English

When do we have 1 + 1 = 11 and 2 + 2 =5?

History and Overview 2022-12-22 v4

Abstract

The phrase "2+2=5 2+2=5 " is a clich\'e or a slogan used in political speeches, propaganda, or literature, most notably in the novel "1984 1984 " by George Orwell. More recently, we came across a You-Tube short film comedy, Alternative Math, produced by IdeaMan Studios (see \cite{Danny}). It is a hilarious exaggeration of a teacher who is dragged through the mud for teaching that 2+2=4 2+2=4 and not 22 22 , as Danny, a young student, kept on insisting. In the movie, Danny and the whole community sincerely believe 1+1=11 1+1=11 and 2+2=22 2+2=22 . Jokes aside, we ask the question whether a polynomially defined group law "\oplus" defined over the field of rationals such that 11=u 1\oplus1=u and 22=v 2 \oplus2=v can simultaneously be satisfied for arbitrary integers uu and v v . Answer to this question takes us through a fascinating journey from Brahmagupta all the way to the modern works of Louis Joel Mordell and Ramanujan!

Cite

@article{arxiv.1906.02324,
  title  = {When do we have 1 + 1 = 11 and 2 + 2 =5?},
  author = {R. Padmanabhan and Alok Shukla},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.02324},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

A math article that quotes both Orwell and Dostoevsky!

R2 v1 2026-06-23T09:44:23.236Z