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8:04 PM
First ep of the Sopranos is downloaded
Let's see
 
I'm so confused.
I'm still "vaguely around"... what?
"cheater hookup"?
 
@EmilioPisanty, I accidentally removed your answer from my question by accepting "move to chat" please re-add if you want. I'm going to delete the question though because it is unclear unless you think it should stay. I'm at work & so I can't stick around to see a response here. Thanks for your thoughtful answer.
 
@DMac No. I personally deleted my answer because the debate was not going anywhere and I was not interested in repeating myself.
You can never remove other people's content on Stack Exchange unless (i) you delete your question and there exists a single answer with no upvotes, which gets deleted with the question, (ii) you're a moderator, or (iii) you vote to delete other content as part of a quorum of at least three different users (full rules here).
@DanielSank cf.
37 mins ago, by Emilio Pisanty
Writing proposals and justifications is so much easier when you work on superconductivity. It's like activating a science cheat code.
 
8:22 PM
we were pretty much eliminated from the playoffs last night :'(
some nice hats here
 
Anonymous
8:39 PM
In this paper, I'm a bit confused about this stuff: $\chi(p)$ (so-called-Euler number) has been said to be $N_B(p)-N_W(p)$ (which they claim is a result from Topology), $p$ being the probability of a pixel/point being "black". $N_B(p)$ is the number of black clusters given a certain $p$. And similarly $N_W(p)$ is the number of white clusters given the same probability $p$.
 
Anonymous
Now, I've looked up Euler's characteristic $\chi$ from Wikipedia, but it doesn't mention any formula similar to $\chi (p)=N_B(p)-N_W(p)$.
 
Anonymous
So, my question is: What is the significance of the Euler's number $\chi(p)=N_B(p)-N_A(p)$ in Topology and what are it's applications? Some book or source discussing this would be helpful. The paper
 
Anonymous
which they reference is another similar paper which doesn't explain anything about from where this Euler's number originates. They just say it is a "topological measure". This is so weird...Is $\chi(p)=N_B(p)-N_A(p)$ a legit thing in Topology?
 
@EmilioPisanty bah
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Halp needed
 
Anonymous
8:50 PM
Oh, hey you're there :P Hi
 
Anonymous
Any idea about that euler number thingy?
 
I am busy right now. If you can give me the context maybe I can help
I don't understand your definition of $\chi$
 
@Slereah apparently the first episode was a comedy
 
and I don't really want to read pages of stuff right now
 
@0celo7 i can see why they went with drama
I didn't realize it was a comedy
 
8:53 PM
@Slereah it worked out for them
 
which is a bad sign for a comedy
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen It's not my definition, actually. I found it on that paper. And can't relate it with the Euler's characteristic given in wikipedia (which is general one used in Topology)
 
I'm trying to finish that electronics thing but the only thing in mypart box for a switch is a weird DPDT switch
No idea how it works
 
Yes I know it's not your definition. I'm asking you to give a tl;dr of the paper's definition
I don't want to read the paper
 
Anonymous
Alright, lemme try to summarize it:
 
Anonymous
8:56 PM
 
Anonymous
Say we have a 2D plane containing $N \times N$ pixels
 
Anonymous
Then, suppose we have a probability $p$, of a pixel being black.
 
Anonymous
Then, look at the figure (a) for example. If you use randomization algorithm, and set $p=0.17$
 
Anonymous
Randomly black pixels pop up in the white "sea"
 
Anonymous
8:59 PM
And you get something that looks like 2(a)
 
right
 
Anonymous
Now, some of these black pixels may pop up adjacently
 
Anonymous
And form tiny black clusters
 
Anonymous
Of more than 1-pixel
 
so N_B(p) is # of black pixels and N_W(p) is # of white pixels?
 
Anonymous
9:00 PM
BUT, at $p=0.17$, the white pixels form just 1 cluster (notice 2(a)) i.e. the white sea
 
oh clusters
not pixels
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Just replace that with "clusters"
 
Anonymous
Yes
 
Anonymous
After that I've stated the definition of Euler's number they are using
 
Anonymous
(which they claim to be a result from Topology)
 
9:02 PM
Ahhh I see what's happening
Clever
heheheh this is topology bro
 
Anonymous
Phew :P
 
Anonymous
Explain :P
 
I'm still processing it but the idea is pretty clearly that you're counting components. In 2(a) N_W(0.17) = 1 because the space of white pixels form a connected region on the plane
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Right
 
Let me think about it for a while. This should be apparent
 
Anonymous
9:05 PM
Alright, lemme know when you get it :)
 
Anonymous
They also talk about fractal dimensions and stuff in that paper which I'm confused about. But I'll ask that later.
 
So mister Italian just really like ducks
 
Can we all just agree that Kaku is an absolute genius
 
Anonymous
He's a good football player...
 
Football of the future
 
9:16 PM
Phew
finally figured out how that switch works
Who sells an electronic kit with only 6 pin switches
Amma gonna get some two pin switches
 
Anonymous
Get a 0 pin one
 
Hm
I'd better put on some pants before soldering
2
Or things might turn out bad
 
Anonymous
lol
 
@Blue say you have a 3x3 thing
first picture: everything except the center square is black
second picture: everything except the center and the below-center square is black
These two seem to have the same $\chi$ fam
So how is this a good invariant?
(Or am I misunderstanding?)
 
Anonymous
9:30 PM
@BalarkaSen What do you mean by invariant in this context?
 
things which determine if two things are distinct or not
 
Anonymous
$\chi$ is actually a variable according to the paper
 
determinant of a matrix is an invariant which detects invertibility
@Blue That's not what I meant. Whatever.
 
Anonymous
 
So do you agree $\chi$ are the same for both cases?
 
Anonymous
9:33 PM
Wait. In your first picture $\chi=1-1=0$ and in your second case too $\chi=1-1=0$
 
Anonymous
Okay, yes
 
Okay. That's uninspiring.
The Euler characteristic is meant to be a topological invariant. Those two configurations obviously are not the same
topologically
 
Anonymous
They are not defining $\chi$ as the invariant factor. They're trying to find an invariant factor which is in the next part of the paper
 
Anonymous
There's some underlying invariance factor which they're trying to find
 
Anonymous
See this graph:
 
9:36 PM
if chi is not invariant under topological considerations, there's no way it relates to Euler characteristic
 
Anonymous
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Right, I get your point. I'll complain about that tomorrow, to them :P
 
Anonymous
Thanks though
 
Anonymous
But just have a look at the bottom left para of the picture
 
The Vogel-Hoffman-Roth paper is more interesting
It says $\int_{\delta X} 1/r ds = 2\pi\chi(X)$
horrid notation, but I think there's a way to decode that
 
Anonymous
9:40 PM
Heh, yeah. They say it's a topological measure of some sort
 
If you integrate $1/z$ over the unit circle you get $2\pi$
so I don't see how $\chi$ of my first picture is $0$ not $1$
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Isn't that $2\pi i$ or am I misremembering....
 
er yeah that
i'm normalizing
 
Anonymous
Okay I see
 
The point is the picture you get from the my first thing is of a circle
And Euler char of a circle is 1
 
Anonymous
9:43 PM
@BalarkaSen It's 0
 
Anonymous
Check wiki
 
Anonymous
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological space's shape or structure regardless of the way it is bent. It is commonly denoted by χ {\displaystyle \chi } (Greek lower-case letter chi). The Euler characteristic was originally defined for polyhedra and used to prove various theorems about them, including the classification of the Platonic solids. Leonhard Euler, for whom...
 
Anonymous
Under the Examples section
 
lol whoops
I meant the second picture
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen Which picture?
 
Anonymous
9:46 PM
16 mins ago, by Balarka Sen
second picture: everything except the center and the below-center square is black
 
Anonymous
Ah okay
 
switch is soldered, and I only have minor burns
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen I actually didn't understand what you meant by "below center" is black
 
@Blue No, wait up, I'm giving you the wrong examples.
 
Anonymous
Alrighty
 
9:48 PM
I was thinking of the disk, in which case your thing is indeed $1$.
 
Anonymous
Right
 
Anonymous
For disc it is 1
 
But this has to be garbage, because just fill a square of a 2x2 box
$\chi_{garbage} = 1 - 1 = 0$ in that case, but the Euler characteristic of a point is 1
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen You are filling one of the blocks of that box with black?
 
This is measure something other that the topology of the black subset
@Blue Yes
 
Anonymous
9:51 PM
And how does that relate to a "point"?
 
Because that black square is a point, bro :P
1 min ago, by Balarka Sen
This is measure something other that the topology of the black subset
 
Anonymous
You mean "This is measure of something other that the topology of the black subset" I think. But okay
 
Anonymous
I'm getting it a bit
 
@Blue You mean "But okay."
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen I didn't want to annoy you. I thought that is some mathematical term which I don't know.
 
9:55 PM
Oh I wasn't annoyed I was joking
i don't really see how this relates to Euler characteristic
 
Anonymous
Mhm :/
 
like even if you counted just $N_W$ of $N_B$ that'd be sensible
subtracting one from another is not very sensible
 
Anonymous
I think they should just stop calling $\chi$ the Euler number, and just say they're trying to find an invariant
 
Anonymous
which is what they do in the next part of the paper anyway
 
If there're calling it an Euler number surely there's some relation
 
Anonymous
9:58 PM
@BalarkaSen The references they give at the end of the paper lead to another physics paper which is equally vague :P
 
Anonymous
Physicists abusing math as usual I guess!!!
 
Soldering wire to pins is not a fun business
 
It's not clear what is the topological object of interest
 
Anonymous
@BalarkaSen So, I need a bit of advice: It is clear from our discussion that according to their definition of $\chi$, it is not a topological invariant, because in the examples we discussed, even for different arrangements, we find that $\chi$ can be same (say $0$). Also, you mentioned that case for that $2\times 2$ grid. So, should I raise that objection when I meet the authors tomorrow? I don't know much of this stuff other than what I've extrapolated from Wikipedia though...
 
What's going on in here?
 
Anonymous
10:11 PM
They told me to work on that paper. So it seems I have to seriously learn the parts of Topology which are related to it
 
Anonymous
@DanielSank Balarka giving me some Topology advice :P
 
Anonymous
BTW I also need to ask them what their "topological object of interest" is (if they can clarify...well and good...I'll tell you tomorrow)
 
@Blue Well I definitely think there's some topological relevance to this
It's not very obvious to me what that is
 
Y'all heard of this?
6
 
Anonymous
I see. Alright. I'll try asking them tomorrow. The problem is that the first author won't be present. I'll have to ask the co-authors. Anyhow, thanks a ton for the help
 
Anonymous
10:16 PM
I'll later ask you about topo book recommendations :P
 
Anonymous
See you
 
Bredon, Hatcher, Munkres
Anything more and you’ve lost yourself
 
10:32 PM
@DanielSank there's barely anything on there though
every link i click leads to a blank article
 
Yes but it's a good idea.
 
@Slereah so how are the sops?
 
it's aight so far
 
10:58 PM
It's official
I have a stand up desk now
I code while standing. . . . LIKE A BOSS
:D
 
no like a boss memes in 2017 pls
 
hehehe ok ok lol :P
 
11:13 PM
@Cows excellent
@BalarkaSen no. I refuse
 
@DanielSank I've seen it a couple of times. I think I'm going to wait until it's a good bit more populated with content
I'm not sure of how well the fixed structure can cope with expansion
I do hope they iron that out, though, it looks nice
 
11:32 PM
@DanielSank the idea in itself is worthless
the idea is all in the effort
and it's not special at all, there are lots of websites doing the same thing but even more ambitiously, there is one at my university for example
 
for the lolz. Live data visualizations coding, some data science , and sentiment anal
 

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