tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post5217720356956527506..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Dear Dr. B: Can you make up anything in theoretical physics?Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78768783474215932112015-09-17T23:46:07.645-04:002015-09-17T23:46:07.645-04:00"The vast majority of physicists work in down..."The vast majority of physicists work in down-to-earth fields like plasma physics or astroparticle physics."<br /><br />How has nobody mentioned how beautiful this was? It was a great pun that did not deserve to be ignored. I am embarrassed on behalf of all human beings that no one had earlier complimented this pun.secrethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12692467302303065469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10277553534265792212015-08-08T02:48:23.623-04:002015-08-08T02:48:23.623-04:00Chris,
No, you are just plainly wrong, and I find...Chris,<br /><br />No, you are just plainly wrong, and I find it stunning that you continue to disagree with me even though <a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-do-most-physicists-work-on.html" rel="nofollow">the facts are in your face</a>. The 'edge of knowledge' isn't just in the search for a theory of everything. There is an 'edge of knowledge' in every Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-89180583237101530892015-08-08T00:27:03.520-04:002015-08-08T00:27:03.520-04:00Re: "I think we're talking about any theo...Re: "I think we're talking about any theory that depends on an infinite resource right at its explanatory core, without which the theory collapses. A multiverse theory is an infinity theory."<br /><br />This is above my physics pay-grade, but doesn't the expanding-universe/Big Bang theory assume an infinite supply of (new) space, and doesn't quantum mechanics assume an JimVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10198704789965278981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-23190820084340952015-08-07T12:18:11.035-04:002015-08-07T12:18:11.035-04:00Reply to MFamulare :
Thank you so much for your c...Reply to MFamulare :<br /><br />Thank you so much for your comment, I can relate very much to it!<br /><br />“My experience in neuroscience is that people want to skip steps. The experimentalists are incentivized by short-sighted funding models, paper-chasing”<br /><br />As I wrote in the comment Dr. B. responded to, I’m a Phd-student so obviously my practical knowledge in the field is limited (Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16097212407749500740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-53888155247106514622015-08-07T12:14:45.003-04:002015-08-07T12:14:45.003-04:00Hi,
Thank you very much for responding to my ques...Hi,<br /><br />Thank you very much for responding to my question so exhaustive. I appreciate it. And sorry for my late response.<br /><br />Form what you are writing I think that Physics is indeed better (i.e. more committed to scientific methods) than (some) other sciences (i.e. neuroscience).<br /><br />Data in other fields might be inherently more noisy, but of course it is problematic when Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16097212407749500740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-85901809453607503872015-08-07T10:02:39.280-04:002015-08-07T10:02:39.280-04:00Hi Sabine - I didn't say no predictions in the...Hi Sabine - I didn't say no predictions in the last few decades, or no good work. And I couldn't have meant predictive theories like Relativity had stopped predicting in the domain they used to, because that would be really nonsensical. <br /><br />I think the press are pretty positive. If you go and look at any news portal, everything scientists want to announce they seem to get Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-76430028378187790942015-08-06T20:27:14.629-04:002015-08-06T20:27:14.629-04:00"You are confusing toy models with phenomenol..."You are confusing toy models with phenomenological models."<br /><br />You are, of course, right. I was being sloppy in my language and as a result conflating two separate issues.<br /><br />First, there are quite a few papers with "toy models", which as you note, generally aren't intended to replicate reality and instead just demonstrate an idea.<br /><br />Second, andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08172964121659914379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-63107381361700364582015-08-06T08:47:35.212-04:002015-08-06T08:47:35.212-04:00Hi Bee,
Thank you for your clarification, a very ...Hi Bee,<br /><br />Thank you for your clarification, a very reasonable explanation. Rock on with your blog!<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />ErikErikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629571445007334997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-5879373693444669122015-08-06T07:16:42.686-04:002015-08-06T07:16:42.686-04:00Andrew,
Which arxives are you reading?
You are c...Andrew,<br /><br />Which arxives are you reading?<br /><br />You are confusing toy models with phenomenological models. A toy model is normally a mathematical abstraction that is meant for conceptual understanding or educational purposes, or maybe to understand a particular limit. A phenomenological model on the other hand is a model that describes something observable (the "phenomenon"Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11834294174993456552015-08-06T07:12:16.312-04:002015-08-06T07:12:16.312-04:00Erik,
Sure, you can make very precise measurement...Erik,<br /><br />Sure, you can make very precise measurements in cond mat, especially at low temperatures, and certainly also some in astrophysics (think spectral lines) and so on. I didn't mean to insult condensed matter physicists, but as a rule of thumb: more possible variety means more uncertainty means less precision. The same is already the case within particle physics. The LHC collidesSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-84823779768532762832015-08-06T06:30:42.732-04:002015-08-06T06:30:42.732-04:00Hi Bee,
Of course you are right that measurements...Hi Bee,<br /><br />Of course you are right that measurements of g2 in particle physics are extremely precise. However, what about the extremely precise measurements of e²/h using the quantum Hall effect, which can even be used as a standard for electrical resistance? This shows that condensed matter theory can be just as precise, or perhaps I am missing some orders, this could be true :)<br /><brErikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629571445007334997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75955703731475399782015-08-06T06:22:18.861-04:002015-08-06T06:22:18.861-04:00(This isn't to say that the experimentalists a...(This isn't to say that the experimentalists are always better. For example, there really needs to be an entire category for proposed experiments which may or may not every be done unless someone reads it and decides to give me a multi-million or multi-billion dollar funding line, as opposed to the results of experiments that have already been done. There is also quite a cottage industry inandrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08172964121659914379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-22066675646947463032015-08-06T06:21:32.466-04:002015-08-06T06:21:32.466-04:00I have estimated the number of live dark matter ex...I have estimated the number of live dark matter explanations (apart from fine details like exact parameter values) to be about a dozen several times in the last couple of weeks and it is encouraging to see that someone else independent is making the same guestimate that I am.<br /><br />FWIW, I read the new arxiv abstracts pretty much every day and would offer a somewhat less charitable view of andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08172964121659914379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-32680679694733668492015-08-06T03:00:09.143-04:002015-08-06T03:00:09.143-04:00Chris,
I think you didn't understand what I w...Chris,<br /><br />I think you didn't understand what I wrote, or maybe you didn't read it. What is misleading here is not me, but the press that suggests that there is something at odds in physics, when what they are actually referring to is a fringe area. Your statement that "no theories have been producing predictions for decades" is wrong in a ridiculous way. Why, for exampleSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24532707568667500332015-08-05T23:41:55.044-04:002015-08-05T23:41:55.044-04:00So Bee, do you believe physicists should be open a...So Bee, do you believe physicists should be open and frank about the current situation? <br />It's just that, the person was clearly referring to the fact no theories have been producing predictions for decades. Reading that it's as if that isn't true. <br />Do you think you might have misled him?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75181910705226205062015-08-05T12:57:43.298-04:002015-08-05T12:57:43.298-04:00Hi Sabine,
I tend NOT to share your optimistic re...Hi Sabine,<br /><br />I tend NOT to share your optimistic remark " that in physics [...] the training in statistical methodology is more rigorous."<br /><br />I don't think compulsory courses in statistical methodology are the norm for physics students. Five years after my PhD in optics I personally feel I have almost no clue about statistics, beyond putting error bars more or less Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05513930613221402247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-60181604414413441872015-08-05T08:23:31.008-04:002015-08-05T08:23:31.008-04:00Hi Erik, I'm thinking of stuff like electric/o...Hi Erik, I'm thinking of stuff like electric/optic resistivity/conductivity, temperature/pressure dependence thereof, viscosity, elasticity, magnetic phases and so on. Compare that to, say, the muon g-2. What was on your mind? Best,<br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55981914546416568102015-08-05T07:46:39.677-04:002015-08-05T07:46:39.677-04:00"Condensed matter physics isn’t as precise as..."Condensed matter physics isn’t as precise as elementary particle physics."<br />Could you elaborate on this? At first instance, I disagree strongly.Erikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629571445007334997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69192956455388331532015-08-03T21:40:16.243-04:002015-08-03T21:40:16.243-04:00It's worth pointing out that I'm more pess...It's worth pointing out that I'm more pessimistic than average on this issue. The average take is probably much closer to your view that things are inherently noisy and we do the best we can. <br /><br />And thank you for your blog. I've been (mostly) silently reading since circa 2006! MFamularehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03310559865477793851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6115678828866835272015-08-03T16:08:38.452-04:002015-08-03T16:08:38.452-04:00Dear sabine,
thanks for your comments, that was a...Dear sabine, <br />thanks for your comments, that was a very nice and accurate description of what means to do research in physics. <br /><br /><br />just i would like to add some little comment to your paragraph:<br />"...And so the standards for precision and reproducibility in physics are much higher than in any other science not because physicists are smarter or more ambitious, but continuum spatii et temporis est absolutumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12671663391596240769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-43470579812609967822015-08-03T11:40:55.058-04:002015-08-03T11:40:55.058-04:00Hi MFamulare,
Thanks for your interesting comment...Hi MFamulare,<br /><br />Thanks for your interesting comment, though it is somewhat depressing, especially to hear that these problems are driven by funding models and paper chasing. I suppose I hoped the grass was greener on the other side. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70349574299800639632015-08-03T11:23:07.696-04:002015-08-03T11:23:07.696-04:00I want to some points (rants) about the statistics...I want to some points (rants) about the statistics quality discussion because it's worse than "the data are inherently noisy" and "people are poorly trained in statistics". (Source: I'm a physicist who switched to neuroscience and later infectious disease (where I'm staying).) Please forgive the generalizations below. By "people", "the theorists&MFamularehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03310559865477793851noreply@blogger.com