What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact physicists

Re:What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact physic... by vanderZwan on Thursday August 11, 2016 @05:06PM (#12271534)

Is this related to that whole -1/12 business, which they talk about in this Numberphile video[0]? Because the video suggests it's ongoing work in mathematics and that it shows up in unexpected places in theoretical physics.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oazb7IWzbA

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Re:What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact physic... by gohrt on Thursday August 11, 2016 @06:58PM (#12272277)

The Numerphile video has been debunked by everyone else in the math-popularization community: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/does-123-... (and also see discussion of that article on HN

The "-1/12" "mystery" is well settled math (but mathematicians are always looking for more elegant or general perspectives on things), and (standard-issue) sloppy notation in physics.

The only "mystery" is why people who should know better intentionally use incorrect terminology to dazzle lay-people, creating a mystery where there is none.

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Re:What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact physic... by vanderZwan on Friday August 12, 2016 @04:32AM (#12274110)

Thanks for that follow-up!

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