Mathematical term for physicist's "Lattice Theory"?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the mathematical term for the structures associated with physicists' "lattice theory." Participants clarify that while a mathematical lattice is defined as a group generated by edges between nodes, the physical concept of "lattice field theory" incorporates additional structures, such as physical fields. The conversation highlights the discrepancies between physics terminology and pure mathematics, emphasizing the need for further literature on lattice gauge theory to explore these additional structures.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of mathematical lattices and their properties
  • Familiarity with group theory and its applications
  • Knowledge of lattice field theory in physics
  • Basic concepts of gauge theory
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  • Research "lattice gauge theory" and its implications in physics
  • Explore the differences between "vector fields" in physics and "vector spaces" in mathematics
  • Study the mathematical properties of lattices as outlined in the Wikipedia articles
  • Investigate literature on the additional structures in lattice field theory
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Physicists, mathematicians, and researchers interested in the intersection of lattice theory and field theory, as well as anyone seeking to clarify the terminology differences between physics and mathematics.

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TL;DR
Lattices are studied in mathematics. What physicists call a "lattice theory" uses the mathematical object that is a lattice, but involves other things, such as associating elements of a group with the links between nodes of a lattice. Is there a mathematical term for the study of lattices with this additional structure?
Lattices are studied in mathematics. What physicists call a "lattice theory" uses the mathematical object that is a lattice, but it involves other things, such as associating elements of a group with the links between nodes of a lattice. Is there a mathematical term for lattices with this additional structure?
 
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Just click the links in your article telling you what the lattices are and it will take you to the link I posted after two clicks.

The mathematical term for it is a lattice.
 
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Office_Shredder said:
Just click the links in your article telling you what the lattices are and it will take you to the link I posted after two clicks.

The mathematical term for it is a lattice.

Yes, but a mathematical "lattice" does not have all the structure associated with the physical theory.
 
A mathematical lattice is a group, which is generated by the edges between adjacent nodes. Isn't that what you wanted? Maybe I don't understand the structure.
 
Office_Shredder said:
A mathematical lattice is a group, which is generated by the edges between adjacent nodes. Isn't that what you wanted? Maybe I don't understand the structure.

Apparently the physical concept of a "lattice field theory" includes the concept of a physical "field" (as in "force field" etc. as opposed to the mathematical concept of an algebraic "field").
 
Could you provide some articles/literature, where such additional structure is studied?

Something to do with lattice gauge theory, mayhaps?
 
  • #10
nuuskur said:
Could you provide some articles/literature, where such additional structure is studied?

I'm not familiar with the physics literature. It's a vocabulary question. My curiosity is motivated only by seeing the terminology "lattice theory" used in posts about physics on the forum. Physics terminology often doesn't match the terminology of pure mathematics. For example, a "vector field" in physics isn't identical to a "vector space" or an (algebraic) field in mathematics.
 
  • #11
I understand now. Yeah it seems like someone needs to describe the structure you are talking about or an expert needs to come to this thread. I think the special stuff is not what you said in your first post, unless I am missing something.

You might have more luck asking this in the physics part of the forum.
 

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