ON
THIS SITE
The
actual infinity is an old Pre-Socratic idea legitimized by the Axiom
of Infinity in modern set theories. It is only an hypothesis, but
one of serious consequences in both formal and experimental
sciences, particularly in physics. Physicists do not usually question
the (platonic) foundations of modern mathematics and then they
assume the hypothesis of the actual infinity, in spite of its
functional sterility and of the gravity of the problems it
continually poses.
If
the hypothesis of the actual infinity were inconsistent then all
infinities would also be inconsistent, including the
continuum spacetime on which the special theory of relativity is founded. It
seems therefore convenient to consider the possibility of a digital
interpretation of the celebrated theory of A. Einstein. Lorentz
transformation could be in fact a necessary instrument to describe a
discrete world by means of indiscrete mathematics. Digital
Relativity, in development from the beginning of this year, points
in that direction.
Salamanca, summer 2011
Antonio León*
* I am a geologist (formed at Univ.
of Granada, Spain) with regular studies in
mathematics
(UNED, Madrid) and logic, history and philosophy of science (UNED,
Madrid). I taught biology and geology at high school and
pre-university levels, as well as mathematics and crystallography at
university level (private teaching). I am now retired from all
teaching activities. I have researched and published (2 papers) in
thermodynamics of organic evolution. When I was preparing my third
paper I was accidentally trapped in a controversy on the actual
infinity to which I have devoted the last eighteen years. Along
these years I had the opportunity to know the dark side of
science... apart from truncating my expectations on a regular, orthodox
research in organic evolution.