5 ms·

and an application ... what can I use it for?

Mountain_Skies 6y ago
Perhaps not much now but a use for them might come along and it will be good that this will be there ready to fill the need. It's my understanding that quaternions were mostly a curiosity when first described in the mid 1800s but now are used extensively in computing. From wikipedia "quaternions are used in computer graphics, computer vision, robotics, control theory, signal processing, attitude control, physics, bioinformatics, molecular dynamics, computer simulations, and orbital mechanics." When Sir William Rowan Hamilton first described them, he had no concept of most of the above, much less that quaternions would be important for them. Good for us that he still pushed forward with them.
101008 6y ago
First paragraph of the article says something interesting that can be useful at parties :)
dpatterbee 6y ago
I can't possibly imagine why you would want an application for recently developed mathematics. I would have thought that by now mathematics would have proven its worth enough to not have to justify itself.
- enchiridion 6y ago
  Because most people here are engineers, not mathematicians. The newness of mathematics has little to do with its utility, so it is reasonable to ask if there are any relevant applications.
- xmprt 6y ago
  I'm doubt there's an immediate application for this result but have there been any similar proofs in the past and what have those been applied to?
- visarga 6y ago
  I assumed an implied AI application on graphs.
jerf 6y ago
Ramsey theory in a nutshell is about studying what must be true about graphs as they get large in certain ways, because the very size of the graph makes it impossible for the things to be false any longer. My impression is that it tends to be more useful for putting bounds on how good a practical technique can be rather than directly producing said direct techniques. It's not quite the same as complexity theory in computer science, but it's a pretty close analogy. Complexity theory doesn't necessarily have a lot of direct use, but it's certainly indirectly useful to engineering, and a very useful tool for an engineer to have in their toolbelt for measuring and talking about things that are otherwise too abstract to measure. Even if you aren't inclined to study it directly yourself, don't slag on it, because you benefit from the people who do.
- visarga 6y ago
  Thanks, great answer
politician 6y ago
cryptocurrency

Perhaps not much now but a use for them might come along and it will be good that this will be there ready to fill the need. It's my understanding that quaternions were mostly a curiosity when first described in the mid 1800s but now are used extensively in computing. From wikipedia "quaternions are used in computer graphics, computer vision, robotics, control theory, signal processing, attitude control, physics, bioinformatics, molecular dynamics, computer simulations, and orbital mechanics." When Sir William Rowan Hamilton first described them, he had no concept of most of the above, much less that quaternions would be important for them. Good for us that he still pushed forward with them.

101008 6y ago

First paragraph of the article says something interesting that can be useful at parties :)

dpatterbee 6y ago

I can't possibly imagine why you would want an application for recently developed mathematics. I would have thought that by now mathematics would have proven its worth enough to not have to justify itself.

enchiridion 6y ago
Because most people here are engineers, not mathematicians. The newness of mathematics has little to do with its utility, so it is reasonable to ask if there are any relevant applications.
xmprt 6y ago
I'm doubt there's an immediate application for this result but have there been any similar proofs in the past and what have those been applied to?
visarga 6y ago
I assumed an implied AI application on graphs.

jerf 6y ago

Ramsey theory in a nutshell is about studying what must be true about graphs as they get large in certain ways, because the very size of the graph makes it impossible for the things to be false any longer. My impression is that it tends to be more useful for putting bounds on how good a practical technique can be rather than directly producing said direct techniques. It's not quite the same as complexity theory in computer science, but it's a pretty close analogy. Complexity theory doesn't necessarily have a lot of direct use, but it's certainly indirectly useful to engineering, and a very useful tool for an engineer to have in their toolbelt for measuring and talking about things that are otherwise too abstract to measure. Even if you aren't inclined to study it directly yourself, don't slag on it, because you benefit from the people who do.

visarga 6y ago
Thanks, great answer

politician 6y ago

cryptocurrency