Saturday, December 13, 2008

Have Mathematicians Found God?

The short answer is maybe; if God is defined as that which exists and causes all else to exist. Such a God may have to be spelled with a small g and not be a person at all. It would be totally unlike the human like God described in the scriptures. Philosophers have long speculated that an abstract realm exists in the form of gometric and mathematical relationships. The triangle or tetrahedron have inherent existence without the need for a God. They would preceed God. Now mathematicians have found the ultimate geometric shape dubbed the monster group. It has nearly 200,000 dimensions and "more symmetries than atoms in the sun". They have also proven that it is the largest group possible. Scientists are finding that this group unerlies string theory; the most basic theory of how the universe is formed. Atomic particles are formed out of these symmetries. String theory posits that our universe may use only 11 of the dimensions. Three expand to create space while the others collapse to form the particles.
Why would such a symmetry group be thought of as God? One of the most intriguing "proofs" of the existence of God is the ontological proof that posits thatt if we can think of a perfect being, it must exist because perfection requires existence. The "proof " is probably a little nutty since I can't think of a perfect being. But, some mathematicians can think of the most complicated symmetry group which like other symmetry groups like the triangle must exist. If as string theory unfolds in the future and it is found that all of nature forms as variants of this group then it can be thougth of as the reason things exist as they do. Thus it would have many of the properties ascribed to God. Whether it is conscious, knows what it is doing or just acts is unknown. So, keeping the small g may be enough.