The Relation Between Mathematics and Physics by Paul Dirac
4 days ago
- Physics advances through experiment/observation and mathematical reasoning; the latter's success suggests a mathematical quality in Nature.
- The 19th-century mechanistic scheme used simple equations for fundamental laws, but relativity shifted the principle from simplicity to mathematical beauty.
- Quantum mechanics introduced non-commutative algebra, deepening the connection between pure mathematics and physics, though it added indeterminacy via quantum jumps.
- The new cosmology (e.g., Lemaitre's theory) posits a beginning of time (~2×10⁹ years ago), implying evolving laws of Nature and reducing the role of initial conditions.
- Dirac speculates that future physics may unify all description of the universe with mathematics, possibly linking the history of the cosmos to properties of natural numbers.