unforum

[Shlonster]

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[goofyrebel]

the line over it is also a repeating decimial bar like 62.3838383838. could it be possible that the M isnt mass, but its the modus number 108?

[cjr22]

I think this is almost certainly part of a quantum mechanical wave equation, I remember seeing lots of these sort of things when I did my physics degree.
The psi is the wave function. The line above it possibly indicates "complex conjugation". The subscript zero means something like the first one, or initially(at time t = 0), as already mentioned. M probably just means a number here, nothing to do with the mass. The e is the exponential function (euler's number), and the exponent is missing in the picture, it will probably be something like -it (you can just see the start of the minus).

So you can say this equation is something to do with wave mechanics, probably something to do with quantum mechanics, maybe even related to the schrodinger equation. But I'm not sure you can get any more information out of it.

[MariusDarkwolf]

Now up front, I'll be the first to admit my math abilities aren't the best in the world, that said, I've a hobbists interest in quantium mechanical theory. This equation seems like it's either a partial form for time travel, especially if the missing character is a t (for tau). Given the inclusion of pi in the equation, there's a very strong possiblity, especially given the audio and text logs that this is part of the equation for how much energy the halo's will need to produce or use to fire.

[pondrthis]

I am a third year engineering and math student at Vanderbilt University, so I'll say I have more math/physics knowledge than everything I'm reading. If you have no knowledge don't confuse people that have half-knowledge with your bad ideas.

The left side is PSI. That's right, PSI. A LOWERCASE phi would look almost like that, but crooked, but this character is clearly UPPERCASE. Not to mention that character looks MUCH more like an uppercase Psi than a lowercase Phi. An uppercase Phi would require a complete circle, and the line would have to protrude from the top. It's PSI, trust me, I'm 100%.

Also, the little "o" is read "naught" and means "initial", "original", or "in the basic state." For example, Vo in kinematics means initial velocity, and (mu)o is one of the electromagnetic constants in a vacuum.

The bar on top of psi I'm about 85% sure means "average". It means nothing if it were saying repeating decimals, since it's not over actual digits. Alternately, it is a rather unused method of making a variable into a vector, but I will explain why I don't think this is the case later on.

As for the pi, it DOESN'T MEAN RADIANS! It could represent a quantity in radians, but it's not a variable. Pi is never a variable. It does represent certain qualities in materials science, but when grouped with mass, etc., it certainly means 3.1415926... Of course, it probably does mean 3.1415926... radians, but it's not a variable for radians. The variable for radians is... you guessed it, lowercase "r" and much more commonly theta. The units are "rad"'s.

The "e" is not energy, it is the quantity (as x-> infinity) (1+(1/x)) ^x , also known as Euler's number. When exponentiated to a variable power, its derivative is itself, and e ^i*pi = -1, a source of many math jokes.

Psi typically represents probability density of an electron to use its free-will (I shit not) to plow through an energy barrier, for those (all) who don't get it, just think "Wow, quantom fiziks is kew00l!!!1!!" This is a SCALAR quantity, quite the opposite of a VECTOR quantity, this is why I believe the bar means average.

We only have part of an equation here. The psi-naught decays (e^-something) with another variable (not time, or it would be psi-sub-t, not psi-naught), and we don't have that yet. I believe I have seen sqrt(m/pi) before, possibly in reference to harmonic oscillation, and I will research this.

For the meantime, don't spec on science if you don't know H ₂ O from H ₂ SO ₄ .

[Transtar]

[pondrthis]

Thanks Transtar

Sometimes I feel like I need the backup

@cjr22 - You're mostly right, but a complex conjugate is typically denoted by a supersripted asterisk (*) in everything I've seen. And yes, since mass is sometimes ignored in quantum mechanics, it could be just an integer representing some aspect of the system, but I think in conjunction with pi it is most likely mass. But, you could be right. We'll see.

EDIT: LOL to the above.

[Locohoco]

So do you know how 'modus 108' would fit into the equation?

I'm glad you guys know this stuff; I love science & physics but its over 6 years since I last studied, it seems like my brain has turned into a sieve!

[Transtar]

[mastergrunt44]

Pond pretty much covered it and I agree that we have to wait.I think that the servers will continue to unlock more pieces of the equation which we would tile together in the end.
Also:That's an awesome picture tran.

[Locohoco]

No I don't mean the 'm' in the equation, I mean if you take the filename of the picture we got this equation out of and rotate it 180 degrees it reads 'modus 108' and modus is a statistical term. It could be a coincidence but judging as the file contains an equation I'm not sure.

Someone figured it out a few pages back.

[LorD BaZTArD]

Classy picture.

Hmm. I'm not entirely sure we'll find more on that equation... although having said that, given 719 turned out to be the key for Server three... maybe it might.

Woah, Loco... interesting theory. Indeed. *Checks in MSPaint* Nothing particulary obvious makes itself known to me. hmm.

[camshaft]

As far as I can tell regarding this "puzzle", one of the following conditions applies:

(a) We are supposed to solve the equation, using "modulus 108" to somehow figure out the missing part of the equation; or
(b) We have to wait for the rest of the equation, perhaps as part of unlocking the next server; or
(c) we are not supposed to solve the equation at all.

To accomplish (a), perhaps the missing negative power of e is 108 degrees converted to radians, or 2*pi radians minust 108 degrees, or something like that. In complex number theory, and much of physics, the some form of radians appears on the superscript of e. (I don't have time to work this out right now).

On the other hand, this may not meant to be solved. At one point during ILB, when asked about how plot lines will develop, Bungie responded by stating something like "remember the teachings of Dr. Heisenberg," a reference to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, suggesting that the more the "players" of the ARG interacted and spec'ed about the story, the more likely it was for the plot to change.

This equation is a form (a derivative of, really) of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. So this may just be a reference from Bungie that they may be changing their original plans. Or, it could be both (a) and (c).

[Transtar]

Lord Baztard - you rotate the file name (801snpow) 180 to get modus108

Sorry Loco, didn't notice that post as I skimmed through the pages. I'll try looking into it.

camshaft - what has been given of the equation is actually pretty specific, this isn't like an algebra problem where you could have an infinite number of possibilites, so it is entirely possible to find the equation from what they have given us so far. (I swear I've seen this before! but I'm stuck at work and don't have my notebook here >.< )

[LorD BaZTArD]

I know, and in turn as per Loco's suggestion, I did the same to the image. As you can see it doesn't look any more revelatory than it initially did.