The Mystery Unfolds
I pondered over the title: Dangerous Relationships? Dangerous Operators? Are the Lizards Awake? Ultimately, I settled on "Dangerous Math." Can math be dangerous? It depends on which kind. Some mathematics seem more perilous than others. This post attempts to delve into that eerie realm.
The Allure of the Unexplainable
My sample size is small, too small for statistical significance. It's like investigating the paranormal or UFOs—phenomena that elude systematic scientific study. Are these occurrences merely coincidences or Jungian synchronicity? Why do circumstances align in one way and not another? Humans excel at spotting patterns, even where there might be none. Are these patterns truly absent? Consider the "Ulam Spiral"—a seemingly random arrangement of integers revealing prime number patterns. What qualifies as a genuine mathematical regularity?
The Curious Case of Mathematicians
Below is a list of mathematicians, their contributions, and their mysterious demises. Is there a pattern, mathematical or perhaps... lizard-like?
Felix Alexandrovich Berezin (April 25, 1931 - July 14, 1980)
Felix Alexandrovich Berezin, my hero, tragically drowned while rafting near Magadan in 1980.
He was known for his novel approach to the quantization of dynamical systems with non-Euclidean geometry. Berezin was a bridge between modern mathematics and physics, emphasizing the importance of geometrical ideas.
Stephen Mark Paneitz (March 24, 1955 - September 1, 1983)
Stephen Mark Paneitz, a disciple of Irving Ezra Segal, was exploring applications of conformal geometry. He drowned in a shallow lake near the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany, during a conference. His death was a heavy loss to the scientific community. Paneitz left behind significant work on conformal differential geometry, known today as the Paneitz operator.
Pertti Lounesto (1945 - June 21, 2002)
I met Pertti Lounesto at the ICCA6 conference in 2002. He showed me how quantum fractals connect to conformal geometry. Lounesto was notorious for pointing out errors in mathematical publications. Tragically, he drowned in the Mediterranean Sea a few months later.
Thomas P. Branson (October 10, 1953 - March 11, 2006)
Thomas Branson, a continuator of Paneitz's work, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 52. The operator he worked on is now known as the Paneitz-Branson operator. His death adds to the list of those mysteriously linked to this dangerous line of research.
Conclusion
I am not here to fascinate, excite, or frighten you with tales of mathematical dangers. I am merely sharing what struck me as curious. These cases, once unrelated and buried in data, now present a pattern worth pondering.
So, why not take a closer look at Segal's life-threatening idea? Perhaps, in these mathematical mysteries, lies a truth stranger than fiction.