tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post2936490063283135176..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: DefectsSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-83356164557029120132007-09-16T03:53:00.000-04:002007-09-16T03:53:00.000-04:00Thanks Stefan! I did have something like that in ...Thanks Stefan! I did have something like that in mind. I think similar phenomena might provide a good model of elementary particles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7001728285733962242007-09-15T11:57:00.000-04:002007-09-15T11:57:00.000-04:00Hi Rillian,There's a similar photo on the cover of...Hi Rillian,<BR/><BR/><I>There's a similar photo on the cover of Chaikin and Lubinski's textbook.</I><BR/><BR/>Exactly - and that's a great textbook. It's really a pity if they have changed the cover...<BR/><BR/><BR/>Hi Kris,<BR/><BR/><I>Do they remind you of particles, with their pair creation?</I><BR/><BR/>Maybe you are alluding to this - but if you think about one of the simplest classes of stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29262423979684506642007-09-13T16:21:00.000-04:002007-09-13T16:21:00.000-04:00Hi Bee,Thanks for the pretty picture and link to t...Hi Bee,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the pretty picture and link to the paper by Kleman and Lavrentovich! Of course those topological defects are a type of singularity. (Where the the light waves have no well-defined phase.) Do they remind you of particles, with their pair creation?<BR/><BR/>Sir Michael Berry has done some beautiful work on optical singularities. See <A HREF="http://www.phy.bris.ac.ukAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-46743905487024459402007-09-13T14:15:00.000-04:002007-09-13T14:15:00.000-04:00Lovely! There's a similar photo on the cover of Ch...Lovely! There's a similar photo on the cover of <A HREF="http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521432245" REL="nofollow">Chaikin and Lubinski's textbook</A>. At least on my copy; apparently it's been replaced by a generic paperback edition.<BR/><BR/>My favorite bit is how the sum of the defect charges on a closed surface is fixed by the topological genus. On a sphere you Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69787655675656064402007-09-13T13:08:00.000-04:002007-09-13T13:08:00.000-04:00Hi CIP:Thanks for that quotation!Hi Larry, StefanT...Hi CIP:<BR/><BR/>Thanks for that quotation!<BR/><BR/>Hi Larry, Stefan<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the info. Sounds good to me, why have I never heard of that journal before? <BR/><BR/>The picture above I first saw on the APS calender 2007, when I looked up what it shows etc. It was more or less a coincidence that it came into my mind yesterday. Ah forgot, I don't believe in coincidence ;-) <BR/><BR/>BestSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-88741407195893329292007-09-13T12:44:00.000-04:002007-09-13T12:44:00.000-04:00Dear Bee,ha, great picture, and great physics! I w...Dear Bee,<BR/><BR/><BR/>ha, great picture, and great physics! I was lured into theoretical physics by the fascination of topological defects in condensed matter, which was the main interest of my diploma thesis advisor. It's such a beautiful application of deep mathematical concepts...<BR/><BR/>By the way - wikipedia knows it all: the <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_Magazine" stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-43328786807362010552007-09-13T11:33:00.000-04:002007-09-13T11:33:00.000-04:00"...if somebody can tell me why this paper belongs..."...if somebody can tell me why this paper belongs in a 'Philosophical Magazine'..."<BR/><BR/>I am not an official scholar, but it seems to me that at one time all of "Natural History" (by which I think they meant "Natural Science" in today's parlance) was dealt=with by Philosophers. See for example "Philosopher's stone" (and yes, I know we don't recognize alchemy as a "science" anymore).Larry Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12653436584890594776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-79058523625416203642007-09-13T06:41:00.000-04:002007-09-13T06:41:00.000-04:00Bee - ...beauty is not just in simplicity...Bacon ...Bee - <I>...beauty is not just in simplicity...</I><BR/><BR/>Bacon - <I>there is no thing of excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion</I>CapitalistImperialistPighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17523405806602731435noreply@blogger.com