The most counterintuitive result ever!!!!

[smstonypoint]

Newtonian physics seem commonsensical to me and Einstein's theories don't seem that far-fetched. Common sense (at least mine) seems to fly out the window with quantum mechanics and escapes completely when it comes to string theory.

I'm going to take the physicists' words at face value -- that the result is useful in physics.

Anyhow, here's some advice I picked up when I was in college.

If you wake up in a lab and something stinks, you're in chemistry lab.

If you wake up and there's something moving on your lab table, you're in biology lab.

If you wake up and the instructor is saying, "If this had worked the way it was supposed to, .......," you're in physics lab.

Steve

 

[MoKelly]

Actually, BELOW zero....

I still have that oceanfront property in Arizona available. From the porch, you can see the sea.

Interested?

MoKelly

 

[MoKelly]

We live in 3 dimensions (excluding time).

Einstein's theories suggest that there are an unlimited number of dimensions.

Superstring theory brings the number of dimensions back to 9 (excluding time).

Since we live in 3 dimensions and there are 9 dimensions --- where are the other dimensions? Either they are too small for us to see (they are a micro set of our world) or they are too large for us to see (we are a micro set of their world). In either case, it does create interesting questions those with time and inclination can spend lots of energy studying.

Not me though. I am trying to sell some property in Arizona.

MoKelly

 

[smstonypoint]

Superstring theory brings the number of dimensions back to 9 (excluding time).

I am trying to sell some property in Arizona.

MoKelly

As I understand it, one of the "string theories" allows for a total of 26 dimensions.

At any rate, I built a house on your Arizona property using three of the dimensions you were not using. I hope you don't mind.

Steve

 

[MoKelly]

As I understand it, one of the "string theories" allows for a total of 26 dimensions.

At any rate, I built a house on your Arizona property using three of the dimensions you were not using. I hope you don't mind.

Steve

Not a problem since either theory of the existence of those dimensions will not block the view of the ocean.

MoKelly

 

[LD1]

I still have that oceanfront property in Arizona available. From the porch, you can see the sea.

Interested?

MoKelly

Nope.

 

[MoKelly]

Nope.

Oh well. I just have to believe that Mr. Barnum was correct.

MoKelly

 

[MoKelly]

Just an aside. As we think about all this mathematical, infinity, superstring theory/dimensions/gravity stuff, my wife just took a picture of our dog with her phone, pressed a button and a sleek, high quality picture printed in a room 2 stories down and half a house away on a machine no bigger than 50 sheets of paper. She also pressed a button and my son at college 250 miles away saw the picture, smiled and pressed his own button and printed the same picture for his wall.

Now, in my mind, that is what I call amazing.

MoKelly

 

[beemerphile]

Math is hard. Coming from an Economics major...Just don't have the energy in my off time.

Engineering is math. Economics is arithmetic. :-J

...my wife just took a picture of our dog with her phone,...

Now, in my mind, that is what I call amazing.

Yes, a dog with a phone is amazing.

 

[smstonypoint]

Engineering is math. Economics is arithmetic. :-J

Says someone who has never looked at an economics or finance journal (e.g.,Econometrica, American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Finance, etc.). Accounting is arithmetic.

Steve

 

[DarkBlack]

Even if you are math-phobic, you should be able to answer this question.

Suppose you sum all the positive integers from 1 through infinity (1+2+3+............... ).

The answer is a really, really, really, really big number, right?

Well, no. I still haven't wrapped my mind around the idea, but the answer is -1/12.:confused2::confused2::confused2:

The proof is here:

[video]http://www.numberphile.com/videos/analytical_continuation1.html[/video]

Steve

I don't get the awe, or confusion. You said the sum of positive integers.
The first example the guy does in the video is put +1 -1 +2 -2...etc...

 

[smstonypoint]

I don't get the awe, or confusion. You said the sum of positive integers.
The first example the guy does in the video is put +1 -1 +2 -2...etc...

You need to watch the video a second time. Wear your glasses this time.

Steve

 

[DarkBlack]

You need to watch the video a second time. Wear your glasses this time.

Steve

watched it again. @ 1:20 into it, he's summing -1, -2 etc. Those are negative #'s not positive #'s, unless math has changed since I was in school.

 

[smstonypoint]

watched it again. @ 1:20 into it, he's summing -1, -2 etc. Those are negative #'s not positive #'s, unless math has changed since I was in school.

The initial question is what is the sum of all the positive integers from 1 through infinity (1+2+3+............... ).

The (informal) proof involves additional steps including multiplication, subtraction, etc.

Steve

 

[timswi]

Says someone who has never looked at an economics or finance journal (e.g.,Econometrica, American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Finance, etc.). Accounting is arithmetic.

Steve

Accounting and Economics are different animals to be sure as are the calculations I utilize in SAS programs to begin the analysis process.

 

[smstonypoint]

Accounting and Economics are different animals to be sure as are the calculations I utilize in SAS programs to begin the analysis process.

I apologize for this in advance.

So, you are a "PROC - tologist."

Steve

PS -- I'm getting old. I think the first SAS manual I owned was well short of 200 pages in length.

 

[timswi]

I apologize for this in advance.

So, you are a "PROC - tologist."

Steve

PS -- I'm getting old. I think the first SAS manual I owned was well short of 200 pages in length.

I suppose you could say that--Sometimes it feels that way too....Truly amazing what that software is capable of, I doubt anyone on the planet knows everything it can do..Dr Goodnight et.al. created a masterpiece.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Even if you are math-phobic, you should be able to answer this question.

Suppose you sum all the positive integers from 1 through infinity (1+2+3+............... ).

The answer is a really, really, really, really big number, right?

Well, no. I still haven't wrapped my mind around the idea, but the answer is -1/12.:confused2::confused2::confused2:

The proof is here:

[video]http://www.numberphile.com/videos/analytical_continuation1.html[/video]

Steve

Only if you work in the Congressional Budget Office, the IRS, or the Fed.

 

[Marveltone]

I've found that many theories don't hold water in the real world. For that, you need a bucket. I can hold a bucket and it can hold water. Theory makes my critters thirsty and my brain hurt.

Joe

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I think that string theory has evolved into plane theory for anyone who is interested. That stuff is so far out there that it twists the mind. Mr. Hawking is pretty dam impressive what he comes up with in his mind and I'm always fascinated when I read anything he writes about. Look into the theory about black holes. That gets into some trippy math as well!!