tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post5734518810572946688..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: NothingnessSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14269527098101674552008-07-23T12:51:00.000-04:002008-07-23T12:51:00.000-04:00But the lost-keys metaphor isn't complete without ...But the lost-keys metaphor isn't complete without the light post and especially the drunk.cynthiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01031186235906175633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-59848810328999417592008-07-23T05:48:00.000-04:002008-07-23T05:48:00.000-04:00Hi Thomas,That's funny! I think they should cite y...Hi Thomas,<BR/><BR/>That's funny! I think they should cite you on that ;-) Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41393489526506263592008-07-22T12:28:00.000-04:002008-07-22T12:28:00.000-04:00I don't know if this is truly the case, but I migh...I don't know if this is truly the case, but I might have been the first to use the 'lost keys' metaphor for the Higgs ... back in January 2002<BR/>http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17323243.500-letters--------.html<BR/><BR/>Could have been just my memory of someone else using the same phrase, but who?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-85601774573542020332008-07-21T12:57:00.000-04:002008-07-21T12:57:00.000-04:00Okay. I meant, Neil was closest to this.:) Sorry f...Okay. I meant, Neil was closest to <A HREF="http://mlm.web.cern.ch/mlm/talks/Mangano-Dali.pdf" REL="nofollow" TITLE="Symposium on `Art, science and Salvador Dali-from visible to invisible', Madrid-Barcelona-Figueres, 23-25 october 2007">this</A>.:) <BR/><BR/>Sorry for the confusion.<BR/><BR/>This might help explain my pointing out Gauguin.:)Of course, I value Michelangelo L. MANGANO thoughts.PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-74814743016259263022008-07-21T07:08:00.000-04:002008-07-21T07:08:00.000-04:00Hi Bee, Arun & Daniel,I’m not aware of any the...Hi Bee, Arun & Daniel,<BR/><BR/>I’m not aware of any theory for tying or untying strings, yet I am aware of one for <A HREF="http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0603022" REL="nofollow">loops</A> :-)<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>PhilPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27363004934405133222008-07-21T04:14:00.000-04:002008-07-21T04:14:00.000-04:00Hi Neil,To begin with let me emphasize that speaki...Hi Neil,<BR/><BR/>To begin with let me emphasize that speaking of virtual particles as things that pop up out of vacuum and vanish again is a heuristic description of a mathematical formalism and as such inaccurate. There are properties that can mathematically be well-defined but are hard to describe in terms of 'particles popping out of vacuum'. It's a simplified explanation that can't be pushedSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45465548978589911102008-07-21T04:07:00.000-04:002008-07-21T04:07:00.000-04:00Hi Daniel,Here is a theory of shoes untieing ;-)Be...Hi Daniel,<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/image/3claveles/knives/ergonomic-butcher-knives.jpg" REL="nofollow">Here is a theory of shoes untieing</A> ;-)<BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-33931995041514452872008-07-21T04:05:00.000-04:002008-07-21T04:05:00.000-04:00Dear Arun,The obvious explanation is simply cosmic...Dear Arun,<BR/><BR/>The obvious explanation is simply cosmic conspiracy meant to annoy you ;-) I can recommend <A HREF="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2006/08/bumpy-white-string.html" REL="nofollow">bumpy strings</A>. Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75179831579726987862008-07-21T01:15:00.000-04:002008-07-21T01:15:00.000-04:00The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Tex...<B><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fabric_of_the_Cosmos" REL="nofollow">The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality</A></B> (2004) is the second book on theoretical physics, cosmology and string theory written by Brian Greene, professor and co-director of Columbia's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP).[1]<BR/><BR/> <I>Greene PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82957622099321791172008-07-21T00:34:00.000-04:002008-07-21T00:34:00.000-04:00Bee:Maybe we should just call it a Theory of Every...<B>Bee</B>:<I>Maybe we should just call it a Theory of Everystring</I><BR/><BR/>Below is part of a response to Phil on this note. <BR/><BR/><B>Plato</B>:<I>The "logic of nothing" is to talk about what does not exist. The logic dictates "that nothing is nothing," and to try and comment on nothing is like, to think that an opinion on theoretics, is somehow not as predictive as they are in opinion PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73404943052973904492008-07-20T23:59:00.000-04:002008-07-20T23:59:00.000-04:00This is off topic, but is there any theory of shoe...This is off topic, but is there any theory of shoes untieing? I've wondered about this, but haven't ever looked it up, or tried to come up with anything myself...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29847081465333301812008-07-20T21:44:00.000-04:002008-07-20T21:44:00.000-04:00Speaking of string - I need a theory of why my sho...Speaking of string - I need a theory of why my shoe laces get untied. Some days, no problem at all, other days, no matter how I tie them, five minutes later they're untied.Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70785881633882284982008-07-20T21:27:00.000-04:002008-07-20T21:27:00.000-04:00Bee said: "On the other hand I can not actually sa...Bee said: "On the other hand I can not actually say that I notice any trend to cite less."<BR/><BR/>Hi, I didn't say that they are citing less: I said that [broadly speaking] they are citing the old papers more and the *new* ones less. That is, it is harder these days to write a new paper and get a lot of citations. This is just my impression but I'm pretty sure this is correct.<BR/><BR/>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77663834798661734662008-07-20T20:09:00.000-04:002008-07-20T20:09:00.000-04:00Thanks Andrew, but I'm still wondering about the v...Thanks Andrew, but I'm still wondering about the various types of virtual particles, their relative proportions, and how far "up" does it go - like to deuterons, nuclei, molecules, mice (;-), etc? Anyone?Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27458595829374534832008-07-20T18:16:00.000-04:002008-07-20T18:16:00.000-04:00Neil, I think virtual particles arise as an inevit...Neil, I think virtual particles arise as an inevitable consequence of the uncertainty principle (there can be enough uncertainty about the energy at a point to allow the creation of particle, but only for a very short time - time and energy being complementary variables in the uncertainty principle). So that's all standard quantum mechanics, so whether you think the particle is "real" before Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852211910001840777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-32505068010736226812008-07-20T18:05:00.000-04:002008-07-20T18:05:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852211910001840777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68869634661495680852008-07-20T17:15:00.000-04:002008-07-20T17:15:00.000-04:00I have heard contradictory things about how "real"...I have heard contradictory things about how "real" (even in the sense appropriate to them!) virtual particles are, as a sea of particles popping in and out of existence faster than the UP allows for direct observation. (Yes I know of Lamb shift but various viewpoints on VPs are out there.) Any opinions on this? Also, how many virtual photons per cubic meter per second (or appropriate measure) Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55727018983381928652008-07-20T17:07:00.000-04:002008-07-20T17:07:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19050688310504730122008-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:002008-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:00Hi Stefan,“I'm not a regular reader of Discover ma...Hi Stefan,<BR/><BR/><BR/>“I'm not a regular reader of Discover magazine - is it more entertaining/magazine-like than, say, SciAm in general?”<BR/><BR/>Yes Discover magazine is more of a lighter read magazine then SciAm and is more entertainment based, which I see as an effort to reach a larger sector of the population. SciAm is closer in format to a journal and is more technical. <BR/><BR/>The Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-54892070351267575012008-07-20T07:11:00.000-04:002008-07-20T07:11:00.000-04:00Hi Plato,Maybe we should just call it a Theory of ...Hi Plato,<BR/><BR/>Maybe we should just call it a Theory of Everystring ;-) Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70767156221402097952008-07-20T07:09:00.001-04:002008-07-20T07:09:00.001-04:00PS: Regarding Welt der Wunder - awful, awful. I am...PS: Regarding Welt der Wunder - awful, awful. I am glad to see 'Bild der Wissenschaft' is fighting bravely.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73146669584360179362008-07-20T07:09:00.000-04:002008-07-20T07:09:00.000-04:00Dear Stefan,I didn't say the article is bad or inc...Dear Stefan,<BR/><BR/>I didn't say the article is bad or incorrect. I just said it's somehow pointless. Yes, the author touches a lot of interesting topics, but what actually is it that he means to say? Maybe he wanted to say understanding what dark energy is or to begin with why the CC isn't 120 orders of magnitude larger would be great and hopefully a first step to our understanding of a TOE, Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-9829510633010231202008-07-20T07:02:00.000-04:002008-07-20T07:02:00.000-04:00Dear Bee,There is nothing in that article that has...Dear Bee,<BR/><BR/><I>There is nothing in that article that hasn't already been said hundreds of times elsewhere, and nothing that couldn't have been said already some years ago.</I><BR/><BR/>That's true, but actually, I've found the article quite entertaining, with some bits of interesting information, and I guess that's an important point in a magazine like Discover. And there are for sure stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-31134146446752876952008-07-20T06:59:00.000-04:002008-07-20T06:59:00.000-04:00Hi Dr. Who,Indeed, it is an interesting question. ...Hi Dr. Who,<BR/><BR/>Indeed, it is an interesting question. I was talking to Stefan yesterday about that new Science report I just read<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/321/5887/395" REL="nofollow">"Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship"</A> <BR/><BR/>I will probably have a post on it at some point. Part of the citation behavior you Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-43001643929739626922008-07-20T06:25:00.000-04:002008-07-20T06:25:00.000-04:00Dear Uncle Al,In order to fabricate Casimatter we ...Dear Uncle Al,<BR/><BR/>In order to fabricate Casimatter we would have to lamellate the pyroxine of Uranian polysyllabary. This is not difficult, but in view of the epigonic epigastrianism of the times, I can hold out little hope, quasilamellar or otherwise.<BR/>But let us persist in the Procrustean analysis of Hegelian paraphysics!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com