My name is Thomas and I'm from Los Angeles
California and I was wondering if mathematics
is truly universal?
I'm not disputing it I'm just really wondering
if mathematics, such as calculus, really like
is the same near the edges of the universe?
For all that we know or like near black holes
because do mathematical laws breakdown?
Thanks.
Thomas, that is a great question about mathematics.
As far as we know it works everywhere.
Now, if we go to a place, as you suggested
near a black hole, the edge of the universe,
and mathematics doesn't work, we would say
to ourselves well there's just mathematics
that we don't understand and we have to add
some more math to our cannon of mathematical
equations.
It's very reasonable that there's math that's
nobody knows how it works, but just understand
that when it comes to the motion of planets,
when it comes to how rockets work, when it
comes to the paths of comets and asteroids
and meteors, we understand this stuff inside
out.
However, it was only in the 1600s that these
discoveries were made and so you'll also hear
people talk all the time about the singularity.
The singularity.
And this to me is when you get one over zero.
And one over zero is infinite, or it is unknowable.
And I'll give you an example.
What's one thousandth?
What's bigger one tenth or one thousandth?
A tenth is bigger than a thousandth.
Okay.
Then what's bigger, one thousandth or one
the thousandths?
A thousandth is bigger.
All right, now what about one over one ten
thousandth?
That's the thousand.
But one over one millionth is a million.
One over a billionth is one billion.
So as the number get smaller and smaller the
total, the inverse, the denominator causes
the quantity to become bigger.
And so if it's over zero it would become infinity
or infinite, and nobody knows what happens
at infinity.
No one knows what's happens exactly at the
singularity.
Oh people speculate, but as near as we can
tell math applies everywhere.
That is a great question.
Thank you.
