What if we are trying to describe reality with the wrong type of numbers? How describing reality with a whole new system of numbers could help us unite physics
WORDS can be slippery. That is perhaps even more true in physics than it is in the rest of life. Think of a “particle”, for instance, and we might conjure an image of a tiny sphere. In truth, “particle” is just a poetic term for something far removed from our everyday experience – which is why our best descriptions of reality make use of the cold precision of mathematics.
But just as there are many human languages, so there is more than one type of number system. Most of us deal with only the familiar number line that begins 1, 2, 3. But other, more exotic systems are available. Recently, physicists have been asking a profound question: what if we are trying to describe reality with the wrong type of numbers?
Each mathematical system has its own special disposition, just like languages. Love poems sound better in French. German has that knack of expressing sophisticated concepts – like schadenfreude – in a few syllables. Now, in the wake of a fresh breakthrough revealing tantalising connections between models of how matter works at different energy scales, it seems increasingly likely that an exotic set of numbers known as the octonions might have what it takes to capture the truth about reality.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
CureVac sues BioNTech over mRNA technology - Nature BiotechnologyIn Brief: CureVacRNA files suit in Germany against BioNTech_Group, seeking compensation for infringement of four patents CureVac claims are used to make Comirnaty, the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and pfizer
Lire la suite »
Open Letter to G7 and G20 leaders: resolve global crises to secure our future - Nature MedicineOpen Letter to G7 and g20org leaders: resolve global crises to secure our future. Correspondence from 23 young global health scholars shashikaLB tivabaral anshumidave and colleagues
Lire la suite »
‘Wanted subject’ fell into storm drain, hospitalized after rescue, Radnor police saidMembers of the Montgomery County Urban Search and Rescue team were deployed to a strange scene in Bryn Mawr Sunday when a reported shoplifting suspect fell into a storm drain.
Lire la suite »
Why is a mother serving more time than the man who abused her daughter?Failure-to-protect laws are incarcerating women all over the country—for other people’s violence. MsReads via MotherJones
Lire la suite »
As Congress funds high-tech climate solutions, it also bets on a low-tech one: NatureFrom boosting forest preservation to incentivizing climate-smart farming practices, the Inflation Reduction Act includes an acknowledgement that land is a profound ally in the fight against climate change.
Lire la suite »
Delaware County 4-H camp wows kids at the Willows Park PreserveThe camp's goal is to teach kids aged 5-7 about local wildlife, create nature art and discover ways to protect our natural spaces.
Lire la suite »