Geometry of Minkowski space

By Zackary Burton, La Trobe University

My academic interests have always circulated between maths and physics. During high school I was under the impression that maths was just something I would be forced to do alongside my main interest physics. When I came to La Trobe University, I was still regarding physics as my major priority. The classes that, to me, sounded interesting required many maths subjects as a prerequisite. Eventually, the classes I was taking, with respect to my major, stopped requiring maths and I was given the option to choose electives completely unrelated to my interests. Regardless of this freedom, I chose every math class possible to fill my remaining classes as, in my mind; it would benefit me greatly upon higher learning within physics and in general.

It was third year when my priorities that had previously given me a strong case of tunnel vision finally started shifting. Upon taking third year physics alongside maths, the dependence that physics had upon maths became increasingly more evident. The drive I had held in regards to physics was slowly diminishing. In my mind, there were too many beautiful explanations for simple mathematics that I just couldn’t ignore; for example, the construction of the natural numbers from the empty set.

When this project was proposed to me, I didn’t feel like I would get selected. But to my surprise, here I am writing a summary on the final day of my vacation research scholarship.

The experience as a whole was really rewarding, especially the beginning. Before the project started, the very thought of working alongside my supervisors (Dr. Grant Cairns and Dr. Yuri Nikolayevsky) seemed like an impossibility. As soon as I got the confirmation e-mail from AMSI, everything became a reality in an instant. This, tied with the determination that I would understand the proposed project (which seemed very foreign at the time) left me in a state of overwhelming excitement.

The most rewarding component of the scholarship for me, was presenting my findings to the department, as it promoted a lot of thought between people with a higher level of education. I found it quite pleasing to get so many fresh points of view.

The knowledge I’ve taken from this project is invaluable to me. It’s not just that I could talk about it for hours, it’s about who I can now talk to that really promotes further learning.

The skills I’ve taken away would include significantly reducing nerves when publicly speaking alongside the fine art of staring at a computer screen with the premise of finding the perfect triangle.