Deep Beauty

was the title of a symposium on quantum theory at Princeton last week dedicated to the late John von Neumann. The title was left undefined. In honor of von Neumann, here is some material that may help those searching for the title’s meaning:

 The 45 citations
at Arxiv Structure
of a paper titled
“Quantum Theory From
Five Reasonable Axioms.”

The school of thought represented in these citations has recently become surprisingly popular– it appears in a TV commercial featuring the phrase “a more intelligent model.”

Those who wisely object that popularity should not be a test of beauty may consult a little-known (at least in the West) Sino-Japanese definition of “deep beauty.” This definition– although from philosophy, not physics– may appeal to those who, like Peter Woit, are troubled by a Christian foundation’s sponsorship of last week’s scientific symposium.

“Deep beauty”
is yuugen.