge Faulting: The L2 Kinematics 6. Parallel Fault and Parallel Wedge Interactions: The Gamma-Scheme 7. Båth’s Law and the Cosserat Extension of the Reid Rebound Model

II INTRODUCTION TO THE OMEGA-THEORY 8. Omega-Sequences 9. Omega-Cells: “Seismic Oscillators” 10. Omori’s Law 11. Felzer-Brodsky’s Law 12. Strain Waves and Conservation Laws 13. Phase Transitions 14. Gutenberg-Richter’s Law 15. What Causes Earthquakes?

III SYSTEMS, PLATE TECTONICS, AND ORDER 16. Omega-Interactions 17. Critical Behavior: Large Earthquakes Can Be Predicted 18. Supercritical Behavior: Aftershock Sequences 19. The B-Spectral Theorem and the Synchronized Earth 20. Quantum Numbers of Earthquakes: Seismic Back Action and Reverse Causality 21. Seismic Induction and the Theory of Plate Tectonics 22. Earthquakes as Computation: Origin of Order

IV SEISMIC CHAOS SYNCHRONIZATIONS 23. T-Synchronizations: Predicting Future Seismic States of the Earth 24. M-Synchronizations: The B-Megasignal and Large Earthquakes 25. S-Synchronizations: The Reciprocity Theorem and the Failure Localization Law 26. Maximum Effectiveness of Predictions: - 1 Rule 27. Open Systems 28. Further Observations on S-Synchronizations

V STRAIN WAVES, PLATE TECTONICS, AND THE LOOP THEOREM 29. Description of Seismic States 30. Epicenter Prediction: Turbal’s Principle 31. Structure of the Aftershock Sequences 32. Synchronizations and Fault Reactivations 33. Predictability of Volcanic Eruptions 34. Strain Waves at the Tectonic Plates Boundaries 35. Origin of Plate Tectonics: The Loop Theorem