On the architecture of the rings of Saturn: An “identity” theory of the distribution of gaps within rings

Scott Albers

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In the physical world the “identity” of something is taken generally as a given; an apple is an apple; this apple is this apple. When dealing with planetary structure and extension into space, however, the problem of the planet’s “identity” in the surrounding cosmos is writ large. What does a planet’s “identity” imply? What functions must it take on? What internal logic holds it together as a functional “being” in the universe? A model of long-wave economic activity and crisis in the United States – “the Political Economy wave” – portrays the quest for social and economic “identity” with three simple curves: a sine curve over 56 years (20,454 days), a damping cosine curve of one-half the period of the sine curve, and the addition of these two in a “Political Economy Wave.” The logic of this wave is a recurring structure which shapes social “identity” over time. This paper compares the main peaks, intersections and troughs of the Political Economy wave for the United States, 1800-to-present, with the structure of the rings of Saturn, one of the most confounding structures known to science. At the present time gaps appear between rings which are unexplained; dynamism within the rings which should disperse the rings does not do so; edges of the rings are not diffuse but well defined; satellites between rings appear to have an impact but this is uncertain. Comparing these gaps with the various “crises” which predictably impact the “self identity,” the self-understanding, of society, this paper explores the possibility that the mathematics of identity may assist in the understanding of astrophysics, and possibly vice versa.

Keywords: Rings of Saturn; Real GNP; Golden Mean; Phi; Kondratiev Wave; Global Financial Crisis; American Economic History; GNP Spiral; Okun’s Law; Revolution; Kaluza; Fifth Dimension; General Relativity; Astronomy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B41 B5 C01 C02 C5 C50 C6 C63 E0 E01 E1 E19 E3 N00 N01 N1 N11 Z10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-04-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
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