Model theory and the hypothesis of a finite universe
3 PM, 30 Sep 2026
Boris Zilber explores whether a finite structure can approximate the continuous world, with implications for spacetime and quantum theory.
Could the apparently continuous world of mathematics and physics be an approximation to a fundamentally finite universe? Over two lectures, Prof. Boris Zilber explores this possibility through model theory, the study of theories and their models.
At the heart of his talks is global approximation. Rather than treating a finite model as a local discretisation of a continuous theory, Prof. Zilber asks whether one sufficiently large finite structure can approximate an entire continuous structure, not merely isolated pieces of it. He shows how this approach leads to compact complex structures and considers what it might mean for our understanding of spacetime and fundamental physics.
Examples range from finite cyclic models of spacetime and Lorentz symmetry to quantum mechanics and structures arising in string theory. Zilber also examines the distinction between a global mathematical structure and the local coordinates and measurements an observer reconstructs from it.
Event information
These two lectures will both be held in Faraday’s Study at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which is on the second floor of the Royal Institution. The first, on Wednesday 30 September, begins at 3 o’ clock. The second is at 2 o’ clock on the next day, Thursday 1 October.
Speakers
Boris Zilber is Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Logic at Oxford. He studies model theory, geometry and explores their links to physics. He helped to found geometric stability theory and Zariski geometries, and pioneered model-theoretic approaches to transcendental functions.