Simplicity: Ideals of Practice in Mathematics and the Arts (Conference)

Cuny Graduate School University Center, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Simplicity: Ideals of Practice in Mathematics and the Arts The conference will take place April 3 - April 5, 2013, at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Each day of the conference will feature talks and roundtable discussions interspersed with arts program events. The recommendation to "find a criterion of simplicity in mathematics," Hilbert's recently discovered 24th question on his renowned list of open problems given at the meeting of the International Congress of Mathematics in Paris in 1900, places the aesthetic of simplicity at the heart of mathematical practice. At the same time, simplicity and economy of means are powerful impulses in the creation of artworks. Recognizing the aesthetic nature of Hilbert's question, this conference aims to focus on criteria of simplicity in mathematics that are informed by perspectives from the arts, the philosophy and history of mathematics, and, most of all, current mathematical practice. The conference will focus on the questions: Is simplicity in mathematics truth conducive? How did simplicity come to represent such an important ideal in mathematical practice? Is there such a thing as the simplest proof of a theorem, and is this always its best proof?