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Join a Berkeley seminar exploring one of software architecture's most deceptively complex challenges - implementing unit systems and physical quantities in programming. Delve into why no existing software library fully addresses this problem's numerous edge cases, as Vincent Reverdy presents his research within the C++ programming language committee's standardization efforts. Learn how applied category theory could provide new perspectives for handling unit systems, with detailed examples from computational physics and metrology that challenge fundamental assumptions about units. Examine the intricate relationships between physics, type theory, and programming languages while discovering how this seemingly straightforward problem intersects with international standards, mathematical structures, and philosophical questions about the nature of measurement. Follow along as the discussion progresses from basic concepts like numerical precision and named units through complex topics including astronomical units, natural units, temperature scales, and runtime checks, ultimately arriving at a proposed mathematical framework for addressing these challenges.
