Whew! I'm glad I didn't have to write the Eigenvalue entry at Wikipedia.

[Rabrrrrrr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigenvalue

[Radio_Lady]

1. How the heck did you happen to get to THAT entry? Here's my mental image in action:

This was written by John Jacob Eigenvalue. He changed his name from something else he never reveals to anyone. Eigenvalue, a man of short, stooped stature, finally overcame acne in his 30s, but he still has facial scars. His adoptive mother beat him and he has a bad eye as a result. Sometimes he puts a patch over the eye, but sometimes he seems to stare out of it blindly, depending on his mood. He should wear glasses for reading, but he doesn't like to -- he says that glasses cut him off from the "real world" as he defines it.

He lives in a small apartment in a large city, which I would rather not name. You won't find his name in any index or on his mailbox. Appallingly paranoid, Eigenvalue has no particular friends and his family rejected him for his brilliance a long time ago. But, in the world of mathematics, physics, and spectral analysis, he has no peer. When his abilities were discovered in college, people fawned over him, but he rejected all of the accolades to spend time alone with his electronic equipment. He walks a great deal in a mindless way, just to get over the buzzing in his brain about things mathematical.

Eigenvalue's diet is meager and unremarkable. I've heard that he loves Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, but he doesn't like regular Corn Flakes, and he angers easily when faced with the dilemma of the lessened sugar content. He could be knocking on your door to borrow some sugar... maybe tonight... maybe tomorrow. Beware. He doesn't see the world like a regular human being. So you should exercise care when you meet him. Remember his name... write it down if you have to. J. J. Eigenvalue. You will never see this name in print, but maybe you will, someday...

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. I was thinking about Eigenvalues earlier today, though I don't know why.

So I decided to look it up on wikipedia.

[NNadir]

5. That's focked up.

As in Hartree-Fock.

I had a girlfriend once when I was a young man who was something of an operator. I asked her if she would like to Hartree Fock, but she insisted that there was a charged repulsion in our orbits. There was nothing integral to our exchange but in any case the matrix in which we were operating had no set basis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fock_operator

Actually she turned out to be a surfer babe who was always going to social events involving her favorite sport. I told her that our relationship would probably not work out. I don't do wave functions.

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. I once dated a girl named Roothaan.

:rofl:

I've never heard of the Hartree-Fock before! I only did two semesters of quantum mechanics at the undergrad level.

Thanks for the links, and the new knowledge!

[Radio_Lady]

6. Couldn't even think about it before you posted... how's that?

I never heard that word before.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. I'm not surprised -

you don't seem geeky enough to have heard of it. You're too sane!

[kedrys]

2. Kinda cool, tho.

Vague memories of math classes I've never had to use in real life... :)

[Radio_Lady]

3. Yeah, kinda. Math classes I skipped because of a lack of interest and ability!

Thank God for calculators, banking by mail, and, ultimately, skilled husbands who did/do all the numbers stuff in my life!

[LynzM]

8. Exactly....

Like, I know I used to know about Eigen values and Eigen vectors. Couldn't tell you about them now, though.... :crazy:

[Radio_Lady]

10. Yeah, between the classes I didn't take, the antiquity of my college

education (1956 to 1962, not continuously), and the stuff I've simply forgotten... It all mounts up! Hey, it was a great ride and now we're coasting into the future.

Actually, I've learned a great deal from this connection to the DU... so many people with varying interests and knowledge, and always someone (well, usually always) to answer a question or start you thinking about new ideas.

Nice to know you at the DU, LynzM. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Warm regards,

Radio_Lady in Oregon

[LynzM]

12. Thanks, Radio Lady!

I agree about DU, there is always so much to learn here, even randomly in the lounge! :)
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :hi:

[pokerfan]

11. Ugh! Differential Equations was pleasant

compared to linear algebra.

Might have been my prof though.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

13. Eeeeew.

Please tell me that's not until, like, advanced calculus or something.

:puke:

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. ROFL!

Unless you're going into science or math, you probably won't be getting Eigenvalues, unless for some reason you just really like math and take a lot of your electives in math until you've had enough calculus and differential equations, etc., to then take linear algebra.

[Elidor]

15. It's well-written

Even a layman can understand it. As someone whose mind recoils in horror from math, I found it vaguely interesting.