InfinitiesandtheInfinite

Iveseentheconceptofinfinitycomeupfairlyoftenhere(usually,butnotalways,insomeclaimthat
therehastobeacreator)andwhileIverespondedtomanysuchpoststheyvealwaysbeenresponses.
Assuch,Ihavebeenlimitedbycontexts.Thisthreadismyselfishdesiretosetthecontextfordiscussing
thisverysubtle,mysterious,andinfinitelychallengingnotionoftheinfinite.

ButIwouldliketobesomewhatlessthaninfinitelyboring.SoIhavenointentionsofreferringtolimits
atinfinityfromcalculus,orinfinitedivisibilityofsomeunitofdistanceortime.Iwouldliketobring
somethingnewtothediscussion(oratleastsomenewperspectives)andwouldlikeotherstoaddif
theyarewilling(questions,comments,complaints,otherexamples,commentsaboutmymentalhealth,
etc.).SowhileIwillintroducethetopicwithsomeformalstuff,Iintendtogetintophysicalinfinities
andmoreinterestingtopicsandhopeotherswillaswell.

Iwillbeginwiththenotfirststep.

#1Notthefirststep
Thisisanexampleabitlikeinfinitelydividingsometimeintervalbutitisdifferentenoughtobeincluded
andisagoodstartingpointforthatwhichistocome.Mostofushereprobablyremembersomething
abouttherealnumberline.Thatstheonethatincludescountingnumbers,fractions,andnumberslike
pi(infinitenonrepeatingdecimals).Andweuseitallthetimewhenwetrytofigureouthowmuch
somethingcostsifitisonsalefor10%,orusingarecipethatcallsfor1partscyanideand2partsarsenic,
etc.Mostofusarealsousedtothinkingaboutnumbersonthenumberlineintermsofanorder:2is
biggerthan1,wedratherwinamilliondollarsthanten,etc.

Herecomesthenotfirststep.SayImat0onthenumberline.Iwantmynextstep,orthenext
number,tobetheonenumbernextinline(forthecountingnumbers,thatwouldbe1,followedby2,3,
4,etc.).Whatismysteppingnumber?Icanchooseareallysmallnumberlike0.00000001.However,I
canextendinfinitelythenumberof0sIplaceinfrontofthatone.Thereisnonextnumber.

But,youmightsay,thisisjustbecauseyoureusingtherealnumberlineandthatinvolvesinfinite
decimals.Ok,Iwont.LetssayIchangethenumberlineandexcludeallnonrationalnumbers.CanI
nowtakemynextstep?No.Recallthatadecimallike.01isafraction:1/100.Icancontinuetoinfinitely
extendthenumberof0sasIdidbeforeandneveruseanirrationalnumber.

Andtoendthenumberlineexample,letsthinkaboutanirrationalnumberforasecond.Sincepiis
probablythemostfamiliar,letsuseit.ImagineIamtryingtoconstructmyrealnumberline,andsinceI
knowpiisanumberIwanttoplugitinsomewherearound3.14.Ihaveaproblem.Howmanyrational
numbersaretherebetween3.14&3.141?Infinitelymany.Therationalnumbersareinfinitelydense
inthatbetweenanytwothereareinfinitelyrationalnumbers.Sowherethehellaretheirrational
numberssupposedtofit?

#2Myinfiniteisbiggerthanyours

Usually,whenwetalkaboutinfinity,wemeanneverendingandwerefertoonething.Infinityisnt
anumber.IfIadd1toinfinityitisstillinfinity.Andwhilephilosophersandmathematicianshave
struggledwiththenotionofinfinitysincebeforeZenoandhisparadoxes,theywerealldealingwiththis
oneinfinity.ThenaguynamedCantorruinedeverything.Imgoingtoshowhow.


Wecanallagree,Ithink,thatthecountingnumbers(1,2,3,4,)areinfinite.Soaretheintegers,the
rationals,andthereals.Butaretheyareequal?Commonsensetellsusduh.Theyareallinfinite,and
youcantgetbiggerthaninfinity.

Howdowecomparesomecollectionofanumberofthings,likeadozendonutsorthevowels,toseeif
onecollectionisbigger(therearemoredonutsinadozenthantherearevowelsinEnglish)?Wematch
themup:wecanmatch5vowelstofivedonuts,andseethattherearedonutsleftunmatched.Ergo,
donutswin.

Imaginewedothiswiththeintegersandalltheirrationalnumbersbetween0and1.Thatis,wedo
somethinglikethis:

Weassumetheobvious:bothcollections/setsareinfinite,sonomatterhowfarwegowecanalways
matchthemup,andnonumbercouldappearoneithersideoftheimageabovethatwaseitheran
integeroranirrationalnumberbetween0and1.Nowwecreatetheirrationalnumber.zzzzzzwhere
eachzisadigitinthisnonrepeatingirrationalnumber.Butwedothisinaspecialway.Forthefirst
digitz,welookatthefirstdigitinthenumberwematchedwiththeinteger1,andwemakeit1greater.
Forthesecond,wedothesameonlytotheseconddigitofthesecondirrationalnumber.Thenthethird,
asdepictedbelow:

Wecankeepdoingthis.Wecangoonforeverconstructingthisnumberaswehave.Buttheimportant
thingisthat,becauseweareensuringwitheachnewdigitthatournumber.zzzzz...doesntappear
anywhereonthelist.Howcanthatbe?Bothlistsareinfinite,yetonelisthasmoreentries!Infact,ithas
infinitelymanymoreentries.

#3Whatshotterthanbeinghot?

Ok,enoughwiththepuremathstuff.Mostofusprobablylearned(evenifweveforgotten)thatthereis
atemperaturescale,theKelvinscale,designedsuchthat0isabsolute0(ratherthanthetemperatureat
whichwaterfreezesorsomething).However,thereisnoabsolutehot.Thatis,theoretically,
temperaturesextendinfinitelyinthepositivedirection.Butsowhat?Itsnotlikethereisastaroutthere
thatsinfinitelyhot.True.Buttherearephysicalsystemsthatarehotterthantheentireinfinityof
allpositivetemperatures.Iputtermslikehotinscarequotesbecauseinthermodynamicsheatcant
reallybedescribedbysuchqualitiesandevenifitcould,fewphysicistswouldwanttotrytofeelhow
hotsomethingthatwasathousanddegreeswasorhowcoldsomethingnearabsolutezerowouldbe.
Butthereareotherwaysofmeasuringtemperature.Forexample,anybodywhohasputicecubesina
drinkknowsthatthetransferofheathasaspecificdirection.Itturnsoutthatabsolutezeroisntthe
minimumtemperature.Therearenegativetemperatures.Thesenegativetemperatures,though,are
hotterthantheentireinfinityofpositivetemperatures.

#4Willtoomanyideasmakemyheadexplode?

Normally,asIsaidabove,discussionsaboutinfinityhereinvolvesomeproofofGod.Whattheytendto
shareistheassumptionofsomeconceptthatisthenlogicallymanipulatedtobeequatedwithgod(such
asthemostgreatestbeingorwhatever).Now,whileImsurenoteverybodyhereagrees,mostwho

arentreligiouslyinclinedandmanywhoarewouldarguethatourthoughtsarerepresentedsomehow
bytheactivityofneuronsinourbrains.Somehow,whenIthinkofaquote,anumber,acar,orwhatever
thisideaissomehowlinkedtothephysicalstateofmybrain.Now,Idontknowaboutyou,butwhenI
wasayearoldmyvocabularywasntparticularlyextensive.Also,mymathskillswerentthatstrong,I
didntknowmuchabouthistory,Iwasntallthatgoodatphysics,andingeneralIdsayIdidnthave
manyideasorevenmemories.Asmybraingrewinsize,sotoodidmyknowledge.Butnotonlywas
thereverylittlerelationshipbetweenthisgrowth(inpointoffact,whenoneisbornoneactuallybegins
torapidlylosebraincells),afteritstoppedgrowingIcontinuedtolearnnewthing.Wheredidthesenew
ideasgo?

ItcancertainlybesaidthatIdonthaveinfinitelymanyideas.ButthereareaninfinitenumberofthingsI
canthinkof(toseethis,simplyrecognizethatIknowthereareinfinitelymanynumbersIcanthinkof).
Moreover,Iamabletothinkofanyoneoftheseinfinitelymanythings/ideaswithoutacquiringnew
knowledge.Yetallmyknowledgeisfixedinafinitebrainandallmyideasaresomehow
represented/encodedinthatbrain.Sowhydoesntmyheadexplode?

#5Careforasliceofspacetime?

Itstooeasytousequantummechanicsforanexampleofaphysicalinfinity.Anditstooeasytodismiss
thesebyappealingtowhatwedontknowaboutthesystemswearedescribing.Relativityisdifferent,
especiallyspecialrelativity.Itsbeenconfirmedbyexperimentssince1905,itisconsistentwithquantum
physics,anditisconsistentwithgeneralrelativity(whichisingeneralanextensionofspecialrelativity).

Specialrelativityinvolvesalotofconcepts,butoneofthemishowspaceandtimedontexisttheway
wethinktheydo,butratherarelinkedinsomethingdistinct:spacetime.Thegeometryofspacetime,
andthemathofrelativity,enableustoshowthatevenwhentwomeasurementsdisagreebecausethey
involvedifferentreferenceframes,thelawsofphysicsholdregardless.Thesereferenceframes,which
weallhave(Ipersonallyhavecollected7),arereallyhowspacetimeisdividedorslicedupfromour
perspective.ThedifferenceshereonEarthbetweenallofourreferenceframesaresoslightastonot
reallymatter.Wereallcloseenoughin4Dspacesuchthatchangesinanyofthecoordinateskeepsus
close.Soforallofourreferenceframesthedistancesinour4Dcoordinatesmakethewaywesliceup
spacetimeinsignificant.

Thisisnottrueingeneral.Forthealieninvadersontheirwayherefromadistantgalaxylightyearsaway,
spacetimelooksverydifferent.Infact,dependinguponhowtheirfleetofbattlestarshipsmoves,their
sliceofspacetimeatsomepointcouldbemillionsofyearswhat,tous,isthefuture,whileanother
movementcouldrocketthemmillionsofyearsinourpast.Infact,thereareinfinitelywaysthattheir
movementscouldsliceupspacetimerelativetous.Moreover,thereareinfinitelymanywaysinfinitely
manyobserverscansliceupspacetime.

#6Ilied

Iamgoingtotalkaboutquantummechanics.ButnotinthewayInormallywouldhere.Imgoingtodo
sotocomefullcircle(fitting,Ithinkforthecloseofapostoninfinity)andconnectthephysicalbackwith
math.Inquantummechanics,werepresentphysicalsystemslikeelectronsasmathematicalentities,
justasinallphysics(speed,forexample,werepresentusingnumbers,whilevelocityrequiresavector).
ThespaceinwhichthesequantumsystemsdwelliscalledHilbertspaceandisinfinitedimensional.
Whatdoesthismean?Considertherealnumberlineagain.Itextendsinfinitelyinthepositiveand

negativedirection.Whataboutthex,yplanewealllovedfromschoolmathematicsclasses?Itextends
infinitelyalongtwodirections.3Dspacealongthree.4Dalong4.Hilbertspace,then,extendsinfinitelyin
infinitelymanydirections.