Monday, March 19, 2007

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 248-dimension maths puzzle solved

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 248-dimension maths puzzle solved: "An international team of mathematicians has detailed a vast complex numerical 'structure' which was invented more than a century ago.

Mapping the 248-dimensional structure, called E8, took four years of work and produced more data than the Human Genome Project, researchers said.

E8 is a 'Lie group', a means of describing symmetrical objects.

The team said their findings may assist fields of physics which use more than four dimensions, such as string theory.

Lie groups were invented by the 19th Century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie (pronounced 'Lee')."