tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post432158826496075136..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Book Review: “Why String Theory?” by Joseph ConlonSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-62897566133771978362017-11-03T14:07:28.817-04:002017-11-03T14:07:28.817-04:00I don't understand how AdS/CFT can be used, wh...I don't understand how AdS/CFT can be used, when our universe is dS.<br />Pmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16074347726717618603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55798315179114290242016-06-06T09:47:59.810-04:002016-06-06T09:47:59.810-04:00piein,
You're not making sense. You understoo...piein,<br /><br />You're not making sense. You understood what I meant, you even say that it was clear to everyone reading, so for what I am concerned the grammatical construction I chose did exactly what it was supposed to do. Honestly, I don't really care if you think it's correct, as long as it says what I want it to say. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-83926522964121158612016-06-06T09:08:55.381-04:002016-06-06T09:08:55.381-04:00"I practice the Oxford comma"
First to..."I practice the Oxford comma" <br /><br />First to say that, what you said when 'explicitly drawing attention' was sufficient that I'm sure everyone reading was clear you wanted your sentence to be read as 'multiverses only' as fantasy. <br /><br />So there's no problem, but I am presuming you are interested to known when something isn't right at the level ofAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-31420479666417776152016-06-06T06:05:24.254-04:002016-06-06T06:05:24.254-04:00My favourite example of what can go wrong when not...My favourite example of what can go wrong when not using the Oxford comma: "I dedicate this thesis to my parents, God and L. Ron Hubbard".<br />Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14327600142905549242016-06-05T12:04:40.275-04:002016-06-05T12:04:40.275-04:00Hi Sabine,
I like the last sentence... a real lot...Hi Sabine,<br /><br />I like the last sentence... a real lot! It reminded me of something I read some time ago:<br /><br />In Disturbing the Universe, Freeman Dyson writes, "Dick [Feynman] fought back against my skepticism, arguing that Einstein had failed because he stopped thinking in concrete physical images (as MDT does!) and became a manipulator of equations. I had to admit that was akidbellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292741599925116131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-18084936151299811432016-06-05T10:36:15.676-04:002016-06-05T10:36:15.676-04:00Another vote for the Oxford comma:
1) I leave my e...Another vote for the Oxford comma:<br />1) I leave my estate to Tom, Dick, and Harry Each get 1/3.<br />2) I leave my estate to Tom, Dick and Harry. Tom gets 1/2; Dick and Harry each get 1/4.<br /><br />I'd go for "number" of books rather than amount. However, "amount" could be a subtle insult to the cumulated number of pages absent their partitioning into books and Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-62465958797504500472016-06-05T02:11:27.605-04:002016-06-05T02:11:27.605-04:00pien,
I practice the Oxford comma. And just in ca...pien,<br /><br />I practice the Oxford comma. And just in case the reader didn't figure that, I even explicitly drew attention to it. If I left you with the impression that I "support" the multiverse, you must have dramatically misread me. I might have said that some variants of the multiverse have some aspects that might possibly one day in the far future be useful for something. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61389233331438682122016-06-03T15:42:04.505-04:002016-06-03T15:42:04.505-04:00"astonishing amount of so-called “science” bo..."astonishing amount of so-called “science” books about string theory, supersymmetry, the multiverse and other fantasies <b>note careful chosen placement of commata)</b> "<br /><br />Unfortunately, commas placed there do not have your desired effect. You're still saying it's all fantasy. Maybe it's different in German. <br /><br />Something else: One has the distinct Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-57876070729828977572016-06-03T00:16:04.586-04:002016-06-03T00:16:04.586-04:00Mark,
You're putting words in my mouth I didn...Mark,<br /><br />You're putting words in my mouth I didn't use. I never spoke of a "failure of holography", I spoke of a failure of its applicability to heavy ion collisions at the LHC. And yes, I am referring to jet-quenching. I don't actually disagree with you, I just think we have a different interpretation of "thriving". Either way, to come back to my criticismSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-71338132964289934712016-06-02T19:43:57.088-04:002016-06-02T19:43:57.088-04:00Hi Sabine,
I would say your main criticism of the...Hi Sabine,<br /><br />I would say your main criticism of the failure of holography in heavy ions is unfounded. While many in the field (myself included) remain highly skeptical of it's applicability, it nevertheless has remained a very active non-perturbative technique. For instance the bound for the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density from holography has held up fairly well with evenMarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03211816328048127345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-89984025280333925682016-06-02T00:28:11.599-04:002016-06-02T00:28:11.599-04:00Shantanu,
The book has a chapter addressing criti...Shantanu,<br /><br />The book has a chapter addressing criticism, but it's not explicitly aimed at any person. I don't have the book with me and can't recall exactly which point it picked up on. Not the ones that I personally find troublesome. One was the question of UV finiteness I think. <br /><br />Well, they send me the books because they want me to write a review on them. You Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-33859368988130297182016-06-01T19:13:31.903-04:002016-06-01T19:13:31.903-04:00Sabine, I wish I was as luck as you to get free co...Sabine, I wish I was as luck as you to get free copies of all these books :-)<br />Anyhow does the book address/acknowledge the criticisms of string theory by Woit, Smolin,others?<br />If so, what does it say?<br />Thanks<br />Shantanuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16322812456382858228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69367774433554945172016-06-01T11:42:05.939-04:002016-06-01T11:42:05.939-04:00Curious about your book Sabine, good luck. My gues...Curious about your book Sabine, good luck. My guess is the next 10 years will be pivotal for physics research.Koenraad Van Spaendonckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090279727324831109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29095779097228943042016-06-01T11:38:09.349-04:002016-06-01T11:38:09.349-04:00Indeed akidbelle, certainly on your last remark.Indeed akidbelle, certainly on your last remark.Koenraad Van Spaendonckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090279727324831109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-42018870874761756602016-06-01T03:53:20.878-04:002016-06-01T03:53:20.878-04:00akidbelle,
My deadline is Dec 2017, and then it m...akidbelle,<br /><br />My deadline is Dec 2017, and then it might take 9-12 month to publication. But the way it looks presently I might be done earlier. So... I am guessing some time between late 2017 and late 2018. I'll tell you more about this once I know the details better. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70725301015198248532016-06-01T03:45:38.807-04:002016-06-01T03:45:38.807-04:00Hi Sabine,
you don't take much risk writing t...Hi Sabine,<br /><br />you don't take much risk writing this; I like what you write already. <br />I am sure you will let us know when it's out...<br /><br />By the way, when?<br /><br />J.akidbellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292741599925116131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-18452625183273210682016-06-01T01:30:13.858-04:002016-06-01T01:30:13.858-04:00akidbelle,
I think you will like my upcoming book...akidbelle,<br /><br />I think you will like my upcoming book...Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-31031784353221953792016-06-01T01:28:35.690-04:002016-06-01T01:28:35.690-04:00pete,
No, it says that the quark gluon plasma pro...pete,<br /><br />No, it says that the quark gluon plasma probably isn't as strongly coupled as they originally thought it is, which makes the AdS/CFT duality even less useful as they initially thought it is (QCD not being supersymmetric). There might be some aspects for which you can use it, but you'd still have to add some perturbative calculations. And then, once it turned out that the Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-43737312948361458162016-06-01T01:18:59.172-04:002016-06-01T01:18:59.172-04:00Henning,
I actually meant it. The writing is good...Henning,<br /><br />I actually meant it. The writing is good, it's easy to follow, it's not dull either, and the sentences are understandable. There are some authors who manage to fabricate sentences I have to read a couple of times to parse, but I had no problems with this book. The oddest thing about the writing in this book is, as I mentioned, that Conlon goes to length to explain all Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-52610963235871621762016-05-31T23:54:14.730-04:002016-05-31T23:54:14.730-04:00"... the book is reasonably well written.&quo..."... the book is reasonably well written." <br /><br />Damning with faint praise.<br /><br />The wikipedia entry on that idiom should link to this review :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14479459346584756683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39607007749922812542016-05-31T10:56:53.103-04:002016-05-31T10:56:53.103-04:00Hi Sabine; one thing is certain, I won't by th...Hi Sabine; one thing is certain, I won't by this book.<br /><br />After 40+ years of quasi-stagnation, maybe SciFi is all that remains to be found...<br />On the other hand, I assume you do have a clearly agreed list of what needs to be solved or found. I mean agreed by the community. <br /><br />Following the last 40+ years, and considering the integral sum(IQ x time) or the sum sigma(ink + akidbellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12292741599925116131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35870071985910845132016-05-31T10:31:30.182-04:002016-05-31T10:31:30.182-04:00"He somehow forgets to mention that the AdS/C...<br />"He somehow forgets to mention that the AdS/CFT predictions for heavy ion collisions at the LHC turned out to be dramatically wrong, and by now very few people think that the duality is of much use in this area."<br /><br />I know you've talked about the failure of AdS/CFT to correctly predict results when it comes to heavy ion collisions before, but I was wondering what petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12969621709127674152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29316980072057378182016-05-30T12:55:30.406-04:002016-05-30T12:55:30.406-04:00John,
The other copy is in a poor shape, not only...John,<br /><br />The other copy is in a poor shape, not only because I ran out of sticky notes and bent over multiple corners, but I also dropped it on the ground and almost ran over it with my car. Also, I'd prefer to keep a copy myself, it might come in handy as a reference for this or that.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81308925177585235552016-05-30T12:34:21.953-04:002016-05-30T12:34:21.953-04:00And the second prize which goes to Phillip, is two...And the second prize which goes to Phillip, is two copies! <br /><br />Nice review, Sabine. I share your sentiments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38025235659771955332016-05-30T11:58:10.723-04:002016-05-30T11:58:10.723-04:00I've almost finished the book and I thought it...I've almost finished the book and I thought it was fair and objective about the current state of string theory. A nice change from the usual. Perhaps too much detail meant some of the later chapters dragged. I think your review says it all.Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075608749064975687noreply@blogger.com