Revisions to Why does the monster group exist?

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edited Aug 24, 2023 at 0:02

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Recently, I was watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asked John:

If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?

John replied:

I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists.

From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT, e.g.,

Siobhan Roberts, Curiosities: pursuing the Monster. What lies beneath a structure with an unimaginable 196,883 dimensions?, IAS, 2013

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why". I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence? Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

Update: So I found another interview, in which John explains a bit further: "I think there is something so fundamental about this object that there should be a simpler definition or a simpler construction"

Recently, I was watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asked John:

If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?

John replied:

I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists.

From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT, e.g.,

Siobhan Roberts, Curiosities: pursuing the Monster. What lies beneath a structure with an unimaginable 196,883 dimensions?, IAS, 2013

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why". I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence? Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

Recently, I was watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asked John:

If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?

John replied:

I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists.

From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT, e.g.,

Siobhan Roberts, Curiosities: pursuing the Monster. What lies beneath a structure with an unimaginable 196,883 dimensions?, IAS, 2013

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why". I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence? Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

Update: So I found another interview, in which John explains a bit further: "I think there is something so fundamental about this object that there should be a simpler definition or a simpler construction"

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edited Aug 23, 2023 at 11:17

Rodrigo de Azevedo

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Recently, I was recently watching an interview that John Conway did with NumberphileNumberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asksasked John: "If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?" He

If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?

John replied: " I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists."

I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists.

From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT (see: https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2013/roberts-monster ), e.g.,

Siobhan Roberts, Curiosities: pursuing the Monster. What lies beneath a structure with an unimaginable 196,883 dimensions?, IAS, 2013

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why" (. I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence ?). Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

I was recently watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asks John: "If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?" He replied: " I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists." From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT (see: https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2013/roberts-monster ).

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why" ( I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence ?). Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

Recently, I was watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asked John:

If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?

John replied:

I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists.

From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT, e.g.,

Siobhan Roberts, Curiosities: pursuing the Monster. What lies beneath a structure with an unimaginable 196,883 dimensions?, IAS, 2013

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why". I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence? Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

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edited Aug 23, 2023 at 11:09

Rodrigo de Azevedo

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3
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I was recently watching an interviewinterview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asks John: "If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?" He replied: " I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists." From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT (see: https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2013/roberts-monster ).

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why" ( I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence ?). Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

The interview: https://youtu.be/xOCe5HUObD4

I was recently watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asks John: "If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?" He replied: " I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists." From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT (see: https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2013/roberts-monster ).

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why" ( I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence ?). Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?

The interview: https://youtu.be/xOCe5HUObD4

I was recently watching an interview that John Conway did with Numberphile. By the end of the video, Brady Haran asks John: "If you were to come back a hundred years after your death, what problem would you like to know about ?" He replied: " I would really like to know why the Monster Group exists." From what I have read, it seems like research has moved on toward exploring the connections between the monster moonshine conjectures and other fields such as conformal field theory. I do know that Conway didn't particularly like the idea of the existence having to do with CFT (see: https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2013/roberts-monster ).

Therefore, I am trying to understand what he means by "why" ( I couldn't really find any papers where he further went into the question, why can't the existence of the group be a coincidence ?). Have there been any further developments in relation to this question?