In [[physics]], the term '''bootstrap model''' is used for the class of theories that assume that very general [[consistency]] criteria are sufficient to determine the whole theory completely.
In the 1960s and '70s, an ever-growing list of [[strong interaction|strongly interacting]] particles — [[meson|mesons]] and [[baryon|baryons]] — caused some physicists to question the distinction between [[composite particle|composite]] and [[elementary particle|elementary particles]]. In particular, [[Geoffrey Chew]] and others advocated "nuclear democracy", which foreswore the idea that some particles were more elementary than others. Instead, they sought to derive as much information as possible about the strong interaction from plausible assumptions about the [[S-matrix]], which describes what happens when particles of any sort collide. It is so difficult to find formulas for a nontrivial S-matrix obeying these assumptions that some believed there might be a unique solution. This led to a bootstrap program often associated with the phrase "the analytic S-matrix".
This bootstrap program had limited success, and it fell out of favor with the rise of [[quantum chromodynamics]]. It is now believed that mesons and baryons are made of elementary particles called [[quarks]] and [[gluons]].
There areis a number of other more successful examples of using general principles to derive specific theories of physics, starting from [[Einstein]]'s 1905 paper on [[special relativity]]. The form of [[general relativity]] is almost entirely specified from general principles including the [[principal of equivalence]]. There has also been partial success in deriving [[Quantum mechanics|quantum theory]] from axioms of [[quantum logic]].
Bootstrap principles related to the S-matrix also lie behind [[Gabriele Veneziano]]'s early work on [[string theory]], which began as an approach to the strong interaction.
More generally, "bootstrapping" refers to any method of reaching higher understanding by building on lower foundations. Auticity refers to the self-building process of a complex system using simplerthe simplest possible elements; for example, using contiguous points to construct ever more complex symmetries via interpolation rules. The Game of Life is an automated computing process that offers an example of the auticity. processSee a [[New Kind of Science]] by [[Stephen Wolfram]].
