"Is Space Digital?"
— Cover story, Scientific American magazine, February 2012
"The idea that space may be digital
is a fringe idea of a fringe idea
of a speculative subfield of a subfield."
— Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder
at her weblog on Feb. 5, 2012
"A quantization of space/time
is a holy grail for many theorists…."
— Peter Woit in a comment at his physics weblog today
See also
* See yesterday's Steiner's Systems.
A Log24 post, "Bridal Birthday," one year ago today linked to
"The Discrete and the Continuous," a brief essay by David Deutsch.
From that essay—
"The idea of quantization—
the discreteness of physical quantities—
turned out to be immensely fruitful."
Deutsch's "idea of quantization" also appears in
the April 12 Log24 post Mythopoetic—
|
"Is Space Digital?" — Cover story, Scientific American "The idea that space may be digital — Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder "A quantization of space/time — Peter Woit in a comment |
It seems some clarification is in order.
Hossenfelder's "The idea that space may be digital"
and Woit's "a quantization of space/time" may not
refer to the same thing.
Scientific American on the concept of digital space—
"Space may not be smooth and continuous.
Instead it may be digital, composed of tiny bits."
Wikipedia on the concept of quantization—
Causal sets, loop quantum gravity, string theory,
and black hole thermodynamics all predict
a quantized spacetime….
For a purely mathematical approach to the
continuous-vs.-discrete issue, see
Finite Geometry and Physical Space.
The physics there is somewhat tongue-in-cheek,
but the geometry is serious.The issue there is not
continuous-vs.-discrete physics , but rather
Euclidean-vs.-Galois geometry .
Both sorts of geometry are of course valid.
Euclidean geometry has long been applied to
physics; Galois geometry has not. The cited
webpage describes the interplay of both sorts
of geometry— Euclidean and Galois, continuous
and discrete— within physical space— if not
within the space of physics.
(Mythopoetic continued)
Voice of America today—
Thousands of Norwegians Defy Confessed Killer Breivik in Song
"The demonstrators waved roses and flags
Thursday as they and Norwegian folk singer
Lillebjoern Nilsen sang an adaptation
of the children's song, 'My Rainbow Race,'
which Breivik in court last week called
an example of Marxist brainwashing."
[See also PETE SEEGER AND LILLEBJØRN NILSEN.
Click on the image below for Seeger's original version.]
Liberia Reacts to Taylor Conviction With Mixed Emotions
"As the verdict was read out, a rainbow was seen
in the sky, encircling the sun. For many Liberians,
superstition is a part of life. The rainbow heralded
a new era, they said, beginning with the verdict of Taylor."
["You're not the only one… with mixed emotions."]
(Not Olympus )
(Continued from Mythopoetic, a post of April 12)
This post was suggested by a 2010 film about fictional Olympians,
by today's New York Times obituaries, and by a bar brawl at the Olympian
New York Athletic Club in "the wee hours of April 13."
Rick Riordan in the image below advertises another large
"Demigod Gathering" on October 12, 2010.
The Riordan image is from a post at ComposersCave.com
made on October 3, 2010.
Applying Jung's principle of synchronicity to this demigod material,
we find the October 3, 2010, Log24 post Search for the Basic Picture
and the October 12, 2010, Log24 post King Solomon's Mind.
Note that the latter October date is that of the traditional
Columbus Day, and that the 2010 film of The Lightning Thief
was directed by Chris Columbus of 1492 Pictures.
The film's release was earlier in 2010, on February 12.
"Man is, in Lévi-Strauss's view, a mythopoetic primate
(it's a difficult phrase but we don't have a better one)…."
Pope Benedict XVI at the 2012 Easter Vigil on April 7 —
"The great hymn of the Exsultet, which the deacon sings at the beginning of the Easter liturgy, points us quite gently towards a further aspect. It reminds us that this object, the candle, has its origin in the work of bees. So the whole of creation plays its part. In the candle, creation becomes a bearer of light.
But in the mind of the Fathers, the candle also in some sense contains a silent reference to the Church. The cooperation of the living community of believers in the Church in some way resembles the activity of bees. It builds up the community of light."
Background— George Steiner in this journal
and elsewhere—
"An intensity of outward attention —
interest, curiosity, healthy obsession —
was Steiner’s version of God’s grace."
— Lee Siegel in The New York Times ,
March 12, 2009
(See also Aesthetics of Matter in this journal on that date.)
Steiner in 1969 defined man as "a language animal."
Here is Steiner in 1974 on another definition—
Related material—
Also related — Kantor in 1981 on "exquisite finite geometries," and The Galois Tesseract.
Powered by WordPress
