Deflating Hyperspace

[Ray Easton]

On Sunday, Apr 1, 2007, at 07:25 US/Central, Monte Davis wrote:

Monte has expressed most of what I have to say about these questions 
better than I would have, but I will add a couple of observations about 
the math in AtD.

> Laura:
>
>> I mean, when TRP talks about quaternions, Riemann space, and
>> zeta functions, is he merely name-dropping?... How
>> much of the math and science does TRP appear to understand
>> from what he writes in ATD?
>

Regarding the zeta function, try as I might I cannot find anything 
about the actual math involved with this that has resonances with of 
the themes of AtD.  (Of course, this may simply be a failure of my 
imagination!)  But the term "zetamaniac" is revealing, I think, of the 
intent.  The zeta function is exactly what an "enthusiast" would have 
been studying at Gottingen at the time in question.  Y. seems to hope 
that she will achieve a transcendence of some sort if she can penetrate 
into the mysteries of the zeta function.  That belief is utter nonsense 
  -- which is, I think, largely the point.

Along similar lines, the quaternion versus vector analysis debate is 
more like a theological argument than a scientific or physical one.

> Can he formulate and solve problems in those disciplines? I doubt it; 
> that's
> a skill that needs steady exercise. Does he understand them at a solid
> undergraduate level -- say, as well as a good science writer who tests 
> his
> comprehension in discussions with practitioners? Yes.
>

I agree with Monte that the evidence is that P. understands the math.  
But the characters do not always understand it as well as he.  The most 
striking example occurs near the end, when Kit reflects on the 
Banach-Tarski paradox, and contemplates its possible physical 
significance.  No one who truly understands the math of the B-T paradox 
could even for a moment imagine that it has the slightest physical 
significance.  Again, as Monte has pointed out, it is the uses to which 
the math is put in the characters dreams/lives that is important, not 
the actual content of the math itself.

Ray