Back to AtD Zeta functions

[Madeleine Maudlin]

Oh that silly *Second Law*.  Like it was written in stone or something.
 Are people still writing about it?


On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Prashant Kumar <
siva.prashant.kumar at gmail.com> wrote:

> I like to say that entropy is a trope present in every work of fiction
> (especially Things Fall Apart, amirite? Anyone? Anyone? Ok fine...) insofar
> as everything is subject to the thermodynamic arrow of time. (over a long
> enough timescale)
>
>
> On Monday, 16 July 2012, Mark Kohut wrote:
>
>> The Annie Liebowitz reminder was wonderfully ironic about a solid woman
>> thinker/writer who was NOT as ironic as TRP, imho.
>>
>> And, short Wittgenstein answer is we need a longer answer and time but
>> that TRP might use the ideas creatively, metaphorically, as
>> he does the concepts of entropy and other concepts is still possible.
>>
>>   *From:* Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net>
>> *To:* pynchon-l at waste.org
>> *Sent:* Monday, July 16, 2012 6:57 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: Back to AtD Zeta functions
>>
>>  On 7/16/2012 12:08 AM, Prashant Kumar wrote:
>>
>> So actually the imaginary numbers used in representing voltage don't
>> represent real or *measurable* quantities. It's just a mathematical
>> convenience. The salient point is this: we can't directly measure anything
>> with an *i*.
>>
>> Strangely, physical entities with imaginary components do exist, such as
>> the wavefunction of a quantum mechanical system. There was a result in
>> Nature recently that proved that the wavefunction is not just a statement
>> of knowledge, it represents more than just probabilities. If anyone is
>> interested I can go into this, but the short answer is Witt was wrong
>>
>>
>> Thanks, Prashant.  I withdraw my voltage example.
>>
>> Luddy wrong too.  I'm in such good company.
>>
>> P
>>
>>
>> On 16 July 2012 11:01, Lemuel Underwing <luunderwing at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> As someone who suffers from an inability to properly understand maths I
>> thank you, 'twas certainly helpful.
>>
>> It is hard for me to imagine who any of this has to do with Annie
>> Leibovitz... I take it some folks have a hard time figuring out what is
>> just *White Noise* in Pynchon...?
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 8:25 AM, Prashant Kumar <
>> siva.prashant.kumar at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> First we're gonna need complex numbers, made of a real part (normal
>> numbers) plus an imaginary part. Imaginary numbers are defined by multiples
>> of *i*=squareroot(-1). Imagine a 2D graph, the vertical axis marked with
>> multiples of *i* and the horizontal axis with real numbers. So on this
>> 2D graph we can define a complex number as a point. Call such a point s =
>> \sigma + \rho, \sigma and \rho being real and imaginary numbers resp.
>>
>> Since it takes real and imaginary inputs, and we plot the output in the
>> third dimension, the Riemann Zeta function can be visualised as a surface
>> sitting above the complex number graph; that's what you saw, Mark (see here
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_zeta_function for the same thing
>> with magnitude represented as colour).  If I have a RZ function, writing R
>> as a function of s as R(s), the zeroes are the values of s for which
>> R(s)=0.  The Riemann Hypothesis (unproven) states that the zeroes of the RZ
>> function have real part 1/2. Formally, R(1/2 + \rho) = 0. This gives you a
>> line on the surface of the RZ function (known as the critical line) along
>> which the zeroes are hypothesised to lie. That wasn't too bad, right?
>>
>> Verifying this hypothesis is notoriously hard.
>>
>> On 15 July 2012 21:27, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> "Except that this one's horizontal and drawn on a grid of latitude and
>> longitude,
>> instead of rel vs imaginary values---where Riemann said that all the
>> zeroes of the
>> Beta function will be found."
>>
>> p. 937 Don't know enough math to have a feel for Zeta functions but
>> Wolfram's
>> maths guide online shows Beta functions kinda graphed in three dimensions,
>> with raised sections, waves, folds etc....
>>
>> And all I can associate at the moment are the raised maps, showing land
>> formations,
>> and the phrase
>>
>> History is a step-function.
>>
>> Anyone, anyone? Bueller?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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