A time for marriages

The revelatory marriage of group cohomology with symmetry-protected topological order brimmed with possibilites. Here was the simplest extension of group theory as we know it – in principle there are very many extensions that are possible, the question is which extension is a physical realization of natural reality. I studied group cohomology with this tantalizing promise of new frontiers, but ultimately failed at originality. I let this idea go.

Rediscovering group cohomology in the band theory of crystals felt a deliverance of my convictions. There is a richness to crystals that keeps surprising me. The symmetries of a crystal involve spatial transformations which are distinguished by a basic geometric property: rotations, reflections and inversions preserve the spatial origin, while screw rotations and glide reflections translate the origin by a fraction of the lattice period. This geometric distinction necessitates the extension of origin-preserving groups by spatial translations; I find that these groups can be further extended by momentum translations, thus placing real and momentum space on equal footing.

The excitement of my discovery spurred a frenetic writing episode that consumed me immediately after Japan. On completion, I further produced a two-hundred-page thesis in two days, submitted at 6am and one week overdue, then awoke at noon for a bachelor party which I organized in Los Angeles. Jimmy was preternaturally quick in observational deduction in the paniq room, leading us to emphatic victory. I had a uniquely communal casino experience with Jake and Jimmy on the ultimate hold ‘em table, where our only collective pressure was to beat the dealer. Nathan was so amused by my easy winnings that I gave him half of it. Eric has grown into the build of a horse, and sports a mane to complete the transformation. To Jake, he expressed his own brand of love: “Jake, if I were to give you an ipad, would you find any use of it?” With superlative composure, “Eric, I absolutely would.”

Two more days of wedding preparations and ceremony ensued, and being the best man carried ambassadorial duties that I undertook diligently. A formal title provided the impetus to mingle with different social elements, to become a bridge between two families and thus actualize Jake’s ambition for this wedding.

As weddings go, the caricatures were minimized to create room for honest fun. While writing the best man's toast, I felt crushingly inadequate, my vocabulary to describe love as feeble as vapor, the words were torn out of me, coughingly blood-spittled, and riddled with the anxiety of speaking in foreign languages. Nerves crippled the first half of my speech, but I recovered some dignity in the finish. I had difficulty reconciling the rapturous reception with my private struggle. Nathan, whose socially-sensitive criticism proved influential, was beaming as a proud parent. He appreciates the power of words publicly spoken, more than I could.