Related papers: Singularity: a Seventh Memo?
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role of language in the process of teaching and learning mathematics. We will begin with the definition of mathematics given by Cassiodorus (in its essential features repeated in Kolmogorov's…
The paper concerns the fictitious entanglement of the so-called ``singularities'' in problems, pertaining to quantum gravity, due, in point of fact, to the way we try to employ, in that context, differential geometry, the latter being…
Answers to the question how a classical world emerges from underlying quantum physics are revisited, connected and extended as follows. First, three distinct concepts are compared: decoherence in open quantum systems, consistent/decoherent…
It has become obvious that certain singular phenomena cannot be explained by a mere investigation of the configuration space, defined as the solution set of the loop closure equations. For example, it was observed that a particular 6R…
I discuss some problems related to extreme mathematical realism, focusing on a recently proposed "shut-up-and-calculate" approach to physics (arXiv:0704.0646, arXiv:0709.4024). I offer arguments for a moderate alternative, the essence of…
Classify simple games into sixteen "types" in terms of the four conventional axioms: monotonicity, properness, strongness, and nonweakness. Further classify them into sixty-four classes in terms of finiteness (existence of a finite carrier)…
By investigating a recurrence relation about functions, we first give alternative proofs of various identities on Fibonacci numbers and Lucas numbers, and then, make certain well known identities visible via certain trivalent graph…
Faced with the persisting problem of the unification of gravity with other fundamental interactions we investigate the possibility of a new paradigm, according to which the basic space of physics is a multidimensional space ${\cal C}$…
The sequent calculus is a formalism for proving validity of statements formulated in First-Order Logic. It is routinely used in computer science modules on mathematical logic. Formal proofs in the sequent calculus are finite trees obtained…
Mathematics is a critical part of much scientific research. Physics in particular weaves math extensively into its instruction beginning in high school. Despite much research on the learning of both physics and math, the problem of how to…
Some Goedel centenary reflections on whether incompleteness is really serious, and whether mathematics should be done somewhat differently, based on using algorithmic complexity measured in bits of information. [Enriques lecture given…
Robust preparation of future secondary mathematics teachers requires attention to the acquisition of mathematical knowledge for teaching. Many future teachers learn mathematics content primarily through mathematics major courses that are…
This paper frames calculus as a global, centuries-long development rather than a subject that began only with Newton and Leibniz. Drawing on ideas from Greek, Indian, Islamic, and later European mathematics, it highlights how concepts like…
The example of the calculus is used to explain how simple, practical math was made enormously complex by imposing on it the Western religiously-colored notion of mathematics as "perfect". We describe a pedagogical experiment to make math…
Physics makes powerful use of mathematics, yet the way this use is made is often poorly understood. Professionals closely integrate their mathematical symbology with physical meaning, resulting in a powerful and productive structure. But…
The basic notions of logic-predicate logic, Peano arithmetic, incompleteness theorems, etc.-have for long been an advanced topic. In the last decades, they became more widely taught, inphilosophy, mathematics, and computer science…
Much of Mathematics, and therefore Physics as well, have been limited by four rather consequential restrictions. Two of them are ancient taboos, one is an ancient and no longer felt as such bondage, and the fourth is a surprising omission…
These lectures on supersymmetry and extra dimensions are aimed at finishing undergraduate and beginning postgraduate students with a background in quantum field theory and group theory. Basic knowledge in general relativity might be…
Mathematics is one of the ways our species makes sense of this world and I believe that it is inherent in our thinking machinery. The mathematics we do in turn is dependent on the way we view our universe and ourselves. Lakoff and Nunez…
The aim of this paper is to present a didactical sequence that fosters the development of meanings related to fractions, conceived as numbers that can be placed on the number line. The sequence was carried out in various elementary school…