ATON is a hopefully evolving classification theory. It aspires to unify knowledge around numbers and prefers naive methods. Some of the older posts are wrong but I'll keep them for the sake of continuity.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Thirteen Aspects of Mathematics

My previous post "64 Aspects of Mathematics" assumed 8 elementary theories and predicted higher order theories through a non-commutative multiplication of the octet by itself.

This post is a speculation on the resemblance of the octet to the major scale of the 12 tone equally tempered music. The octet classification has some imperfections that may be addressed better in a stack of 13 (12+1).

The major scale has a modular symmetry when the octave of the root is appended (2C gives a feeling of completion);

(((C,D),(E,F)),((G,A),(B,2C)))

This symmetry can be heard easily by trained ears. The Stern-Brocot Tree easily explains this modularity. Modular Group, SL(2,C), is mentioned in many papers dealing with the music theory.

The equal tempered music is a marriage of two symmetries; the modular group and the logarithm. The cycle of fifths almost meets the octaves in 7 octaves;

((3/2)^12)/2^7 = 1.0136

This is the miracle that makes the equal temperament possible. I think this is not an accident.

The 13 tone stack is;

C,#C,D,#D,E,F,#F,G,#G,A,#A,B,2C

The mathematics octet can similarly be expanded by filling in the missing theories;

Set
-Logic
Analysis
-DifferentialG ... ?
Geometry
Algebra
-Combinatorics ... ?
Probability ... QM
-StochasticP ... QFT
Statistics ... SM
-Inference ... Td
Computation ... SR
Information ... GR

Logic for #C and so on. The most interesting part of this comparison is the relationship of the first to the last;

(Set,Information) ... (C,2C)

Obviously there is a very simple relationship between C and 2C. Is there such a thing for the Set and the Information Theories? There are some studies on this subject. A notable one is by Gregory J. Chaitin, "Gödel's Theorem and Information";

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~chaitin/georgia.html

I have come across a few studies (proofs?) of Riemann's Hypothesis via the concept of entropy. But as far as I know these are not taken to be the last word yet.

When the experiment part is compared to a classification of physics, IT corresponds to General Relativity. Perhaps this is why the Black Holes have a simple entropy equation. The Modular Group and General Relativity relationship is also all over the net.

The Thermodynamics (Td) and Special Relativity (SR) neighborhood is also interesting;

http://arxiv.org/abs/0712.3793
"On the Relationship between Thermodynamics and Special Relativity"

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