Math Extra Credit..

With a total of 18 mathematicians and computer, scientists from several countries worked for four years to successfully map the inner working of E8 — one of the most complicated structures in math, a 248-dimensional object. The findings were reported today by the American Institute of Mathematics.


The mapping of E8, according to researchers, may very well have implications in mathematics and physics which won’t be evident for years to come.

Underlying symmetrical objects such as spheres and cylinders is something called a Lie group — a mathematical group invented by the 19th century Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie to study symmetry. E8 is an example of a Lie group.


The result of E8 and all its representations is 60 gigabytes in size, enough to store 45 continuous days of music in MP3 format. In comparison, the Human Genome Project holding the entire genetic code of a cell is less than a gigabyte in size.

In order to understand this concept, one must know many different areas of mathematics and science, including algebra, geometry, number theory, physics and chemistry. This project will be invaluable for future mathematicians and scientists.

The result of E8 and all its representations is 60 gigabytes in size


A unique aspect of this very large output answer is that unlike many large-scale calculations, the size of the input is small compared to the enormous and very dense answer.