Cosmology = Topology/Geometry: Mathematical Evidence for the Holographic Principle

Adel Alahmadi, David Glynn

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In August 2015 NORDITA (Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics) hosted a conference where Hawking strongly supported the conjectured relationship between string theory and quantum fields that was initiated with the holographic principle some 20 years ago by't Hooft, Maldacena, Susskind and Witten. We bring together results of several papers showing how mathematics can come to the party: the fundamentals of flat (even higher-dimensional) space can be derived very simply from topological properties on a surface. Specifically, Desargues, Pappus or other configurations do not have to be assumed a priori or as self-evident (a fundamental weakness of Hilbert's work in 1899) to develop the foundations of geometry. Are black holes places where non-commutative (quantum) behaviour reigns while Euclidean (flat) space is where commutativity holds sway? So, we cannot hope to look inside a black hole unless we know how “deformable” topology is related to “flat” geometry.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)31-38
    Number of pages8
    JournalPAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA
    Volume150
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • Cosmology
    • Desargues theorem
    • Geometrical configuration
    • Graph
    • History of mathematics
    • Holographic principle
    • Pappus theorem
    • Projective geometry
    • Quantum mechanics
    • Topological surface

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