Edward F. (Joe) Redish, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4111

ArXiv (44): Using math in physics: 5. Functional dependence
Homepage(s): AIP, Brain and Behavior Institute, Reconsidering the Textbook

Note: Joe is currently working on interdisciplinary perspective on STEM education.

Second email: February 12, 2023

Thank you for all that you’ve done and are doing.
You now have another groupie; this one is 75 years old!

I struggle to answer the question, “Is continuity, symmetry, and harmony defined by pi or infinity or by both?” You are helping me sort through things as did Freeman Dyson and Frank Wilczek way back in 2012. 

It all started when we went deep down inside the tetrahedron and octahedron (that was in 2011 in a high school geometry class). The net-net is our horizontally-scrolled chart of the universe. We have also been exploring the geometries of the infinitesimal. It’s a bit too much for most! 

Thanks again for the clarity of your writing. Yes, DA (dimensional analysis) is a good way to focus on functional dependence.

-Bruce

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Bruce E. Camber
https://81018.com/bec/#Narrative

First email: February 11, 2023

– Thank you, thank you, thank you! Using math in physics: 5. Functional dependence (PDF), E. F. Redish, Univ. Maryland, 2022 https://81018.com/inflaton/#Emails https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.00794  Also: Using Math in Physics: 1. Dimensional Analysis, The Physics Teacher 59, 397 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0021244