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Truth and Approximate Truth

Who: Dr. Carlos Ortiz, Arcadia University

When and Where: Tuesday, February 4, in Barbelin 264 at 12:00 noon.

Food? Yes, sandwiches, chips, and soda. Food will be available prior to the start of the colloquium in the math offices beginning at 11:30.

Audience: Math faculty and students and others interested in logic.

Abstract: In everyday life, just about everybody makes statements that are true, but not quite. Here are some examples: "I almost made it to the Dean's list", "I am very close to understanding this topic". Actually, one can even argue that most of the relevant statements in your life (like this one) are approximately true instead of true. This is also true (or almost true) in the physical sciences. Who can guarantee that the velocity of a particle is exactly $2.34 m/s$?

It is then natural to think that one should study the concept of approximate truth formally, using the tools of mathematical logic. Actually, this study began 25 years ago, and in this talk we will introduce this notion and explain some of its importance for mathematics and the physical sciences. We will first give a precise meaning of the notion of approximate truth, then we will see in what sense this is the "right" notion to deal with our universe (instead of the usual notion of truth). Finally we will discuss some beautiful applications of this concept to different areas of mathematics.

The next colloquium will be given by Saint Joseph's senior Matt Zawistowski. He will speak on Thursday, February 13th, 11:30-12:45 regarding an Honors Independent Study on Fractals.

Presented by the SJU Math and Computer Science Department.

Sean Forman and Jonathan Hodgson, colloquium committee