Dimensioned algebra: mathematics with physical quantities

DOI10.1007/S44007-022-00034-XMaRDI QIDQ2105784zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Carlos Zapata-Carratala

Publication date 8 December 2022

Published in La Matematica (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.08703

zbMATH Keywords

category theorycommutative algebramathematical physicsmetrologyobservables

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Applications of commutative algebra (e.g., to statistics, control theory, optimization, etc.) (13P25) Special categories (18B99) Algebraic geometry methods for problems in mechanics (70G55)

Abstract: A rigorous mathematical theory of dimensional analysis, systematically accounting for the use of physical quantities in science and engineering, perhaps surprisingly, was not developed until relatively recently. We claim that this has shaped current mathematical models of theoretical physics, which generally lack any explicit reference to units of measurement, and we propose a novel mathematical framework to alleviate this. Our proposal is a generalization of the usual categories of algebraic structures used to formulate physical theories (groups, rings, vector spaces...), herein dubbed dimensioned, that can naturally articulate the structure of physical dimension. Our goal in the present work is not so much to define an algebraic theory of physical quantities - this has already been done - but to define a theory of algebra informed by how physical quantities are used in practice. We conclude by studying the dimensioned analogue of Poisson algebras in some detail due to their relevance in Jacobi geometry and classical mechanics. These topics are further explored in sequel papers by the author.

Review text

Dimensional analysis first became a part of the physical science vernacular during the 19th century with the work of \textit{Fourier} [Theórie analytique de la chaleur. Nouv. éd. Breslau: Kohner (1883; JFM 15.0954.01); [Analytische Theorie der Wärme. Deutsche Ausgabe von B. Weinstein. Berlin: Julius Springer (1884; JFM 16.1075.01)] after partial precedents in the writings of Descartes and Euler on mathematics. Dimensional analysis has not become part of the mainstream scientific discourse until the early 20th century with the works of \textit{E. Buckingham} [``On physically similar systems; illustrations of the use of dimensional equations, Phys. Rev. 4, No. 4, 345--376 (1914; \url{doi:10.1103/PhysRev.4.345})] and \textit{Lord Rayleigh} [Phil. Mag. (6) 24, 864--869 (1912; JFM 43.0334.04)]. It was not until the work of \textit{J. Janyška} et al. [Acta Appl. Math. 110, No. 3, 1249--1276 (2010; Zbl 1208.15021); ``Semi-vector spaces and units of measurement, Preprint, \url{arXiv:0710.1313}] on semi-vector spaces and positive spaces that we find all the standard features of dimensional analysis in a transparent and mathematically rigorous framework. This paper aims to define a theory of algebra informed by how physical quantities are used in practice. To this end, the author gives the definition of a generalized notion of set and binary operation, unfurling an analogue of the ordinary theory of commutative algebra and discussing the generalizations of objects such as abelian groups, rings, modules and algebras.

Recommendations

• The algebraic structure of physical quantities
• The Mathematics of Physical Quantities: Part I: Mathematical Models for Measurement
• An algebraic approach to physical scales
• A new look at dimensional analysis from a group theoretical viewpoint
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3895233

Cites work

• An algebraic approach to physical scales
• Analytic theory of heat
• Deformations of coisotropic submanifolds in Jacobi manifolds
• Dirac-Jacobi bundles
• Global theory of graded manifolds
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3610787 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1225774 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1313885 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1063671 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2183073 (Why is no real title available?)
• Lectures on Poisson Geometry
• Real Numbers, Quantities, and Measurement†
• Vector methods in dimensional analysis

Cited in

(13)

• Mathematical structure of physical quantities
• The algebraic structure of physical quantities
• Dimensional-directional analysis by a quaternionic representation of physical quantities
• Mathematical Foundations of the Dimensional Method
• A new look at dimensional analysis from a group theoretical viewpoint
• Qualitative vs quantitative conceptions of homogeneity in nineteenth century dimensional analysis
• Algebraic equations determining quantum dimensions
• The Mathematics of Physical Quantities: Part I: Mathematical Models for Measurement
• Scalable monoids and quantity calculus
• Jacobi geometry and Hamiltonian mechanics: The unit-free approach
• On augmented dimensional analysis
• Linear algebra of reduced units and discussion of temperature parameters in scientific computations
• An algebraic approach to physical scales

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