Second part in a series which I gave at a seminar in Ghent (April 28, 2011): “Scheme theory over the field of characteristic one”. (The first part being “Introduction to Absolute Arithmetic”.)

This is part 1 of a series of two lectures which I recently gave at a seminar in Ghent (April 28, 2011): “Introduction to Absolute Arithmetic”.

To Gavin Wraiht a mathematical phantom is a “nonexistent entity which ought to be there but apparently is not; but nevertheless obtrudes its effects so convincingly that one is forced to concede a broader notion of existence”. Mathematics’ history is filled with phantoms getting the kiss of life.

Jacques Tits : Sur les analogues algebriques des groupes semi-simples complexes, Colloque d’algebre superieure, tenu a Bruxelles du 19 au 22 decembre 1956, Centre Belge de Recherches Mathematiques Etablissements Ceuterick, Louvain; Librairies Gauthiers-Villars, Paris (1957)