Related papers: Dialogues about geometry and light
Quantum optics is the study of the intrinsically quantum properties of light. During the second part of the 20th century experimental and theoretical progress developed together; nowadays quantum optics provides a testbed of many…
Perceptual geometry refers to the interdisciplinary research whose objectives focuses on study of geometry from the perspective of visual perception, and in turn, applies such geometric findings to the ecological study of vision. Perceptual…
We consider several appearances of the notion of convexity in Greek antiquity, more specifically in mathematics and optics, in the writings of Aristotle, and in art. The final version of this article will appear in the book `Geometry in…
This paper describes the evolution of aspects of differential and algebraic gometry from the mid 17th century till the end of the 18th century.
Starting from the concept that knowledge comes as element of mediation between the convergent thinking, founded on experience, and the divergent thinking, placed in the perceptive, intuitive, creative dimension, in this paper we want to…
Are symmetries discovered or rather invented by humans ? The stand you may take firmly here reveals a lot of your epistemological position. Conversely, the arguments you may forge for answering to this question, or to one of its numerous…
The three key documents for study geometry are: 1) "The Elements" of Euclid, 2) the lecture by B. Riemann at G\"ottingen in 1854 entitled "\"Uber die Hypothesen welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen" (On the hypotheses which underlie…
In three articles published in CNJ in 2012 and 2016 , we discussed some links between mathematical sciences, coin minting and numismatics. This article is a continuation of this cycle. It tells the story of selected important developments…
As the etymology of the word shows, logic is intimately related to language, as exemplified by the work of philosophers from Antiquity and from the Middle-Age. At the beginning of the XX century, the crisis of the foundations of mathematics…
This is the introductive paper to the volume "Symmetries in Physics: Philosophical Reflections", Cambridge University Press, 2003. We begin with a brief description of the historical roots and emergence of the concept of symmetry that is at…
Our understanding of the four basic concepts of Physics -- space, time, matter and force -- has undergone radical change in the course of work on unification, starting with Maxwell's unification of electricity with magnetism, all the way to…
Over the past few decades the notion of symmetry has played a major role in physics and in the philosophy of physics. Philosophers have used symmetry to discuss the ontology and seeming objectivity of the laws of physics. We introduce…
The history of astrometry, the branch of astronomy dealing with the positions of celestial objects, is a lengthy and complex chronicle, having its origins in the earliest records of astronomical observations more than two thousand years…
Astronomy provides a laboratory for extreme physics, a window into environments at extremes of distance, temperature and density that often can't be reproduced in Earth laboratories, or at least not right away. A surprising amount of the…
Enumerative geometry, the art and science of counting geometric objects satisfying geometric conditions, has seen a resurgence of activity in recent years due to an influx of new techniques that allow for enriched computations. This paper…
The study of the Universe and all its contents, the physical phenomena and the evolution of the sky objects has always attracted the Humanity. The Astronomy begins to try to explain these things, others sciences too. Therefore, we think a…
Lot of avenues, the black hole, the wormhole, the dark matter, the dark energy etc. have been opened since the advent of General Theory of Relativity in 1915. Cosmology, the physics of creation and evolution of the universe, which was once…
This article explores the overall geometric manner in which human beings make sense of the world around them by means of their physical theories; in particular, in what are nowadays called pregeometric pictures of Nature. In these, the…
Geometric phases are ubiquitous in physics; they act as memories of the transformation of a physical system. In optics, the most prominent examples are the Pancharatnam-Berry phase and the spin-redirection phase. Recent technological…
This paper looks at how ancient mathematicians (and especially the Pythagorean school) were faced by problems/paradoxes associated with the infinite which led them to juggle two systems of numbers: the discrete whole/rationals which were…