Timeline for Does infinity exist in the structure of physical systems?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 1, 2023 at 18:12 | vote | accept | docscience | ||
| Mar 1, 2023 at 18:09 | history | edited | docscience | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Changed the title and content for clarity and to better reflect my different opinion after 6 years
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| S Feb 24, 2023 at 4:05 | history | bounty ended | CommunityBot | ||
| S Feb 24, 2023 at 4:05 | history | notice removed | CommunityBot | ||
| Feb 22, 2023 at 17:04 | answer | added | John Doty | timeline score: 2 | |
| Feb 22, 2023 at 13:03 | answer | added | Cort Ammon | timeline score: 4 | |
| Feb 22, 2023 at 12:43 | answer | added | Mitchell Porter | timeline score: 0 | |
| Feb 22, 2023 at 3:30 | answer | added | Rick | timeline score: 2 | |
| Feb 18, 2023 at 10:35 | answer | added | Steeven | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 18, 2023 at 10:17 | answer | added | kricheli | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 18, 2023 at 7:57 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | If you're wondering how Community can offer a bounty, please see meta.stackexchange.com/a/139534 | |
| Feb 18, 2023 at 7:26 | answer | added | Andrea Alciato | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 16, 2023 at 16:39 | comment | added | march | I still think this question is somewhat inappropriate here. The problem is, it's either obviously false (every measurement we've ever made yields a rational number, and we'll only ever make a finite number of measurements), obviously true (the number of spacetime points between my fingers is uncountably infinite), a matter of definition (1/0 like in other comments), or a matter of philosophy (are the infinitude of real numbers between really real? or "just a mathematical construct" that approximates reality?). None of those questions are really about physics. | |
| Feb 16, 2023 at 7:19 | answer | added | klippo | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 16, 2023 at 5:04 | comment | added | Peltio | Maybe the question should be referred to an infinite extension in space and or time, instead of numerical quantities whose reciprocal goes to infinity when they reach a very down to earth zero value? For example, infinite parallel plates capacitors greatly simplify the math, but they are an abominion: they need infinite charge to charge up, you cannot discharge them (all charges are facing the gap), and the two plates 'touch' each other at the improper point so.. are they shorted? | |
| Feb 16, 2023 at 3:57 | comment | added | Ben H | I like the example of the Schwarzschild metric. In Schwarzschild coordinates it has two infinities (at the horizon and at the "r=0" singularity), and therefore the theoretical model does not apply at those points. But Kruskal-Szekeres coordinates allow you to remove the infinity at the horizon, showing that the model is, in fact, continuously applicable across the horizon. The central black-hole singularity remains, however, where the infinity represents a point (actually, a set of future points) removed from the space-time. | |
| S Feb 16, 2023 at 2:13 | history | bounty started | CommunityBot | ||
| S Feb 16, 2023 at 2:13 | history | notice added | user355873 | Authoritative reference needed | |
| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:39 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://physics.stackexchange.com/ with https://physics.stackexchange.com/
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| Nov 3, 2016 at 2:32 | comment | added | william deets | The way I see it one has an infinite amount of possibilities within a closed system. I loved saying that. How many recurring decimals, how many primes, how many angles can be formed within it, the end of radiation decay, and on and on and on. I have to disagree with Mr. Greene too. When we as people get a physical measurement no matter how sensitive or advanced our instrument is it is only the best we can do. We will ALWAYS have room for improvement. It will never be good enough unless it is measured abstractly with math. | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 23:50 | comment | added | Alfred Centauri | I suppose that one might meaningfully claim that the conductance (resistance) of a superconductor is infinite (zero). | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 21:11 | comment | added | user108787 | You say Does infinity exist in either terms of structure, parameters, or measurement in any physical systems Does that include the universe, as a physical system of objects. Please say no :) otherwise, imo, your question is kinda, sort of, just as broad and unclear (no offence intended) as the other guys. | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 19:38 | comment | added | Qmechanic♦ | Related: physics.stackexchange.com/q/167529/2451 | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 19:35 | history | edited | Qmechanic♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 53 characters in body; edited tags
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| Nov 2, 2016 at 19:25 | comment | added | user12029 | The infinity of points between zero and one seems pretty real to me, but if you're asking for infinite conserved charges (infinite energy, etc.) that definitely can't be physical. | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 19:23 | comment | added | AccidentalFourierTransform | let $q$ be the charge of the photon, and define $a=1/q$. To all practical purposes, we can say that $a=\infty$. No errors in my model, and it is not wrong, yet I found a physical infinity (or did I?). | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 19:21 | history | asked | docscience | CC BY-SA 3.0 |