D-theory: A quest for nature's regularization

D-theory provides a nonperturbative regularization for quantum field theory in which classical fields emerge dynamically from the dimensional reduction of discrete variables. The D-theory variables - quantum spins and quantum links - are possible candidates for the physical degrees of freedom that Nature may have chosen to regularize the standard model of particle physics at ultrashort distances. D-theory provides a natural solution for the nonperturbative hierarchy problem of 4-dimensional fermions with a chiral symmetry. If D-theory resembles Nature's physical regularization, the parameters of the standard model are analogous to material specific low-energy constants of a piece of condensed matter.