In 2007, the thriller “Number 23” appeared in the cinemas, sparking a phenomenon known as the “Free Illusion” or The effect of Baader-Mainhof, where people started noticing the number 23 everywhere in their lives. However, long before this, in 1978, mathematician John McKay stumbled upon a number much more mysterious and significant – 196,884.
McCay accidentally discovered this number in an article on the theory of numbers, far from his main area of study on the symmetry of geometric objects. He had previously studied the hypothetical algebraic structure known as the “monster,” which describes the symmetry of geometric figures in dimensions when one additional measured point is added.
Initially, McCay’s colleagues dismissed his observation as a coincidence since both mathematical structures had hundreds of numbers. However, McCay believed there could be a connection between these two different areas of mathematics and tried to draw attention to it by wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “196,883 + 1 = 196,884” at conferences.
Another mathematician, John Thompson, discovered that the number 21,296,876, following the sequence of Monster’s symmetry, also related to 196,884. When all the symmetries of the “monster” were added, it resulted in 21,493,760, which coincided with the second number in McKay’s theoretical sequence, leading to thoughts about the connection between the theory of numbers and geometry.
In 1979, mathematicians John Conway and Simon Norton published an article titled “monstrous moonshine,” suggesting a connection between the theory of numbers and the symmetry of the Monster. This hypothesis was so unexpected that they referred to it as “Moonshine,” emphasizing its apparent unreality.
In 1980, mathematician Robert Griss was able to mathematically construct the “monster” and prove its existence, a remarkable achievement considering the computational challenges associated with such a large structure.