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Re: number theory as a Physical theory?

Subject: Re: number theory as a Physical theory?
From: "J. Horta"
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 19:23:09 GMT
Newsgroups: sci.math, sci.physics
On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 04:08:16 -0700, gsax wrote:

> Hi
> 
>  I read in Penrose's "Emperor's new Mind ", that Euclidean geometry is
> actually a Physical theory derived from our sense-experiences of the
> world around us.
> 
>  That is why its axioms seemed so obviously true..
> 
> Hence Non-Euclidean geometries took time to be accepted as vaild.
> 
> Is it possible that even our concept of numbers is similarly inspired.
> 
> And so Number theory is as much a Physical theory as Euclidean
> geometry.
> 
> If this is true , then what would be the analog of Non-euclidiean
> geometries, to out 'conventional' number theory..
> 
> thanks 
> Gsax

I don't view it as an analog of non-euclidean geometry but ring 
theory is a well studied algebraic abstraction (generalization) 
of the concept of integers. If a, b are memebers of a ring R, then
a+b = b+a is in R as are a*b and one has a*(b+c) = a*b+a*c. Often 
a*b != b*a and one has a non-commutative ring. In QM operators 
acting on a hilbert space of states form non-commutative rings.


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