Log24

Invariants 

"What modern painters are trying to do,
if they only knew it, is paint invariants."

— James J. Gibson in Leonardo
(Vol. 11, pp. 227-235.
Pergamon Press Ltd., 1978)

An example of invariant structure:

The three line diagrams above result from the three partitions, into pairs of 2-element sets, of the 4-element set from which the entries of the bottom colored figure are drawn.  Taken as a set, these three line diagrams describe the structure of the bottom colored figure.  After coordinatizing the figure in a suitable manner, we find that this set of three line diagrams is invariant under the group of 16 binary translations acting on the colored figure.

A more remarkable invariance — that of symmetry itself — is observed if we arbitrarily and repeatedly permute rows and/or columns and/or 2×2 quadrants of the colored figure above. Each resulting figure has some ordinary or color-interchange symmetry.

This sort of mathematics illustrates the invisible "form" or "idea" behind the visible two-color pattern.  Hence it exemplifies, in a way, the conflict described by Plato between those who say that "real existence belongs only to that which can be handled" and those who say that "true reality consists in certain intelligible and bodiless forms."

“Propriation¹ gathers the rift-design² of the saying
and unfolds it³ in such a way that it becomes
the well-joined structure⁴ of a manifold showing.”

— p. 415 of Heidegger‘s Basic Writings ,
edited by David Farrell Krell,
HarperCollins paperback, 1993

“Das Ereignis versammelt den Aufriß der Sage
und entfaltet ihn zum Gefüge des vielfältigen Zeigens.” 

— Heidegger, Weg zur Sprache

1. “Mirror-Play of the Fourfold”

2. “Christ descending into the abyss”

3. Barrancas of Cuernavaca

4. Combinatorics, Philosophy, Geometry

Story Driven

More fundamental than the label of mathematician is that of human. And as humans, we’re hardwired to use stories to make sense of our world (story-receivers) and to share that understanding with others (storytellers) [2]. Thus, the framing of any communication answers the key question, what is the story we wish to share? Mathematics papers are not just collections of truths but narratives woven together, each participating in and adding to the great story of mathematics itself.

The first endeavor for constructing a good talk is recognizing and choosing just one storyline, tailoring it to the audience at hand. Should the focus be on a result about the underlying structures of group actions? . . . .

[2] Gottschall, J. , The Storytelling Animal ,
       Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.

— "Giving Good Talks,"  by Satyan L. Devadoss

Ludwig Wittgenstein — Culture and Value 
Revised Edition, Wiley-Blackwell (1998)

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Leifer, for his part, is holding out for something new. “I think the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics is none of the above,” he said.

He likens the current situation with quantum mechanics to the time before Einstein came up with his special theory of relativity. Experimentalists had found no sign of the “luminiferous ether” — the medium through which light waves were thought to propagate in a Newtonian universe. Einstein argued that there is no ether. Instead he showed that space and time are malleable. “Pre-Einstein I couldn’t have told you that it was the structure of space and time that was going to change,” Leifer said.

Quantum mechanics is in a similar situation now, he thinks. “It’s likely that we are making some implicit assumption about the way the world has to be that just isn’t true,” he said. “Once we change that, once we modify that assumption, everything would suddenly fall into place. That’s kind of the hope. Anybody who is skeptical of all interpretations of quantum mechanics must be thinking something like this. Can I tell you what’s a plausible candidate for such an assumption? Well, if I could, I would just be working on that theory.”

We don’t yet have a story structure that allows witches to be powerful for long stretches of time without men holding them back. And what makes the new Sabrina  so exciting is that it seems to be trying to build that story structure itself, in real time, to find a way to let Sabrina have her power and her freedom.

It might fail. But if it does, it will be a glorious and worthwhile failure — the type that comes with trying to pioneer a new kind of story.

—  Constance Grady at Vox, the morning before
      Devil's Night (Oct. 30-31), 2018