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What could be the real world applications of this discovery? On a more general note, does all research have real world applications?

jfengel 6y ago
There are almost certainly no real world applications. Most pure mathematical research never has real world applications. On the other hand, every once in while it gives you the foundations of e-commerce and is worth a trillion dollars. And it doesn't cost much, since all it requires is coffee and computers. So all told it's pretty cost effective. And no, we never have the faintest idea which fundamental research will turn out to be insanely profitable. Is it the case this time? No, probably not. But it cost very little to do, and maybe it enables something else.
CliffStoll 6y ago
Modern mathematics, like much of science, often isn't directed at real world problems. Consider cosmology, string theory, gravity waves ...
- romwell 6y ago
  >Modern mathematics, like much of science, often isn't directed at real world problems. So is ancient mathematics. And non ancient mathematics. A lot of good mathematics is inspired or comes from real-world problems, but even more does not. At a very fundamental level, mathematics is a curious exploration of an interesting "What if...", where you get to make up whatever you want in that "...", and see where it gets you.
romwell 6y ago
>does all research have real world applications? The simple answer is: no. To quote Feynman: "Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - this applies to all research. Mathematics especially so, because it is not science, but an art form. The only difference between what people consider "good mathematics" and what isn't is what people consider beautiful, interesting, intriguing (usually, being correct is necessary for being beautiful, but not always: Fermat's Last Theorem has been on the minds of mathematicians for a very long time despite its proof being incorrect; and interesting conjectures are the driving force of this art). It's a very humane experience, this mathematics of ours.
- ncmncm 6y ago
  New vistas of mathematics open up when what was once ugly comes to be appreciated, usually two or more generations after its first exploration. The history shows up in terminology: "irrational" numbers were once anathema, but had to be accepted (although the feelings about the word might have arisen in the other direction). "Negative" numbers came a lot later, and only after zero, which was disliked. "Imaginary" is another. After the bad numbers had to be accepted, we needed a name for the good ones: thus, "natural". Transcendentals got a free pass because of pi, so got a nice name. Infinities are still causing trouble. Like irrationals, they are named for what they are not.

jfengel 6y ago

There are almost certainly no real world applications. Most pure mathematical research never has real world applications. On the other hand, every once in while it gives you the foundations of e-commerce and is worth a trillion dollars. And it doesn't cost much, since all it requires is coffee and computers. So all told it's pretty cost effective. And no, we never have the faintest idea which fundamental research will turn out to be insanely profitable. Is it the case this time? No, probably not. But it cost very little to do, and maybe it enables something else.

CliffStoll 6y ago

Modern mathematics, like much of science, often isn't directed at real world problems. Consider cosmology, string theory, gravity waves ...

romwell 6y ago
>Modern mathematics, like much of science, often isn't directed at real world problems. So is ancient mathematics. And non ancient mathematics. A lot of good mathematics is inspired or comes from real-world problems, but even more does not. At a very fundamental level, mathematics is a curious exploration of an interesting "What if...", where you get to make up whatever you want in that "...", and see where it gets you.

romwell 6y ago

>does all research have real world applications? The simple answer is: no. To quote Feynman: "Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - this applies to all research. Mathematics especially so, because it is not science, but an art form. The only difference between what people consider "good mathematics" and what isn't is what people consider beautiful, interesting, intriguing (usually, being correct is necessary for being beautiful, but not always: Fermat's Last Theorem has been on the minds of mathematicians for a very long time despite its proof being incorrect; and interesting conjectures are the driving force of this art). It's a very humane experience, this mathematics of ours.

ncmncm 6y ago
New vistas of mathematics open up when what was once ugly comes to be appreciated, usually two or more generations after its first exploration. The history shows up in terminology: "irrational" numbers were once anathema, but had to be accepted (although the feelings about the word might have arisen in the other direction). "Negative" numbers came a lot later, and only after zero, which was disliked. "Imaginary" is another. After the bad numbers had to be accepted, we needed a name for the good ones: thus, "natural". Transcendentals got a free pass because of pi, so got a nice name. Infinities are still causing trouble. Like irrationals, they are named for what they are not.