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Mathematica meets the Drake equation

9-14-2024

Wolfram Mathematica applied to the Drake Equation
This equation, first published by Professor Drake, in about 1962, predicts the number of civilizations in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which can communicate using electromagnetic means.

Comments will be appreciated.

After this, I'll introduce sliders and calculate results under different numerical models.

(PS - this was done with help from AI ChatGPT)
(PS - although a molecular biologist, I did my first post-doc work with Drake, Sagan, and Gold at the Cornell space center 1969-1971). 

(* Define the variables *)
Rstar = 1.5; (* Star formation rate per year *)
fp = 0.2; (* Fraction of stars with planets *)
ne = 0.1; (* Number of planets capable of supporting life *)
fl = 0.13; (* Fraction of planets where life appears *)
fi = 0.1; (* Fraction of planets with intelligent life *)
fc = 0.1; (* Fraction of civilizations that can communicate *)
L = 1000; (* Length of time in years that civilizations release signals *)
(* Calculate the Drake Equation *)
N = Rstar * fp * ne * fl * fi * fc * L
(* Output the result *)
N

This worked and gave an answer of 0.039
POSTED BY: Paul Shapshak, PhD
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And now the slider numerical analysis Mathematica code.

Manipulate[Nvalue = RStar*fp*ne*fl*fi*fc*L;
 Grid[{{"R* (Rate of star formation)", 
    RStar}, {"fp (Fraction of stars with planets)", 
    fp}, {"ne (Avg number of planets that can support life)", 
    ne}, {"fl (Fraction of planets where life develops)", 
    fl}, {"fi (Fraction of planets with intelligent life)", 
    fi}, {"fc (Fraction that develop communication technology)", 
    fc}, {"L (Length of time civilizations can communicate)", 
    L}, {"N (Number of civilizations)", Dynamic[Nvalue]}}], {RStar, 0,
   50, 1}, {fp, 0, 1, 0.01}, {ne, 0, 5, 0.1}, {fl, 0, 1, 0.01}, {fi, 
  0, 1, 0.01}, {fc, 0, 1, 0.01}, {L, 0, 10000, 100}]

Your comments will be appreciated.
POSTED BY: Paul Shapshak, PhD

Am working on a Monte Carlo analysis for the Drake equation. 9-16-24.

POSTED BY: Paul Shapshak, PhD
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