Modern Physics and Number Theory

Abstract

Despite the efforts of many individuals, the disciplines of modern physics and number theory have remained largely divorced, in the sense that the experimentally verified theories of quantum physics and gravity are written in the language of linear algebra and advanced calculus, without reference to several established branches of pure mathematics. This absence raises questions as to whether or not pure mathematics has undiscovered application to physical modeling that could have far reaching implications for human scientific understanding. In this paper, we review physical interpretations of number theoretic concepts developed in the twentieth century, in an attempt to help bridge the divide between pure mathematical truth and testable physical theory. Specifically, the relevance of L-functions and modular forms to the physics of quantum and classical physical systems is addressed, with the objective of motivating general interest among physicists in these mathematical concepts.