Electrons receive and obey commands through the medium of light, and thus act to form bonds, separate, or perform other chemical reactions that change the state of matter. It is proposed that electrons and other leptons could be fundamental particles of spirit matter.

It should be no mystery to us that spirit matter may have already been detected by our instruments. If we consider electrons to be equivalent to intelligence, then the energy transfers that occur within and between atoms are also spiritual in nature, and bring joy to the intelligence involved. Spirit and element temporarily connected receive a certain degree of joy, and "... spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy;" (D&C 93:33). In one model we can guess that the spirit and intelligence of atoms may consist of the electrons belonging to that atom that obey the law of light (D&C 88:13) and form bonds or break bonds according to the commands received through the light. In this way can perhaps find a motivation for intelligence to stay organized -- the greater the organization the more access to light, and the greater joy it will experience. From this perspective, a creative act can be viewed as a work of charity, and the satisfaction we get from creating things may partly be because our actions are charitable toward the materials we have brought together and assembled.

However, we understand that it is not possible to construct a form out of leptons that will remain coherent without being dispersed. Electrons cannot form bonds among themselves, but indeed repel each other. Electrons can store up memory by impressing itself into the states of a physical substrate, but cannot store truth in itself. Likewise, leptons use massive particles to stay anchored in space, otherwise they would be swept about by every electromagnetic field. We propose that all spirits, including our own, are subject to the same limitations -- spirits are incapable of growing, gaining intelligence, or indeed staying coherent without a physical medium.

When the premortal Jesus Christ appeared to the Brother of Jared he explained, "Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh." (Ether 3:16). We interpret this to mean that our spirits and physical bodies have the same form, and it is commonly understood in the LDS community that the Spirit World resembles our own in many ways. Some have thought that the spirit is supernatural and therefore exists in a realm that may overlap with our own world, but is invisible to our natural eyes. The LDS perspective does not allow for supernatural elements but insist that God and all aspects of reality conform to immutable laws of the universe. This means that the Spirit World must also be subject to the laws of the universe, and therefore our spirits and the realm beyond would maintain its form in some way. Some argue that spirit matter could be the elusive dark energy that vaguely interacts with physical matter, but is not detectable by our instruments. Though we appreciate this concept and welcome it as an alternative technical interpretation, we think that such an interpretation may be unnecessary -- spirit matter, and indeed spirits may have been plainly observed already, in the form of leptons. Our spirits and the Spirit World must be contained within a physical substrate in order to exist.

The common LDS view is that our spirits are co-located with our physical bodies. "The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple." (D&C 93:35). This view could fit with our model, because the body would provide a physical medium for the spirit. However, several problems arise if we insist on a co-located spirit constructed of electrons. First, extra leptons in our bodies have not been observed, and indeed, given the laws of physics, how can extra electrons stay coherent without massive particles to anchor them? Physics only allows for a fixed number of electrons in each atom -- any others would drift away. Second, we may say that the electrons already in the matter making up our bodies might be the spirit, but this would not work either -- what happens if the body dies and all the particles making up the body are scattered? There must be a place for the spirit to dwell. "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1).

In our model, we propose that the Spirit World may consist of an advanced simulation, computed within a physical substrate. Where that physical medium exists, whether it be on or near the earth we cannot tell. However, we can make some observations that will help us understand the spirit world better, and realize why resurrection and the permanent joining of spirit and element is so important. If we consider a computer simulation where various agents are allowed to interact with each other, we know that if one of the agents begins to behave in ways that endanger the others, the simulation can be stopped, a backup downloaded and restored, and the simulation can be restarted from the time the agent began to misbehave. With a little bit of prompting, we may be able to influence the agent to make better choices next time. Though we don't know the true nature of the Spirit World, it may be that the same rules of cause and effect are not applicable -- consequences may be infinitely more devastating in the physical universe where a backup is unavailable, and our spirits would need to understand that. The only way for us to understand the connection between action and consequence would be to physically experience the real universe first hand.

Our example model would allow for the spirit of a person to reside safe and sound in the Spirit World simulation, and link back to the physical body via "wireless" coupling. Indeed, through our interpretation radio and wireless technology already proves that there can be a physical case for prayer and communication with divine authority. From a technical interpretation, assuming that we must eventually grow to be capable engineers just like our Heavenly Father, then some of the advanced engineering techniques that we already employ may provide an illustration along these lines. If we are designing an advanced fighter jet that has sophisticated software for automated piloting and control, we would provide the necessary hardware to interface with the environment -- sensors and actuators. Actuators would allow the sophisticated computer system access to the control surfaces of the aircraft so that it may influence the state of the machine and thus react to the environment. The sensors would read and observe the environment and monitor how well the actuators had performed. We would not install the only copy of the control software into the machine without a backup, nor would we cut off all communication with it -- we would probably build in the capacity to remotely monitor or control the aircraft. In the same way, the technical interpretation of Mormon physiology suggests that scientists can look for such technologies in our own bodies.

In another example, there are already cases where exact virtual CAD models of products have been used as a pattern for manufacturing the physical counterpart, then once the physical product has been put into operation, the CAD model is used as an interface to remotely monitor and control the actual product through sensors and actuators via direct digital control.

But if the spirit were actually present in a simulation somewhere, wouldn't such "wireless" communication require the distance between the transmitter and receiver to be quite close anyway, due to speed of light constraints on the signals? And wouldn't such "wireless" communication be detectable via our modern instruments? There may be back doors that exist in ribosomes and microtubules that allows for quantum effects, such as tunneling, entanglement, and Planck-scale wormholes. This would be a technical mechanism for spirits in a remote Spirit World to communicate to all the mechanisms in the body that count -- the control centers, sensors, and factories -- to allow for an immersed experience within the body.

In this model, the spirit only borrows the body in mortality. Once the person is resurrected and the body is no longer subject to death (or particle dispersion), then the spirit can permanently remain co-located in the body in order to receive a fullness of joy.