Mathematics
Pi features multiple references to mathematics and mathematical theories.[b] For instance, Max finds the golden spiral occurring everywhere, including the stock market. Max's belief that diverse systems embodying highly nonlinear dynamics share a unifying pattern bears much similarity to results in chaos theory, which provides machinery for describing certain phenomena of nonlinear systems, which might be thought of as patterns. During the climactic drill scene, a pattern resembling a bifurcation diagram is apparent on Max's shattered mirror.
The game of Go
In the film, Max periodically plays Go with his mentor, Sol.[14] This game has historically stimulated the study of mathematics[15] and features a simple set of rules that results in a complex game strategy. Each character uses the game as a model for their view of the universe: Sol says that the game is a microcosm of an extremely complex and chaotic world, while Max asserts its complexity gradually converges toward patterns that can be found.[14][c]
Gullette and Margolis spent many hours learning the game at the Brooklyn Go Club and received help from Dan Weiner, one of three Go consultants credited to the film.[14] Barbara Calhoun and Michael Solomon also served as game consultants.
Kabbalah
Early in the film, when Lenny speaks with Max about his work, he asks if Max is familiar with kabbalah. The numerological interpretation of the Torah and the 216-letter name of God, known as the Shem HaMephorash, are important concepts in traditional Jewish mysticism.
Quran
Another religious reference comes while Max is in the market looking for that day's newspaper, when a recitation from the Quran can be heard in the background, which cites Quran 2:140: "Or do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants were Jews or Christians? Say, 'Are you more knowing or is Allah?' And who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allah? And Allah is not unaware of what you do."
