Do you believe in infinity? I mean really believe!

Speaker: Timothy Palmer (Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics, Senior Alumni Fellow, Oxford Martin Institute; Professorial Fellow at Jesus College)
Series: SciSoc – Cambridge University Scientific Society
Admission (organiser's words): [All talks are free to attend.]

[All talks are free to attend.]

Newton’s discovery of the calculus allowed the concept of infinity (in the form of infinitesimals) to be hard baked into his equations of motion. But in classical physics, for the most part, we can replace infinitesimals with small but finite numbers and the predictions more or less stay the same. However, things are very different in quantum mechanics. Here the continuum of real and complex numbers plays a vital role and the theory cannot be approximated by somehow discretising this continuum, without radically changing the nature of the theory. But maybe a radical overhaul is needed in any case. After all, despite a century of intense research, quantum mechanics remains incomprehensible and seemingly unable to be synthesised successfully with gravitational theories of physics.

But this talk (low on technical mathematics, high on conceptual foundations) is not just about abstract metaphysics. For anyone considering investing in a quantum computing company, I will be urging you to think very hard indeed about whether you really believe in infinity. The success of your investment may depend on whether or not infinity really exists!