Is the world evolving discretely?

DOI10.1016/S0196-8858(03)00072-1MaRDI QIDQ1408275zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Saber Elaydi

Publication date 15 September 2003

Published in Advances in Applied Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1016/s0196-8858(03)00072-1, https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=math_faculty

zbMATH Keywords

discrete models

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Philosophy of mathematics (00A30) General theory of mathematical modeling (00A71) Physics (00A79)

Review text

The title and the first sentence of the article were meant probably to be thought-provoking, but they turned out to be rather simplistic. -- According to Kant, continuity and discreteness are merely perception modes of the mind. Neither is an ``Absolute. Mathematical descriptions of `Natural Science' phenomena, continuous or discrete, are nothing more than models, established for accuracy, efficiency and convenience. -- Many individuals were perplexed by the discovery that light `is' a wave, a particle, or both `simultaneously', depending on observational circumstances. A similar situation is known to prevail in classical and relativistic mechanics, electrodynamics, thermodynamics, chemistry,\dots and even biology. The argumentation presented is primitively speculative. No concrete `Natural Science' or mathematical problem is solved. The existence of `gravitons' is still conjectural, precluding thus a realistic discrete modelling of gravitational phenomena. The article contains no heretofore unknown results. The references are scanty.

Recommendations

• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2152821
• The discrete versus continuous controversy in physics
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4012539
• Le continu, le discret, et tout le reste
• Discrete structures in gravity

Cites work

• Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow
• Global Stability of Cycles: Lotka-Volterra Competition Model With Stocking
• Measurements of a Physical Process Satisfy a Difference Equation

Cited in

(9)

• Controlling the stochastic sensitivity in nonlinear discrete-time systems with incomplete information
• Difference equations versus differential equations, a possible equivalence for the Rössler system?
• On the construction of one-dimensional discrete chaos theory based on the improved version of Marotto's theorem
• Dynamical analysis of a complex logistic-type map
• On the bifurcation of Marotto's map and its application in image encryption
• Products of 2 2 matrices related to non autonomous Fibonacci difference equations
• Dynamic behavior and chaos control in a complex Riccati-type map
• Elementary catastrophe's chaos in one-dimensional discrete systems based on nonlinear connections and deviation curvature statistics
• Preface to the special issue dedicated to Saber Elaydi on the occasion of his 80th birthday

This page was built for publication: Is the world evolving discretely?

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q1408275)