Tuesday, October 7, 2008

248

248 = 23 x 31.

248 is a number n such that 6n - 1 and 6n + 1 are twin primes: 6 x 248 - 1 = 1487 and 6 x 248 + 1 = 1489.

248 is a number divisible by each of its digits.

If you're a mathematician doing a calculation and you get the answer 248, it means something completely different than if you get 247—because the number 248 shows up in all sorts of amazing places, while 247 is just dull.—John Baez, “My Favorite Numbers”

The exceptional Lie group
E8 has dimension 248.

In 1982, Michael Freedman used the
E8 lattice to construct an example of a topological 4-manifold that has no smooth structure.

In 2007, Garrett Lisi used
E8 in his “Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything.”


A picture of the E
8 root system.


248 is one of the area codes for Oakland County, Mich.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Image:
American Institute of Mathematics

No comments: