Imaginary Physics

2010-04-10

It occurred to me the other day that all of the leading fundamental equations in physics rely on imaginary numbers. I also remembered something that I usually think little about: that imaginary numbers represent imaginary things. The claim of physics, therefore, is that the existence and behavior of all real, measurable things are actually determined by underlying imaginary things. What philosophical consequences does this have? I'm not sure, but it is extremely strange, and deserves a bit of skepticism.