Ars Mathematica

John Baez, of This Week’s Finds in Mathematical Physics fame, has a new article The Octonions.

The octonions are a mysterious example in mathematics that have been drawing attention in physics. Initially discovered by Graves in 1843, the octonions provided the first example of a number system with nonassociative multiplication: (ab)c is not equal to a(bc). Lots of examples of nonassociative multiplication are known, but the octonions remain the most interesting. For a more elementary introduction to the subject, there’s the article on Wikipedia.

This site is dedicated to the mathematical arts: mathematics itself, and its many children. Mathematics, even the most abstruse, is now pervasive throughout physics, computer science, economics, and other fields. We explore these topics, in lieu of doing our jobs or conversing with our loved ones.