Carl Devito - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Carl Devito
Leonardo, 1992
In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in ... more In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in the United States, working under a grant from NASA, will begin conducting a search for intelligent extraterrestrial radio signals. The author discusses a method of constructing a language, based on the rudiments of logic, mathematics and the physical sciences, that could be used to successfully communicate with beings from other planets.
Physical review, Dec 1, 1988
There is a strong feeling among many researchers that certain physical phenomena are fractal in n... more There is a strong feeling among many researchers that certain physical phenomena are fractal in nature. The difficulty, in any given case, is to make precise what one means when one says that something is fractal. An example might help. The Cantor middle third set, discussed in detail here, is a fractal in the sense that its Hausdor6'(now often called the fractal) dimension is between zero and 1; is it ln2/ln3, in fact. Now the spectral lines of the hydrogen atom seem to be fractal also, just from a casual observation of the self-similar nature of the various series. They certainly do not have all the properties of the Cantor set and so, we may well ask, in what sense are they fractal? The purpose of this paper is to give one answer to this question.
Mathematische Annalen, Jun 1, 1971
Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Nov 1, 1967
Pacific Journal of Mathematics, Nov 1, 1968
This paper is concerned with locally convex spaces which are closed, separable subspaces of their... more This paper is concerned with locally convex spaces which are closed, separable subspaces of their strong biduals. Let E be a space of this type. We first prove that, for an element of E tr 9 weak* continuity on E r is equivalent to sequential weak* continuity on the convex, strongly bounded subsets of E'. We then prove Eberlein's theorem for spaces of this type; i.e., we prove that, for the weakly closed subsets of E, countable weak compactness coincides with weak compactness. Finally, we show that the separability hypothesis in our first theorem is necessary.
Futures, Feb 1, 2019
One of the few pieces of hard data that we have in connection with SETI is embodied in Fermi's fa... more One of the few pieces of hard data that we have in connection with SETI is embodied in Fermi's famous question, often stated simply as: Where is everyone? Our purpose here is to show that this "paradox" is telling us something about the number of communicating societies in the galaxy and the rate at which such societies "grow". Our analysis is based on a mathematical technique that is of fundamental importance in a number of areas of physics. Introduction: In 1950, during a lunch time conversation in which extraterrestrials were discussed, the physicist Enrico Fermi turned to his colleagues, Edward Teller, Emil Konopinski and Herbert York, and asked "Don't you ever wonder where everybody is?"[1, p. 12]. The paradoxical nature of this question stems from the fact that although most scientists believe that technologically sophisticated societies exist in the Milky Way galaxy, in over 60 years of searching, we have not detected any. Many "solutions" to this paradox have been offered [4]. Some depend on assumptions about the nature of alien societies and/or what the members
CRC Press eBooks, May 12, 2023
Berghahn Books, Oct 21, 2022
Astrophysics and Space Science, 1996
Some recent astronomical observations [4], and a number of experiments in particle physics, seem ... more Some recent astronomical observations [4], and a number of experiments in particle physics, seem to cast doubt on the validity of the standard linear model for time. These results raise two (at least) questions: (1) If time is not a linear continuum (i.e., if the standard model is incorrect), then why does this model work so well in so many areas of science? (2) Whatever the "true nature" of time is, are there any advantages, to science, in replacing the standard model with a more complicated one? The purpose of this paper is to present a non-linear, mathematical model for time that enables us to answer question (1), and to partially answer question (2). Our discussion of question (2) is incomplete, but our results are intriguing. They also show promise of helping us understand some of the observations mentioned above. A rather natural extension of our model brings it into close contact with one that has been used in quantum theory ("Stochastically branching spacetime topology" by Roy Douglas [2]). These points of contact will also be discussed.
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Jun 1, 1991
In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in ... more In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in the United States, working under a grant from NASA, will begin conducting a search for intelligent extraterrestrial radio signals. The author discusses a method of constructing a language, based on the rudiments of logic, mathematics and the physical sciences, that could be used to successfully communicate with beings from other planets.
Journal of the London Mathematical Society, Aug 1, 1972
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Mathematische Zeitschrift, Sep 1, 1988
Futures, 2019
Abstract This special issue grew out of a series of discussions on the ethics of human colonizati... more Abstract This special issue grew out of a series of discussions on the ethics of human colonization in the context of the 2018 SoCIA (Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology) meeting in Reno, NV. These exchanges, both by email prior to the meeting and during the panel discussion there, were so lively and engaging that we wanted to find a way to capture their spirit in print. The Great Colonization Debate is thus an unusual format for an academic piece, reading more like an informal debate where all the contributors have an opportunity to engage one another, interactively exploring the ideas they present in their separate pieces. We hope that it will serve as an interesting and informative introduction to what follows.
Mathematische Zeitschrift, Mar 1, 1986
A well-known theorem of Schauder states that the transpose of a compact operator on a normed spac... more A well-known theorem of Schauder states that the transpose of a compact operator on a normed space is also a compact operator. This theorem has been generalized to locally convex spaces in several ways [9, w 42, pp. 200-204]. The purpose of the first part of this paper is to present a generalization of this result which is very close in spirit to Schauder's original theorem. Our proof even uses the same tools he used. This shows that the class of operators for which our result holds, a class which properly contains the compact operators, should be investigated further. We do that in the second part of this paper where the Riesz theory for our new class of operators is developed.
Acta Astronautica, Mar 1, 2022
Civilizations Beyond Earth
Leonardo, 1992
In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in ... more In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in the United States, working under a grant from NASA, will begin conducting a search for intelligent extraterrestrial radio signals. The author discusses a method of constructing a language, based on the rudiments of logic, mathematics and the physical sciences, that could be used to successfully communicate with beings from other planets.
Physical review, Dec 1, 1988
There is a strong feeling among many researchers that certain physical phenomena are fractal in n... more There is a strong feeling among many researchers that certain physical phenomena are fractal in nature. The difficulty, in any given case, is to make precise what one means when one says that something is fractal. An example might help. The Cantor middle third set, discussed in detail here, is a fractal in the sense that its Hausdor6'(now often called the fractal) dimension is between zero and 1; is it ln2/ln3, in fact. Now the spectral lines of the hydrogen atom seem to be fractal also, just from a casual observation of the self-similar nature of the various series. They certainly do not have all the properties of the Cantor set and so, we may well ask, in what sense are they fractal? The purpose of this paper is to give one answer to this question.
Mathematische Annalen, Jun 1, 1971
Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, Nov 1, 1967
Pacific Journal of Mathematics, Nov 1, 1968
This paper is concerned with locally convex spaces which are closed, separable subspaces of their... more This paper is concerned with locally convex spaces which are closed, separable subspaces of their strong biduals. Let E be a space of this type. We first prove that, for an element of E tr 9 weak* continuity on E r is equivalent to sequential weak* continuity on the convex, strongly bounded subsets of E'. We then prove Eberlein's theorem for spaces of this type; i.e., we prove that, for the weakly closed subsets of E, countable weak compactness coincides with weak compactness. Finally, we show that the separability hypothesis in our first theorem is necessary.
Futures, Feb 1, 2019
One of the few pieces of hard data that we have in connection with SETI is embodied in Fermi's fa... more One of the few pieces of hard data that we have in connection with SETI is embodied in Fermi's famous question, often stated simply as: Where is everyone? Our purpose here is to show that this "paradox" is telling us something about the number of communicating societies in the galaxy and the rate at which such societies "grow". Our analysis is based on a mathematical technique that is of fundamental importance in a number of areas of physics. Introduction: In 1950, during a lunch time conversation in which extraterrestrials were discussed, the physicist Enrico Fermi turned to his colleagues, Edward Teller, Emil Konopinski and Herbert York, and asked "Don't you ever wonder where everybody is?"[1, p. 12]. The paradoxical nature of this question stems from the fact that although most scientists believe that technologically sophisticated societies exist in the Milky Way galaxy, in over 60 years of searching, we have not detected any. Many "solutions" to this paradox have been offered [4]. Some depend on assumptions about the nature of alien societies and/or what the members
CRC Press eBooks, May 12, 2023
Berghahn Books, Oct 21, 2022
Astrophysics and Space Science, 1996
Some recent astronomical observations [4], and a number of experiments in particle physics, seem ... more Some recent astronomical observations [4], and a number of experiments in particle physics, seem to cast doubt on the validity of the standard linear model for time. These results raise two (at least) questions: (1) If time is not a linear continuum (i.e., if the standard model is incorrect), then why does this model work so well in so many areas of science? (2) Whatever the "true nature" of time is, are there any advantages, to science, in replacing the standard model with a more complicated one? The purpose of this paper is to present a non-linear, mathematical model for time that enables us to answer question (1), and to partially answer question (2). Our discussion of question (2) is incomplete, but our results are intriguing. They also show promise of helping us understand some of the observations mentioned above. A rather natural extension of our model brings it into close contact with one that has been used in quantum theory ("Stochastically branching spacetime topology" by Roy Douglas [2]). These points of contact will also be discussed.
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Jun 1, 1991
In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in ... more In 1992, the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, a group of researchers in the United States, working under a grant from NASA, will begin conducting a search for intelligent extraterrestrial radio signals. The author discusses a method of constructing a language, based on the rudiments of logic, mathematics and the physical sciences, that could be used to successfully communicate with beings from other planets.
Journal of the London Mathematical Society, Aug 1, 1972
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Mathematische Zeitschrift, Sep 1, 1988
Futures, 2019
Abstract This special issue grew out of a series of discussions on the ethics of human colonizati... more Abstract This special issue grew out of a series of discussions on the ethics of human colonization in the context of the 2018 SoCIA (Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology) meeting in Reno, NV. These exchanges, both by email prior to the meeting and during the panel discussion there, were so lively and engaging that we wanted to find a way to capture their spirit in print. The Great Colonization Debate is thus an unusual format for an academic piece, reading more like an informal debate where all the contributors have an opportunity to engage one another, interactively exploring the ideas they present in their separate pieces. We hope that it will serve as an interesting and informative introduction to what follows.
Mathematische Zeitschrift, Mar 1, 1986
A well-known theorem of Schauder states that the transpose of a compact operator on a normed spac... more A well-known theorem of Schauder states that the transpose of a compact operator on a normed space is also a compact operator. This theorem has been generalized to locally convex spaces in several ways [9, w 42, pp. 200-204]. The purpose of the first part of this paper is to present a generalization of this result which is very close in spirit to Schauder's original theorem. Our proof even uses the same tools he used. This shows that the class of operators for which our result holds, a class which properly contains the compact operators, should be investigated further. We do that in the second part of this paper where the Riesz theory for our new class of operators is developed.
Acta Astronautica, Mar 1, 2022
Civilizations Beyond Earth
JBIS, 2022
For interstellar messages that we have sent so far, the underlying assumption in schemes for enco... more For interstellar messages that we have sent so far, the underlying assumption in schemes for encoding/ decoding is that the recipients are fundamentally similar to ourselves. But there have been criticisms of this assumption of equivalence approach because intelligence even on our own planet takes many different forms, and these forms are influenced by the senses of the individual. Jonas and Jonas (1976) describe hypothetical extraterrestrial species with alternate senses inspired by Earth animals. This current work further expands on the capability of these extraterrestrial species to understand messages that we would send. A continuum of similarity to humans is proposed, from species whose senses do not allow them to develop radio technology, to species who do but whose senses do not allow them to understand 2D images, to species with senses only slightly different than our own. Implications for message construction are considered, and recommendations for future message content are given. These recommendations include redundant sections with questions that require different senses (similar to how a person can see a number in a colorblind test only if they are not colorblind). Replies would tell us the sensory modalities we should be addressing with this particular extraterrestrial intelligence. Another recommendation would be to use information about a targeted planet to determine the most probable sense of inhabitants, and tailor messages to that sense.