From qed-owner Wed Aug 11 18:49:47 1993 Received: by antares.mcs.anl.gov id AA18026 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for qed-outgoing); Wed, 11 Aug 1993 18:43:41 -0500 Received: from arp.anu.edu.au by antares.mcs.anl.gov with SMTP id AA18019 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Wed, 11 Aug 1993 18:43:37 -0500 Received: by arp.anu.edu.au id AA11810 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.2.9 for qed@mcs.anl.gov); Thu, 12 Aug 1993 09:43:33 +1000 Received: from Messages.7.15.N.CUILIB.3.45.SNAP.NOT.LINKED.arp.anu.edu.au.sun4.41 via MS.5.6.arp.anu.edu.au.sun4_41; Thu, 12 Aug 1993 09:43:32 +1000 (EST) Message-Id: <4gOMEYuKmlE2EfIZkt@arp> Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 09:43:32 +1000 (EST) From: Zdzislaw Meglicki To: qed@mcs.anl.gov Subject: Re: Rigor in contemporary mathematics In-Reply-To: <9308111300.AA02955@dilbert.CLI.COM> References: <9308111300.AA02955@dilbert.CLI.COM> Sender: qed-owner In <9308111300.AA02955@dilbert.CLI.COM> boyer@CLI.COM writes: > The article by Jaffe and Quinn > concerns the growing influence of superstring theory on mathematics, > raises questions about rigor in proof in some recent mathematics, and > recommends that conjectural work should be clearly distinguished from > rigorous proof. Not a distinction that I, in my naivete, would have > thought any contemporary mathematicians would have doubted. The areas of mathematics which are most likely to be based on some sloppy and unfinished ideas would also be the most difficult to verify using automatic tools. Precisely because of their sloppiness and intuitiveness. Much of modern Quantum Field Theory (including superstrings) is based on such sloppy mathematics. The reason for that, however, is that mathematics lags behind what is needed in physics in this respect and the physicists, quite rightly I think, aren't prepared to wait for the mathematicians to put their act together. This in many ways has always been the case. Physicists were using analysis since Newton, but the truly precise formulation of the theory came only 200 years later. Would QED be helpful in speeding up this process? Zdzislaw Meglicki, Zdzislaw.Meglicki@cisr.anu.edu.au, Automated Reasoning Program - CISR, and Plasma Theory Group - RSPhysSE, The Australian National University, G.P.O. Box 4, Canberra, A.C.T., 2601, Australia, fax: (Australia)-6-249-0747, tel: (Australia)-6-249-0158