“The infinite! No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man; no other idea has so fruitfully stimulated his intellect; yet no other concept stands in greater need of clarification than that of the infinite…” -David Hilbert (1862-1943)
New Frontiers in Research on Infinity is a program to explore new research domains involving concepts of infinity in a technically rigorous as well as interdisciplinary context. The centerpiece of the project is a two-day, invitation-only conference, August 18-20, 2006, in the Republic of San Marino.
The primary purpose of the project is to advise and assist the John Templeton Foundation towards the formulation of one or more new large-scale research grants competition programs. These will be focused to support advanced research in a variety of thematic areas directly involving a variety of concepts of infinity and debates relating to infinity. The project will generate a set of white papers to map out topical foci and strategies for program design. It also will result in publication of a scholarly volume on the concept and meaning of infinity viewed through the perspectives of mathematics, physics and cosmology, philosophy and theology.