In mathematics, monstrous moonshine, or moonshine theory, is a term devised by John Horton Conway and Simon P. Norton in 1979, used to describe the (then totally unexpected) connection between the monster group M and modular functions (particularly, the j function).
Read more about Monstrous Moonshine: History, Formal Versions of Conway's and Norton's Conjectures, The Monster Module, Borcherds' Proof, Why "monstrous Moonshine"?
Famous quotes containing the words monstrous and/or moonshine:
“It is not merely the likeness which is precious ... but the association and the sense of nearness involved in the thing ... the fact of the very shadow of the person lying there fixed forever! It is the very sanctification of portraits I think—and it is not at all monstrous in me to say ... that I would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest Artist’s work ever produced.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“O ruddier than the cherry,
O sweeter than the berry,
O Nymph more bright
Than moonshine night,
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No lily has such lustre,
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As raging flame,
And fierce as storms that bluster.”
—John Gay (1685–1732)