tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post2659716283561779598..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Tuesday distraction: New music videoSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7978101198595305572015-08-23T00:10:57.703-04:002015-08-23T00:10:57.703-04:00Let's go back to "what should I read to g...Let's go back to "what should I read to get into String Theory". In my view you start with Chapter one of Green, Schwarz & Witten. That chapter is not string theory, but it is what you have to know to get into it. There are no shortcuts. You read GSW. You learn about anomaly cancellations at D=26. You learn about Calabi-Yau manifolds. There are no shortcuts. Chris Adamihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447043823985095127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-1962080915221855632015-08-22T07:00:23.936-04:002015-08-22T07:00:23.936-04:00Thanks, Javier. Phillip I've written more than...Thanks, Javier. Phillip I've written more than 10 book reviews on string theory and still do...<br /><br />http://francis.naukas.com/?s=rese%C3%B1a+teor%C3%ADa+de+cuerdasFrancishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17165294012938708645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39400859546542462512015-08-21T14:40:52.876-04:002015-08-21T14:40:52.876-04:00ok thanks for the chat. I felt I was asking whethe...ok thanks for the chat. I felt I was asking whether there's any scientific legitimacy in a status of "testable in principle" if the test is technically impossible. <br /><br />"Regarding the extra dimensions, as I said, it doesn't matter exactly how they look, they have the common feature that you can excite string states in them once you reach high enough energies." <Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82868019396765500022015-08-21T01:18:09.507-04:002015-08-21T01:18:09.507-04:00Lucy,
You asked whether string theory is testable...Lucy,<br /><br />You asked whether string theory is testable, not whether it's falsifiable. I've made all the distinctions you ask for. I've told you several times now it's testable in principle, though not in practice. Falsifiability is meaningless anyway, it only works in the simplest cases, in practice its what I like to call "implausification" that happens.<br /><br Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48526517692481711042015-08-20T13:08:34.419-04:002015-08-20T13:08:34.419-04:00dear professor Hossenfelder, it's not that I a...dear professor Hossenfelder, it's not that I am not studying what you say, but I feel this needs finer distinctions, for me to be able to understand and accept. You seem to be saying that testability in the scientific sense is satisfied purely if it can be defined, even if the means of testing is effectively impossible for science in its current form. <br /><br />I didn't think that was Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87314339337184365322015-08-20T05:38:42.329-04:002015-08-20T05:38:42.329-04:00Lucy M,
I think we're talking past each other...Lucy M,<br /><br />I think we're talking past each other. You have to make a prediction for how "god" would make itself noticeable at high energies and then it would be testable. But there isn't any such prediction. There is such a prediction from string theory, ergo it is testable. <br /><br />The many ways that you can compactify the extra dimensions all correspond to slightlySabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-3194134831182737532015-08-20T04:37:12.156-04:002015-08-20T04:37:12.156-04:00dear Professor Hossenfelder,
I understand the dis...dear Professor Hossenfelder, <br />I understand the distinction you are making and would agree that 'god exists' is in a lot worse shape than String Theory. But at the same time, every assertion of that kind, predicts at least its own truth. If at some future point we can get to an energy level that is totally beyond contemporary science at the moment, we can't rule out that there'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73733218694181383802015-08-20T01:15:47.397-04:002015-08-20T01:15:47.397-04:00Lucy M,
Ok, first a better example for untestable...Lucy M,<br /><br />Ok, first a better example for untestable came to my mind. The "hypothesis" that "god exists" isn't testable because it doesn't make predictions.<br /><br />About string theory. The question you asked wasn't whether all of string theory is testable. You can't test whether causally disconnected parts of the universe exist pretty much by Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-15922381718717644612015-08-19T17:02:24.558-04:002015-08-19T17:02:24.558-04:00I did a follow-up question after thinking awhile, ...I did a follow-up question after thinking awhile, but it must have got lost somewhere. So asking again, how can string theory be testable even in principle when the extra dimensions can be folded in an infinite number of different ways? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35323313890583403902015-08-19T13:20:19.475-04:002015-08-19T13:20:19.475-04:00"Francis has been reviewing this summer most ...<i>"Francis has been reviewing this summer most of books in string theory at the level that you ask. It is in Spanish, but I think that using Google translator you could get most of it.<br /><br />This is the last entry of the blog, which is precisely a review of a string theory book."</i><br /><br />Thanks for the tip. There seems to be at least one other review of a string-theory Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73359574710063003582015-08-19T09:38:04.496-04:002015-08-19T09:38:04.496-04:00I feel like you've answered my question but I ...I feel like you've answered my question but I don't understand. Sorry - I shouldn't be bothering you with my level of knowledge.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-4547132200232612892015-08-19T09:33:45.098-04:002015-08-19T09:33:45.098-04:00There's a green dwarf in Andromeda but it does...There's a green dwarf in Andromeda but it doesn't couple to any particle we can observe isn't testable.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-23565405421170067142015-08-19T09:29:30.898-04:002015-08-19T09:29:30.898-04:00dear Professor Hossenfelder,
Thank you. I read th...dear Professor Hossenfelder, <br />Thank you. I read the FAQ but could I query something. The FAQ Is String Theory Testable has an answer that begins like this "The all-time favorite. Yes, it is. There is really no doubt about it. The problem is that it is testable in principle, but at least so far nobody knows how to test it in practice. The energy (densities) necessary for this are just Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-66389523081688650712015-08-19T09:21:25.834-04:002015-08-19T09:21:25.834-04:00Lucy M: Please refer to the FAQ.Lucy M: <a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2014/11/frequently-asked-questions.html" rel="nofollow">Please refer to the FAQ</a>.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-72962228426749536672015-08-19T09:15:47.060-04:002015-08-19T09:15:47.060-04:00sorry to bother you but I think it was here that I...sorry to bother you but I think it was here that I first heard that string theory can't predict. Doesn't that mean it isn't legitimate science?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17852247942652368610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11327661761375954642015-08-19T01:34:23.012-04:002015-08-19T01:34:23.012-04:00"string theory has repeatedly forced physicis..."string theory has repeatedly forced physicists...into directions we didn't anticipate and frequently didn't work"<br /><br />I might have misheard this, but I think he said "frequently didn't WANT"Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-72067050844904376972015-08-18T18:52:49.661-04:002015-08-18T18:52:49.661-04:00Philip, Francis has been reviewing this summer ...Philip, Francis has been reviewing this summer most of books in string theory at the level that you ask. It is in Spanish, but I think that using Google translator you could get most of it.<br /><br />This is the last entry of the blog, which is precisely a review of a string theory book.<br /><br />http://francis.naukas.com/2015/08/18/Javierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17845977289427117418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-58761072926697903952015-08-18T14:05:57.362-04:002015-08-18T14:05:57.362-04:00"Witten is there to distract from my lack of ..."<i>Witten is there to distract from my lack of software and audio mixing skills</i>" Aren't there apps to automatically do counterpoint, improvisation, and warping (Youtube ?v=-ciFTP_KRy4)? <i>Kreator</i> isn't Julliard, but it works.<br /><br />Witten, "<i>string theory has repeatedly forced physicists...into directions we didn't anticipate and frequently didn'tUncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29005163390307464072015-08-18T08:55:09.928-04:002015-08-18T08:55:09.928-04:00It would be too repetitive. I'm lacking some i...It would be too repetitive. I'm lacking some insights there as to how properly use and sweep the synths, not to mention that my drums and percussions are pretty monotonic (I'm sure there are some plugs to fix this, if I had a thousand dollars too much). So Witten is there to distract from my lack of software and audio mixing skills ;)Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75262671648599652452015-08-18T08:16:51.180-04:002015-08-18T08:16:51.180-04:00If you just took Witten out, a really good dance t...If you just took Witten out, a really good dance track.Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075608749064975687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-90068198101863545002015-08-18T08:13:09.869-04:002015-08-18T08:13:09.869-04:00Andrew,
Well, the story is that I wrote this trac...Andrew,<br /><br />Well, the story is that I wrote this track last year already, but the lyrics didn't quite come together. I have one verse, but then I got stuck with the second one. I quite liked the way the violins came out though, so in the end I scraped out my verse (the second actually) and put in Witten (which also solved the problem of having to come up with a decorative video). Feel Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-34217187382327957862015-08-18T08:06:34.167-04:002015-08-18T08:06:34.167-04:00Ivan,
Thanks :) Yes, that would be nice, but I...Ivan,<br /><br />Thanks :) Yes, that would be nice, but I'm afraid I am not much of a graphics designer... Though I've recently looked into some software options, for the videos I almost exclusively use background material from other people under a creative-commons licence (see the links below my video on the youtube page). <br /><br />In this case, I used (besides the Witten lecture) Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10684100749845472015-08-18T08:05:55.920-04:002015-08-18T08:05:55.920-04:00I mean, better without the Witten vocal. I like yo...I mean, better without the Witten vocal. I like your Bjork-like vocal.Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075608749064975687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-72420146539329378352015-08-18T08:00:23.979-04:002015-08-18T08:00:23.979-04:00Brilliant. Better without the vocal, though, I rec...Brilliant. Better without the vocal, though, I reckon.Andrew Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075608749064975687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-63109883297948200962015-08-18T06:33:03.626-04:002015-08-18T06:33:03.626-04:00Very well! But why only closed strings? The ordina...Very well! But why only closed strings? The ordinary matter is made of the open strings, isn't it? Could you add some D-branes, please? :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121189543768497884noreply@blogger.com