Mathematical Secrets of the Universe
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Mathematical secrets of the Universe 42 and therebefore : Mechanics and Continuum Mechanics The Greeks also had formulae for perimeters and vol- umes of various interesting shapes. Thus quantifica- “The answer was 42” thus starts the classic Hitchhik- tion of geometry had certainly begun a long time ago. ers Guide to the Galaxy. The fourth generation com- But the philosophy that set the stage for the mod- puter to be invented in some future century finally ern applicability of mathematics to physics may be produced the answer to a problem posed centuries traced to Descartes in 1550’s when he unified num- earlier; by which time the question has been forgot- bers and geometry, providing analytical basis to ge- ten. The author is intentionally cruel in choosing this ometry. The developers of calculus, notably New- most unremarkable number, in order that the parody ton in 1660’s essentially built upon this approach to would not be missed on us. It is a number with three convert dynamics into rates of change. Physical sys- prime factors, an even number to boot. tem was geometrically ambedded in space and time, Theoretical physicists also believe that the secrets the latter were expressible as cartesian continuua, la- of the Universe will be delivered to them on a plat- belled by his method, and so dynamics became anal- ter; except that they expect the answer to be both ysis. awefully clever and terribly simple, both at the same One may observe at this point that the mathemat- time. And ever since General Theory of Relativ- ics of Infinitesimal Calculus was indeed motivated by ity, Physicists are big believers in shapes rather than Physics, so it should not be a surprise that it was im- numbers, Geometry rather than Analysis, and as such minently applicable to Physics. Well, the plot thick- they seek this holy grail of a secret in some horribly ens and the story gets longer, so that only when one complicated shapes in six dimensions ( Kalabi-Yau finally arrives in the twentieth century that one is sur- manifolds of complex dimension three), albeit as so- prised to find branches of Physics suddenly becoming lutions of a terribly simple differential equation, at explicable by Mathematics developed in completely least in its structure if not in its detail. different contexts, as we will see below. Newton proved using his Calculus that the 1=r2 Why should one expect Mathematics to be so rel- law leads to a differential equation whose solution evant to Physics? Let us recall the great “Eureka” correctly reproduces Kepler’s laws. A large body experiment. Archimedes was the first to define a of mathematics subsequently developed to solve the concept which is obvious in hindsight but is tech- problems of point particle mechanics as also of fluid nical in its definition. Who would think of dividing mechanics, elasticity, vibrations and sound and light weight by volume, two dimensionally unrelated quan- propagation. A large systematic body of development tities? But it was through this that he came to a here was the development of partila differential equa- clear criterion for floatation. This is a first clear use tions and of special functions, clearly acknowledged of numbers to arrive at a physical law. Archimedes is as inspired by Mathematical Physics. Among other also credited with the laws of the lever, and with his landmark developments in Mathematics of the nine- audacious statement about lifting the earth by the teenth century, relevant to our topic was Differential arm of a lever. Here again we multiply a force and Geometry, which at the time of its development had a distance. Much later it would become angular mo- little or no application to Physics. And these are the mentum. The most audacious attempt of Archimedes topics worth thinking of as we recount the relevance though was written in a memoire, addressed to his pa- of Mathematics to Physics. tron, in which he estimated how many grains of rice ( or something similar) it would take to fill the Uni- General Theory of Relativity verse [1]. Fortunately Archimedes lived in the happy times when the Universe was much smaller than our Come twentieth century and the first sign of Math- estimates of its now. His Universe extends a few hun- ematics serving as a key to Physics was Einstein’s dred miles above the earth, surprisingly comparable application of Differential Geometry to Gravity. Ein- to the height of the atmosphere. ( And the inte- stein had an uncanny insight by which he could re- rior of the earth is gratuitously overlooked). Much duce complicated situation to a few simple formu- later in our time, Fermi was to become famous for lae relating the essential quantities. His disarmingly making audacious estimates of all kinds of numbers, simple relationship between change in rest mass and through childish experiments and guesswork method available energy is all too well known. But faced with which have become known by his name. the challenge of mathematically implementing the 1 equivalence of inertial mass and rest mass of parti- ciple in conjunction with de Broglie’s hypothesis of cles, he needed to resort to more sophisticated Math- waves associated with massive particles. de Broglie ematics. Fortunately, Riemann, generalising Gauss actually believed in pilot waves, present over and had developed just the concepts in 1870’s, needed to above the particle itself in the classical sense, and ac- accommodate the new Physics Einstein was thinking companying the latter like pilot motorcycles in front of. More importantly, while Riemann had left behind of dignitaries’ motorcades. No such waves have ever a philosophical bluprint, Lévi-Civita just in the years been found and this great historic hint has only left 1902 to 1908 had developed the full fledged appara- behind a trail of confusion under the title “wave par- tus of covariant differential calculus. Einstein had in ticle duality”. As dirac clarified in his textbook treat- Marcel Grossmann a “mathematical assistant” who ment, there was no such duality. In retrospect we can could understand these methods and assisted Ein- say that de Brogli’s observation amounted to associ- stein in formulating his hypotheses. The two of them ating a length scale, a “wavelength”, λ = h=p to mo- worked closely until 1914 after which Grossmann left mentum value p because Planck’s constant h provided the collaboration. It was in 1915 that Einstein finally a natural dimensional conversion. Schrödinger could succeeded in arriving at the equations of General Rel- propose a linear equation giving space-time evolution ativity, entirely from a requirement of internal consis- of superposition of momentum eigenstates due to the tency within the paradigm of Differential Geometry. underlying Superposition Principle. In the wave pic- It is interesting that David Hilbert the famous ture however this key principle of Quantum Mechan- mathematician had one assistant assigned to each ics somehow gets obfuscated in popular understand- of the major branches of mathematical physics, Me- ing by the hopelessness induced by the visual effect chanics, Electromagnetism, Fluid Mechanics, etc, be- of a “spreading wave packet” in contrast to a classical cause he thought “Physics was too important to be point particle trundling along a Newtonian trajec- left to Physicists”. Hilbert through his assistants was tory. This grand historical misunderstanding feeding aware of Einstein’s valiant attempts at guessing the the mills of philosophical writing, indeed challeng- laws of General Relativity purely from mathematical ing the completeness of Quantum Mechanical under- reasoning. In 1908 Einstein made the first prediction standing of nature, deserves a separate treatment. of General Relativity, the bending of light by a heavy Wave Mechanics suddenly brought to life again gravitating object. But this only gave the influence all the special functions of Mathematical Physics. of gravity on test particles, independent of their rest Originally developed to tackle completely different mass. What determined Gravity’s own dynamics was problems, now they were summoned to determine not yet known. Einstein and Grossmann faced deep eignevalues of a variety of quantum Hamiltonians. conceptual difficulties which were communicated to More interestingly, the symmetries of the dynamics the Prussian Academy in a series of three-monthly had to now be implemented through their realisation reports. Hilbert was thus aware of the technical prob- as linear representations of various classically known lems Einstein faced. In 1915 Hilbert therefore arrived groups. Group theory was developed in Mathemat- at the equations of General Relativity five days before ics by Galois and Abel to tackle problems internal Einstein [2], by a different route, indeed a route that to Mathemtics, the solution of polynomial equations should have been more familiar to a Physicist. Hilber etc. Rotation group was a focus of Felix Klein’s pro- could find the complex set of differential equations be gramme of classifying algebraic invariants as a way varying an action principle, which could contain only of understanding geometry. All of a sudden these a scalar. While Einstein struggled with the full ten- methods arcane to Physics were in the mainstream. sor structure of the differential equations, there was a The proponent of these methods, Eugene Wigner was unique scalar in Riamannian geometry which Hilbert himself led to remark that there is a “rather unrea- could exploit to arrive at the same equations. sonable applicability of Mathematics to Physics.” Quantum Mechanics Fibre bundles But more was yet to come. Quantum Mechanics A grand synthesis of all these ideas was arrived at in seemed to demand considerably greater sophistica- what are now called Yang-Mills theories. This frame- tion than was used by Physicists until then. Matrix work has been successful in providing a description of algebra was not a part of a physicist’s standard train- three of the four fundamental interactions of nature.