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SundayReview | CONTRI BUTI NGOPEDWRI TER

TheWorldsMostBeautifulMathematical
Equation
RichardA.Friedman APRIL15,2017

IwasdoingKenKen,amathpuzzle,onaplanerecentlywhenafellowpassenger
askedwhyIbothered.IsaidIdiditforthebeauty.

O.K.,Illadmititsasillygame:Youhavetomakethenumberswithinthegrid
obeycertainmathematicalconstraints,andwhentheydo,allthepiecesfitnicely
togetherandyougetthisrushofharmonyandorder.

Still,itmakesmewonderwhatitisaboutmathematicalthinkingthatisso
elegantandaestheticallyappealing.Isittheinternallogic?Theuniquemixof
simplicityandexplanatorypower?Orperhapsjustitspureintellectualbeauty?

IvelovedmathsinceIwasakidbecauseitfeltlikeabiggameandbecauseit
seemedlikethelaziestthingyoucoulddomentally.Afterall,howmanyfactsdoyou
needtoremembertodomath?

Laterincollege,Igotexcitedbyphysics,whichIguessyoucouldsayisjusta
grandexerciseinapplyingmathtounderstandtheuniverse.Myroommate,abrainy
mathmajor,usedtobaitme,sayingthatIneverreallyunderstoodthemathIwas
using.IwouldcounterthatheneverunderstoodwhatonEarththemathhestudied
wasgoodfor.

Wewerebothright,buthedbehappytoknowthatIvecomearoundtohis
side:Mathisbeautifulonapurelyabstractlevel,quiteapartfromitsabilityto

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explaintheworld.

Weallknowthatart,musicandnaturearebeautiful.Theycommandthesenses
andinciteemotion.Theirimpactisswiftandvisceral.Howcanamathematicalidea
inspirethesamefeelings?

Well,foronething,thereissomethingveryappealingaboutthenotionof
universaltruthespeciallyatatimewhenpeopleentertaintheabsurdideaof
alternativefacts.ThePythagoreantheoremstillholds,andpiisatranscendental
numberthatwilldescribeallperfectcirclesforalltime.

Butourbrainsalsoappeartorespondtomathematicalbeautyastheydoto
otherbeautifulexperiences.

Ina2014study,SemirZeki,aneuroscientistatUniversityCollegeLondon,and
otherresearchersusedfM.R.I.scannerstoobservethebrainsof15mathematicians
whiletheywerethinkingaboutvariousequations.Thesubjectswereshown60
mathematicalformulastwoweeksbeforetheywerescannedandduringandafter
thescan.Theywerealsoaskedtoratetheirlevelofunderstandingofeachequation
andtheirsubjectiveemotionalresponsetoit,fromuglytobeautiful.

Theresearchersfoundastrongcorrelationbetweenfindinganequation
beautifulandactivationofthemedialorbitofrontalcortex,aregionoftheprefrontal
cortexjustbehindtheeyes.Thisisthesameareathathasbeenshowntolightup
whenpeoplefindmusicorartbeautiful,soitseemstobeacommonneural
signatureofaestheticexperience.

Geeks,takeheart:Whileyoucantseeorhearmathematicalideas,theytooare
capableofarousingasenseofbeauty.

Nodoubtyoudliketoknowwhichequationwonthebeautycontest.Itwasthe
socalledEulersidentity,whichisadeceptivelysparebutprofoundequationthat
linksfivefundamentalmathematicalconstants:amixofrealandimaginary
numbersthatcombinetomakezero.Andtheugliest?Ramanujansinfiniteseriesfor
thereciprocalofpiaclunkyequation,eventothisnonmathematician.

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17/04/2017 TheWorldsMostBeautifulMathematicalEquationTheNewYorkTimes

Whilemathematiciansweremorelikelytofindformulasbeautifulifthey
understoodthemwell,thecorrelationwasnotperfect,sotheresearcherswereable
toshowthattheobservedbrainactivationwasaresultoftheexperienceofbeauty
apartfrommeaning.Thismakessense,inthattherewereequationsthatsubjects
understoodcompletelyyetfoundugly.

Now,themedialorbitofrontalcortexisalsoactivewhenwefindsomething
pleasurableorrewarding,whichisntsurprisingeither,sinceyoudexpectbeautiful
experiencestobeboth.

Myloveofmathoriginatedinthephysicalworld.Myfather,aninsatiably
curiousguyandelectricalengineer,usedtobuildthingswithmecrystalradios,
electricgenerators,allkindsofexcitingcontraptions.

OnesummereveningIfoundhimtinkeringwithamysteriousmetalboxinthe
garage.Itwasaprototypeofarubylaser.Whenheflickedtheswitch,abrilliantthin
redlightshotoutofthelaserandupintothenightsky.

Howfardoesitgo?Iasked.Toinfinity,hesaidandadded,smiling,or
further.

Iwasawestruck.Istillam.

RichardA.Friedmanisaprofessorofclinicalpsychiatryandthedirectorofthe
psychopharmacologyclinicattheWeillCornellMedicalCollege,andacontributing
opinionwriter.

FollowTheNewYorkTimesOpinionsectiononFacebookandTwitter
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AversionofthisopedappearsinprintonApril16,2017,onPageSR2oftheNewYorkeditionwiththe
headline:BeautifulEquations.

2017TheNewYorkTimesCompany

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