Tenth Avatar: A quest for answers

by Kanchan Joshi

  “All right, have a seat. I’ll get ready,” said Krish. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Krish saw a young lady standing in his doorway. She was tall, with a bony, square face, wearing a dark suit; her eyes scanned the surroundings. She wore small earrings, and her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail.

  “Hello sir, I’m Agent Brooke Craig. I’m responsible for your protection,” she introduced herself, flashing a badge. “You’ve been busy lately,” she continued.

  “What? Wait, who are you again?” asked Krish, as Kathy watched in puzzlement.

  “You were almost killed… twice. We can’t take any more chances. I’m the bureau’s liaison to DARPA, protecting high value scientific talent,” she said, looking at Kathy. “I’ll make sure you stay safe.”

  “Oh great! That should help with my thinking and research,” Krish said, a touch of annoyance laced delicately around the edges of his voice.

  “Dead people don’t get to think or do research,” Agent Craig shot back, without looking at Krish. She was already busy getting a feel for the layout of his place and memorizing all possible exits. “You carry on with whatever you need to do. Let me look around once, then I’ll be waiting outside…sir,” Agent Craig said as she started checking the house.

  I guess I don’t really have a say in this. Might as well get on with my work, Krish thought as he sipped some coffee and closed the door behind her.

  Kathy and Krish were discussing ideas over coffee.

  “Let’s look at it from first principles. Nature does not determine the outcome of the simplest of events. All possibilities are probable. Nature just roles the dice every single time,” Krish said. “For example, outcome of experiments with sub atomic particles is affected by the act of observation. The observation at present time can affect the past behavior of the system. Shinning photons on a beam of sub atomic particles near a screen downstream affects whether the particles travel through one or both slits upstream! The past is uncertain until you observe it!” Krish was laying the groundwork for the ideas pouring out of him. He was encouraged by the fact that he’d managed to hold the attention of the extremely intelligent Kathy. He immediately noticed how beautiful she looked when she listened intently.

  “Scientists also apply a mathematically dubious tool, called normalization, to make sense of phenomena. For example, to obtain a finite charge and mass value for an electron that matches our observation, normalization is employed to cancel the positive and negative infinite, and leave a small value for mass and charge that matches our expectation!

  “We scientists do all kinds of non-scientific things. We ‘believe’ in the existence of particles that cannot be seen or observed. We believe in their existence because these particles explain certain anomalies in data and predict the behavior of other particles. A common example of this is the quark-based model to explain properties of photons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus. Another example is the electron.

  “Scientists use model based reality to explain everything. If a model explains what we observe and makes predictions for the future that matches our measurements, we accept the model! Observations feed into the model, and the model predicts the observations. It is, in essence, a circular argument! A very useful one, though, because it helps us deal with our reality as we experience it.”

  “I didn’t need a lesson in fundamental physics, but I do see your point,” said Kathy.

  “I was just stating the basis for my hypothesis,” said Krish. “So, there is enough basis to say that the model we use to make sense of the universe around us can, and I would say must, be improved.”

  “Makes sense, but what about the mathematics? Without experimental or mathematical proof, it’s just a conjecture,” Kathy was fulfilling her duty as a critical devil’s advocate.

  “New mathematics needs to be conceived for that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I have a strong hunch that this new mathematics will come from Ramanujan’s work.” Krish took a sip of his coffee. “Did I mention he’s dead?”

  “Who is Rama… what?” asked Kathy incredulously.

  “Ramanujan was a self-taught mathematical genius. He was a Fellow of Royal Society and Fellow of Trinity College. He came up with complex mathematical formulas without proofs. Cambridge mathematics professor, G.H. Hardy, once said about him, ‘The formulae he came up with must be true, otherwise nobody would have the imagination to come up with them.’ A lot of development in number theory in the twentieth and twenty-first century was based on his work. Just to give an example, there are nearly 3.9 trillion ways of partitioning—the ways you can write a number as a sum of other integers—the number 200. He came up with an answer within 0.004 of the correct answer. Such precision is unheard of, even to this day!” Krish said excitedly.

  “He died young in 1920. Mathematics just poured out of him in the last year of his life, but it was lost. Some of it was captured in the famous ‘Lost Notebook’ which came very close to being burnt after the death of another mathematician, G.N. Watson. The notebook was found just before being incinerated, and it contained mathematics that helped us understand black holes! The mock theta functions are described in it!”

  Kathy was just as fascinated by the life of this extraordinary genius as his mathematics.

  “Ramanujan wrote a lot more formulae on papers that were scattered around his bed when he died. Those papers were lost. There could be mathematics on them that will help me describe the effect of an external force on the outcome of a whole system, rather than a particle. In short, I want to develop on Feynman’s approach that explains how we get from quantum particles to the macro-system that behaves per Newtonian laws.” Krish was developing his ideas even as he spoke about them. Kathy’s beauty and brilliance was the ideal fuel to help him push the boundaries of his thoughts.

  “Feynman’s approach is the well-known ‘sum over histories’ or ‘alternate histories’. That means the current state of the system, at the time of observation, is described by the sum of all the histories that could have led to that observation. ‘Past’ and ‘future’ are an infinite spectrum of possibilities until we ‘observe’ them. I want to study the effect of individual human beings influencing ‘smaller’, quantum particles and leaders—military, economic, political, spiritual—influencing ‘systems’ made of individual humans. To take it a step further, ‘quantum democracy’ would be when individuals realize their power and truly shape the world, and the universe, around them. I want all individuals to realize this power. I want to lay the mathematical foundation for such a force using mathematics pioneered by Ramanujan. We found the lost notebook, but now I need to find those lost papers.”

  “That’s ambitious and risky! What makes you so sure of the hypothesis? You could be totally wrong. Even if you’re right, this kind of work would normally take decades and at least ten PhD students,” cautioned Kathy.

  “I have these moments of inspiration sometimes, where these models of physics and reality flash in front of my eyes. I actually experience them,” Krish said matter-of-factly. Kathy looked at him quizzically. “And the psychiatrist told me I’m not losing my mind,” he added with a smile. “I also feel a strange force is guiding me toward an outcome. And then, there’s this arrow,” Krish pointed to the exquisite arrow he’d found at the hall during the political debate.

  “If I hadn’t seen your skills in physics and mathematics, I wouldn’t believe you. But, I have, and I hope this works out for you. It’s a very risky endeavor,” Kathy said.

  “I feel confident about it. It’s our job to explore new ideas.”

  “All right then, if that’s what you want to do. What’s the next step?”

  “Penn State, Professor Goldstein, member of the National Academy of Sciences—he’s the one who discovered Ramanujan’s lost notebook. He may have clues about the lost pages,” Krish answered.

  Just then, Agent Craig walked in to perform a periodic check.

  “Let’s have
lunch, then you can get ready for Penn State,” Kathy said.

  “Agent Craig, please join us for lunch,” Krish invited.

  The three of them had lunch at a Thai restaurant.

  “I love the iced tea and fresh herbs this place uses,” Krish said, trying to start up a conversation. “Agent Craig, do you have any interesting stories from your line of work?”

  “I do actually. One comes to mind. I was once working with the Secret Service protecting POTUS. This was during the time when the president ordered the daring raid that killed a prominent terrorist leader. During that tense period, the president stepped out of the Situation Room for a moment. A stealth Black Hawk helicopter was down. Time was running out for the SEAL team. He was outwardly cool, but anxious from within. He reached into his pocket and took out a small statue of a monkey and pressed it in his hands. I think he said a silent prayer. His eyes were closed and he took a deep breath, then went back to the Situation Room.” She paused as she explored the memory again. “As you know, the raid was successful.”

  “Very cool,” Kathy and Krish said together. They were looking at Agent Craig with a newfound respect and honor. She had something else on her mind, though.

  “I saw a similar monkey figure in your room, sir. What is it? If you don’t mind me asking…”

  Krish tried to guess what Agent Craig was talking about. Nothing came to his mind, until suddenly, it just clicked. “I think you’re talking about the figure of Hanuman. He’s one of the gods in India. He’s well-known for his courage and strength,” Krish said. “My mother gave me that statue for good luck and protection,” he added sheepishly.

  The two ladies laughed. “Mr. Scientist is a Mama’s Boy,” Kathy teased.

  “I am here for your protection, sir,” Agent Craig chimed in. They all laughed. It was a good icebreaker, and the three seemed more comfortable with one another now.

  “Please call me Krish,” he said to Agent Craig.

  After lunch, Kathy went back to the lab. Krish drove home to pack some research material and clothes for his trip to Penn State. He slipped the small statue of Hanuman into his pocket.

  Krish and Agent Craig were riding in a cab toward the airport. As they passed over a hill, Krish saw the red sun glowing from behind the clouds. Its rays were shinning down from the empty patches in the sky, taking the form of bright beams of light pouring down. There are so many clues about the vastness of this universe, everywhere around us. And yet, we’re so busy with our own, tiny lives that we don’t even notice the spectacle unfolding every day, he thought.

  “So, what exactly do you do?” Agent Craig asked, looking at Krish who seemed lost in his thoughts. Krish looked back at her. He thought she was trying to understand who he was, to help her with the job of protecting him.

  “I’m a researcher, a scientist. My research has applications in secure information transmittance over long distances, and weapons application as well. It’s a game changer. That’s why the government, and other rogue governments apparently, are after me. Some want me dead, and some want me alive,” Krish explained. “But what I am, myself, most interested in is understanding the true nature of the reality we experience. You see, physics uses a model-based approach to understanding our universe. A well-constructed model will create its own reality. I want to break free of this model-dependent reality and experience the world as it is, in its true nature, then explain it mathematically,” Krish elaborated.

  His passion for his research was evident by the way he spoke. Agent Craig listened carefully. There was silence in the cab. The cab driver’s head moved slightly toward his passengers, indicating his interest in the conversation. Agent Craig looked out of the cab’s window. She adjusted her sunglasses, taking everything in. Krish felt a connection developing between the two as she appeared to have grasped the essence of what he’d said.

  “I’m impressed. I guess I have a special person to protect. Call me Brooke,” she said with a smile. As she smiled, her bright white teeth illuminated the attractive shape of her mouth. Suddenly, the teeth were replaced by ones and zeros. Her entire physical form was replaced with ones and zeros arranged in her shape. The cab, the road, buildings, clouds, the sky, everything was ones and zeros, or otherwise bits of information. The fundamental particles of nature were bits of information—ones and zeros.

  Krish felt like he was inside a computer-generated reality—the Matrix. He was being driven deeper and deeper inside the Matrix. Line-after-line of computer codes that represented the mountains, sky, clouds, and humans went whooshing by. As he dove deeper and deeper into the Matrix, the computer programs got shorter and shorter. Finally, he came face-to-face with the super program, which was almost like the ‘God’ that controlled everything. It was less than ten lines! The whole universe could be compressed into ten lines of code! That meant there was no randomness; randomness cannot be compressed. Everything was programmed and predetermined.

  The super program was allocating run-time to numerous other sub programs representing matter, humans, clouds, mountains, cars, etc. Krish lodged himself in one of the programs; that program was part of the worldwide web. As he was traveling at light speed with the ones and zeros, he noticed some ones and zeros being dropped, leading to an error. But, lo-and-behold, when the information reached the target computer, the errors were corrected and everything worked just fine! There was no error. This was due to pieces of code that fixed the errors. He saw similar error-fixing codes in the interaction of the fundamental particles.

  Aha! These error-fixing codes are the secret of the stability of the Matrix! Krish was delighted to see them in action.

  “We’re almost at the airport,” Brooke tapped on his shoulder to bring him back to reality. Krish was snapped out of his hallucination instantly. As they got ready to get out of the cab, Brooke took off her sunglasses. Her blue eyes locked with Krish’s deep, thoughtful eyes. She was looking at the man who had a brilliant mind, fire in the belly, and guts to follow his calling and risk his life doing so. The two of them seemed to have some things in common.

  “It has been good getting to know you, Krish,” she said. “Let’s roll.”

  Brooke and Krish walked into the Ontario airport for their domestic flight. It was a small airport. Brooke was on her guard. She briefly spoke to her leading officer to find out about the other passengers and any threat potentials.

  They settled into their seats, near the middle of the plane. Brooke took the aisle seat. She checked the gun in her holster and made sure she had several rounds available, just in case.

  Soon, they were at cruising altitude. Some passengers were getting up to use the restrooms. The air hostesses were serving peanuts and juice. Suddenly, some commotion could be heard from the front.

  “People arguing over bathrooms?” Krish asked the air hostess with a smile.

  She shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t know.”

  Brooke was up in an instant. She had a bad feeling about it. In her line of work, such situations could escalate rapidly and she had learned to trust her instincts without hesitation. “You stay put, let me check it out,” she said to Krish. Her right hand went toward the holster. The air hostess took a step back as she got a glimpse of the gun.

  “Ma’am…” Brooke flashed her badge to calm her down. She walked toward the front of the aircraft to investigate. Some passengers were blocking her path.

  Krish followed to see what was going on. She turned back to look at Krish. “I asked you to stay put,” she said sternly. He was standing on his toes and looking past her.

  “I’m just…smoke?” he said.

  Brooke turned around in a flash, took out her gun and badge, and took charge of the situation. “Federal agent, get down,” she shouted as she pointed her gun toward the lavatory from where the smoke was emanating. Suddenly, everyone got out of the way. Leaving just Brooke and Krish standing in the aisle, a few steps away from the lavatory. A tall man came out with his pants partially on fire and smoke from near his w
aist.

  The girl sitting near the restroom screamed loudly, “Ma’am… he’s on fire!” She closed her eyes and covered her ears expecting an explosion. Panic spread quickly.

  Amid the chaos, Brooke was laser focused on the man, with her gun pointed directly at him.

  “Don’t shoot, or I will blow up the plane,” he said with a deadpan face.

  “You already tried that. Everyone stay calm. I’m Federal Agent Craig. Stand down, now!” she shouted.

  “We just want him,” the man said pointing toward Krish.

  “Then why blow up the plane?”

  “We didn’t know about you,” he screamed at Brooke, pulling out a knife and charging forward.

  Brooke had a few seconds before the man would be too close for safety. She had her gun pointed with fatal accuracy. She wanted to make sure she didn’t miss or that the bullet didn’t ricochet and hit another passenger or the plane. Her preferred shot would have been in the head, but this was a very confined space with screams and panic all around. She had to neutralize this person to protect Krish and the other passengers. She knew she was the only one standing between certain mayhem and the killer.

  Brooke fired three shots at the man. They all met their target in his chest, but he kept moving toward her.

  He suddenly stumbled on something in the path and lunged at her. The stumble startled her for a second, but it also brought him closer in an erratic manner. Instead of the head, she put three more bullets in his chest to make sure he was dead. She didn’t have time to take evasive action to protect herself. He fell on her; his knife puncturing the delicate skin of her neck and cutting the carotid artery.

  She fell on Krish, gushing blood.

  Krish supported her back and shoulders, making sure she didn’t have a hard fall. He kicked the assassin’s body away from her and tried to apply pressure to her neck to stop the bleeding. Krish could see pain rising in her blue eyes and her resolve to fight it. Eventually, the life was sucked from them completely, and she could no longer keep them open. The knife had done its damage. Within a minute, Brooke was no longer moving or breathing. She sacrificed her young life in the line of duty to protect Krish and everyone else aboard that plane.