Recognition Physics Institute

Independent research · Austin

A letter from Jonathan Washburn

12 July 2026

Recognition Physics Institute exists to pursue truth. That is the full mission.

Our claim is that we have found and formalized fundamental unifying elements of reality. Here is what separates this program from others that have made similar claims:

  1. We engage with the scientific community. Eleven of our papers have been peer-reviewed and published this year, with nine more in review now. You can read them below.
  2. The theory reveals reality as shape, formalized in a single equation across more than 350,000 lines of internally consistent, machine-verified mathematics. The code is public.
  3. The framework is parameter-free. We work only from observed empirical evidence: no hand-invented extra dimensions, particle species, or strings. Where a derivation reaches measurement, nothing is adjustable, so it either matches or it is wrong.
  4. We add no axioms of our own. The foundational chain we publish rests only on the standard logical foundations built into the proof assistant, and the uniqueness and tightness of the reciprocal cost are proved under named hypotheses. Our best paper on that foundation is in peer review now.
  5. We did not start from assumptions and hope they matched the world. We started from what is already measured and worked backward to the minimal structure that reproduces it, without anomalies. That standard still binds us. One real anomaly means the theory is wrong.

Science is slow. We are not selling anything, and the institute is privately funded. Our job is not to convince anyone of anything. We will share what we discover, and we look forward to sharing this journey with humanity.

Jonathan WashburnLead Scientist · jon@recognitionphysics.org

People

Focus lines summarize current publication areas. ORCID links and short biographies will be added as they are supplied.

Research

The papers below are one program, not separate projects. They divide into four bands, each building on the one before. Foundations: the single reciprocal comparison cost, and the logic and geometry forced along with it. Mathematics: the structure of that cost, its uniqueness, convexity, and matching rules. Physics: what the cost forces about gravity, particle masses, and dynamics in time. Applications and tests: predictions checked against water, enzyme kinetics, atomic trends, galaxy rotation, and photonic hardware. Every result traces back to the same equation. Status (peer-reviewed, preprint, in review) stays as the primary grouping; each entry also carries a topic tag.

Peer-reviewed papers

arXiv preprints

In review

Code