Yes. In fact it has often been noted by physicists that when they make a new discovery they sometimes find that mathematicians have been there before them. Like Einstein and non-euclidean geometry etc.
It more often goes the other way, and more profoundly.
Group theory.
Laplace transforms were considered an irrelevant curiosity until somebody figured out they were isomorphic to the wildly effective Heaviside D operator. Then everyone did their best to bury Heaviside's demonstrations of their utility, and pretend that Laplace had done all the heavy lifting.
Group theory.
Laplace transforms were considered an irrelevant curiosity until somebody figured out they were isomorphic to the wildly effective Heaviside D operator. Then everyone did their best to bury Heaviside's demonstrations of their utility, and pretend that Laplace had done all the heavy lifting.