Kenny <kentilton@gmail.com> wrote:
+---------------
| ...so that only leaves one slot and it would be nice to show
| respect for women and have a babe in there so of course I am
| thinking Anna Kournikova... at some point tho I might veer 
| uncharacteristically towards sanity ...
+---------------

Let me in no wise discourage your general admiration of Anna K's
obvious qualities... ;-}  ;-}  ...but in this case may I be so bold
as to suggest that the following might be a substantially better
choice [unless you were to find an even more outstanding female
mathematician!]:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Noether
    Amalie Emmy Noether ... (March 23, 1882  April 14, 1935) was a
    German Jewish mathematician who is known for her seminal contributions
    to abstract algebra. Often described as the most important woman
    in the history of mathematics, she revolutionized the theories of
    rings, fields, and algebras. She is also known for her contributions
    to modern theoretical physics, especially for the first Noether's
    theorem which explains the connection between symmetry and
    conservation laws. ...

In the form used by physicists[1], Noether's theorem states:

    For every symmetry exhibited by a physical law, there
    is a corresponding observable quantity that is conserved.

E.g., if a physical law (or more loosely, physical system) behaves
the same regardless of when in the past or future you measure it
(temporal translation symmetry), then it must conserve energy.
If it behaves the same regardless of how it is positioned up, down,
or sidewise in space (translational symmetry), then it must conserve
linear momentum. And it behaves the same regardless of how it is
oriented in space (rotationally symmetric), then that law/system
must conserve angular momentum. Etc.[2]


-Rob

[1] Page 172 of:

      http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title_pages/3474.html
      Deep Down Things
      The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics
      by Bruce A. Schumm

    I only heard about Noether this week while reading this
    very enjoyable and (ironically!) relatively non-mathematical
    presentation of the Standard Model of particle physics.

[2] I say "Etc." since it's not limited to macro-scale or even
    "physical" quantities that are directly observable, but
    (as best I understand it) the only real prequisite for applying
    Noether's theorem is the invariance of the law in question
    under some -- any -- symmetry. Thus it naturally extends to
    such things as "internal symmetry spaces" such as the SU(3)
    Lie group used in the Standard Model to describe the strong
    nuclear force, with the result that (e.g.) total nuclear isospin
    must be conserved in any interaction [as must the strong color
    charge (modulo the weird way the "R/G/B"s can cancel each other),
    if I'm reading Schumm correctly]. That kind of thing. Fun stuff.  ;-}

-----
Rob Warnock			<rpw3@rpw3.org>
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