P Adic Mathematical Physics

p-adic numbers play a very important role in modern number theory, algebraic geometry and representation theory. Lately p-adic numbers have attracted a great deal of attention in modern theoretical physics as a promising new approach for describing the non-Archimedean geometry of space-time at small distances.This is the first book to deal with applications of p-adic numbers in theoretical and mathematical physics. It gives an elementary and thoroughly written introduction to p-adic numbers and p-adic analysis with great numbers of examples as well as applications of p-adic numbers in classical mechanics, dynamical systems, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, quantum field theory and string theory.

The subject of this conference was recent developments in p-adic mathematical physics and related areas. The field of p-Adic mathematical physics was conceived in 1987 as a result of attempts to find non-Archimedean approaches to space-time at the Planck scale as well as to strings. Since then, many applications of p-adic numbers and adeles in physics and related sciences have emerged. Some of them are p-adic and adelic string theory, p-adic and adelic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, ultrametricity of spin glasses, biological and hierarchical systems, p-adic dynamical systems, p-adic probability theory, p-adic models of cognitive processes and cryptography, as well as p-adic and adelic cosmology.

Numbers ... , natural, rational, real, complex, p-adic .... What do you know about p-adic numbers? Probably, you have never used any p-adic (nonrational) number before now. I was in the same situation few years ago. p-adic numbers were considered as an exotic part of pure mathematics without any application. I have also used only real and complex numbers in my investigations in functional analysis and its applications to the quantum field theory and I was sure that these number fields can be a basis of every physical model generated by nature. But recently new models of the quantum physics were proposed on the basis of p-adic numbers field Qp. What are p-adic numbers, p-adic analysis, p-adic physics, p-adic probability? p-adic numbers were introduced by K. Hensel (1904) in connection with problems of the pure theory of numbers. The construction of Qp is very similar to the construction of (p is a fixed prime number, p = 2,3,5, ... ,127, ... ). Both these number fields are completions of the field of rational numbers Q. But another valuation 1 . Ip is introduced on Q instead of the usual real valuation 1 . I· We get an infinite sequence of non isomorphic completions of Q : Q2, Q3, ... , Q127, ... , IR = Qoo· These fields are the only possibilities to com plete Q according to the famous theorem of Ostrowsky.

This book provides an overview of the theory of p-adic (and more general non-Archimedean) dynamical systems. The main part of the book is devoted to discrete dynamical systems. It presents a model of probabilistic thinking on p-adic mental space based on ultrametric diffusion. Coverage also details p-adic neural networks and their applications to cognitive sciences: learning algorithms, memory recalling.

p-adic numbers are of great theoretical importance in number theory, since they allow the use of the language of analysis to study problems relating toprime numbers and diophantine equations. Further, they offer a realm where one can do things that are very similar to classical analysis, but with results that are quite unusual. The book should be of use to students interested in number theory, but at the same time offers an interesting example of the many connections between different parts of mathematics. The book strives to be understandable to an undergraduate audience. Very little background has been assumed, and the presentation is leisurely. There are many problems, which should help readers who are working on their own (a large appendix with hints on the problem is included). Most of all, the book should offer undergraduates exposure to some interesting mathematics which is off the beaten track. Those who will later specialize in number theory, algebraic geometry, and related subjects will benefit more directly, but all mathematics students can enjoy the book.

The charm of Mathematical Physics resides in the conceptual difficulty of understanding why the language of Mathematics is so appropriate to formulate the laws of Physics and to make precise predictions. Citing Eugene Wigner, this “unreasonable appropriateness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences” emerged soon at the beginning of the scientific thought and was splendidly depicted by the words of Galileo: “The grand book, the Universe, is written in the language of Mathematics.” In this marriage, what Bertrand Russell called the supreme beauty, cold and austere, of Mathematics complements the supreme beauty, warm and engaging, of Physics. This book, which consists of nine articles, gives a flavor of these beauties and covers an ample range of mathematical subjects that play a relevant role in the study of physics and engineering. This range includes the study of free probability measures associated with p-adic number fields, non-commutative measures of quantum discord, non-linear Schrödinger equation analysis, spectral operators related to holomorphic extensions of series expansions, Gibbs phenomenon, deformed wave equation analysis, and optimization methods in the numerical study of material properties.

Physics and mathematics have always been closely intertwined, with developments in one field frequently inspiring the other. Currently, there are many unsolved problems in physics which will likely require new innovations in mathematical physics. Mathematical physics is concerned with problems in statistical mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, quantum field theory, and, in general, with the mathematical foundations of theoretical physics. This includes such subjects as scattering theory for n bodies, quantum mechanics (both non-relativistic and relativistic), atomic and molecular physics, the existence and properties of the phases of model ferromagnets, the stability of matter, the theory of symmetry and symmetry breaking in quantum field theory (both in general and in concrete models), and mathematical developments in functional analysis and algebra to which such subjects lead. This book presents leading-edge research in this fast-moving field.