# Atiyah on the "Galois group of the octonions" and Physics

Apparently Atiyah was talking about the "Galois group of the octonions" and the unification of the forces of physics at the Heidelberg Forum. Unfortunately not on the stage -- it didn't make its way into his talk. Can anyone who has heard Atiyah talk about this (at the Heidelberg Forum or elsewhere) say what he has said? (If Atiyah is ok with that being posted here, of course).

"Listening in on some of his conversations, I don’t think I’m violating any confidentiality by reporting that he’s quite taken with the idea that if one could make sense of the “Galois group of the octonions” one would find that it lies at the heart of unification of the forces of physics. I can’t do justice to his arguments for this, but, if you can find him, I’m sure you’ll get an enthusiastic explanation." (Via http://scilogs.spektrum.de/hlf/sir-michael-atiyah-unity-mathematics-physics/ )

• Related (but not duplicate): mathoverflow.net/q/133147/34538 Sep 26, 2016 at 7:04
• year later and still no one has any idea? Oct 18, 2017 at 6:30

• I read the quote as saying $Gal(\mathbb{O})$ was being mentioned in one-on-one discussions, but I might be wrong. Note the video is 52 minutes long, so if someone finds the timestamp of any relevant material that would be nice. :-) Sep 26, 2016 at 7:50