October 7, 2007
-
For John von Neumann:
Deep Beautywas the title of a symposium
on quantum theory at Princeton last week dedicated to the late John von
Neumann. The title was left undefined. In honor of von Neumann, here is
some material that may help those searching for the title’s meaning:The 45 citations
at Arxiv Structure
of a paper titled
“Quantum Theory From
Five Reasonable Axioms.”The school of thought represented in these citations has recently become surprisingly popular– it appears in a TV commercial featuring the phrase “a more intelligent model.”Those who wisely object that popularity should not be a test of beauty
may consult a little-known (at least in the West) Sino-Japanese
definition of “deep beauty.” This definition– although from
philosophy, not physics– may appeal to those who, like Peter Woit, are troubled by a Christian foundation’s sponsorship of last week’s scientific symposium.“Deep beauty”
is yuugen.
