MIT Cosmologist: 'The Universe is Math'

For thousands of years scientists have used mathematics to describe the physical properties of the universe. But if all of these properties are part of a mathematical structure, wouldn't the universe be purely mathematical?

According to MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark, everything in the universe - humans, particles, space, etc. - is part of a mathematical structure. On January 15, Tegmark spoke in Brooklyn, New York at the Bell House to explain his findings enumerated in his book "Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality."

"If my idea is wrong, physics is ultimately doomed," Tegmark said in this Live Science article. "But if the universe really is mathematics, there's nothing we can't, in principle, understand."

Tegmark so strongly believes in math that he has framed pictures of famous equations in his living room. If his dedication to mathematics doesn't convince you of his theory, then perhaps a few examples might help. Tegmark says that nature is full of patterns, which is a mathematical property. The Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the previous two numbers, is followed by the process in which an artichoke is flowered. The distance between each artichoke petal and the next matches the ratio of the numbers in the sequence. Inanimate objects or nonliving things can also be explained mathematically. Throwing a baseball in the air begins the ball's path on a parabolic trajectory, similar to how planets follow elliptical orbits.

"There's an elegant simplicity and beauty in nature revealed by mathematical patterns and shapes, which our minds have been able to figure out," said Tegmark in this Live Science article. He also noted that the mathematical structures in the natural world aren't only derived from the brain; they also exist in reality.

Tegmark stretches his belief that "mathematics is the universe" by noting 'consciousness' will eventually be described mathematically. He explained that the mind (the feeling of a conscious self) would eventually be unified with the body, which is a mathematical process because it's a combination of moving particles. And although this sounds like humans' brains are somehow manipulated by some mathematical forces, Tegmark still believes in the liberty of the human mind.

"Humans have the power not only to understand our world, but to shape and improve it," he said.

To read more about Max Tegmark, visit this Live Science article.