Why mathematics is important in physics

Department of Energy. The collaboration marked a successful first official math and physics crossover collaboration at Penn. As Ovrut explains, the work was focused on a specific kind of string theory and required extremely close interactions between physics and math researchers. And in terms of embracing cultural differences, physicists like Kamien, who works on problems with a strong connection to geometry and topology, encourages his group members to try to understand math the way mathematicians do instead of only seeing it as a tool for their work.

F- theory: A branch of string theory developed in the mids. Instead of 10 dimensions, there are 12, but two are always curled up. F-theory is easier to describe in mathematical terms and is also better at reproducing observations from the standard model. M-theory: A branch of string theory that is trying to unify all of the consistent versions of string theory. Symmetry: A physical or mathematical feature of a physical system that remains constant when undergoing a transformation.

For an object in space, like a sphere, an example of a transformation would be a rotation or a mirror. Adding extra symmetries makes string theory problems easier to work with and allows researchers to ask questions about the properties of geometric structures and how they correspond to real-world physics.

Building off previous work by Heckman, Lawrie and Lin were able to extract physical features from known geometries in five-dimensional systems to see if those particles overlapped with standard model particles.

Using their knowledge of both physics and math, the researchers showed that geometries in different dimensions are all related mathematically, which means they can study particles in different dimensions more easily. Lawrie adds that being able to work directly with mathematicians is also helpful in their field since understanding new math research can be a challenge, even for theoretical physics researchers. While studying a seven-dimensional manifold as part of his Ph. While Barbosa says that the work was challenging, especially being the only mathematician in the group, he also found it rewarding.

He enjoyed being able to provide mathematical explanations for certain difficult concepts and relished the rare opportunity to work so closely with researchers outside of his field while still in graduate school. Heckman is also a member of this new ambidextrous generation of researchers, and in his two years at Penn he has co-authored several papers and started new projects with mathematicians.

He says that researchers who want to be successful in the future need to be able to balance the needs of both fields. Jul 15, , am EDT. Jul 8, , am EDT. Jul 1, , am EDT. Jul 20, , am EDT.

Jul 19, , am EDT. Jul 18, , am EDT. Jul 17, , am EDT. Jul 16, , am EDT. Edit Story. Nov 2, , am EDT. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website. Chad Orzel. Physicists think differently - equations tell them how concepts are linked together.

The symbol on the left side of the equation represents the concept "average velocity". Since there are two symbols forgetting the division sign, and the counts as one symbol on the right side, to a physicist, the equation says among other things that the average velocity of an object depends on two and only two other concepts - the object's displacement , and the time it has been moving t.

Thus equations tell scientists how concepts are related to one another. Once an idea is expressed in mathematical form, you can use the rules axioms, theorems, etc. If the original statement is correct, and you follow the rules faithfully, your final statement will also be correct.

This is what you do when you "solve" a mathematics problem. The reason for this problem is deep rooted and far more complex. Apart from the non availability of international standard facilities and proper funding, for example in our own country, another setback is inculcated in the very system of education, especially science education. In India, science, right from the grass root level, is taught without considering its philosophical implications, ethics, beauty and the higher picture of every simple entity which children find in their school books.

It is taught just as any other subject of literature, which ends up in just rote learning to pass the exams. This is the case not only in the schools but it extends to even most colleges and institutes. The students enrolled in scientific and technological courses in these institutes fail to get a real taste of science, hence study the syllabus just for the sake of passing exams and getting good marks.

But this practice has many ill effects, as when a student does not try to go into the deeper insights of a concept; he fails to get into the heart of the problem which is very necessary for the proper development of scientific knowledge. As a result, with passing time, things become fainter from his memory with the concepts still unclear and hence on pursuing further research or teaching with fuzzy basics create barriers and limitations in the quality of output.

This is one of the most fundamental causes for lower rate of productivity in the scientific arena of our country.