Math Is Fun Forum

MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,711

String Theory gets a Boost

Nice Article: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature … e_Superhot

---

"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

MathsIsFun, I can’t access the site (I’ve tried three times).

In the meantime, here are two articles from New Scientist:

Inside the tangled world of string theory
String theory: A beginner’s guide

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Hi Mathsisfun;

   If those results are correct about a nearly perfect liquid then they appear to have the first experimental evidence supporting the existence of strings. A serious slap in the face of Sheldon Glashow and the rest of the Ed Witten detractors.

bobbym

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Hi Jane;

    Good article, with much praise of Ed Witten and M-theory, I have to agree with Sheldon Glashow it appears that the M is just an inverted W for Witten. Guess I am an old dog at heart and that places me in the Glashow camp. Where do you stand on this?

Last edited by bobbym (2009-04-17 08:32:06)

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

Tigeree

Member

Registered: 2005-11-19

Posts: 13,883

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Woah! That's awesome! Brilliant! Thanx for sharing that, MIF! Great website!

---

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
~ Anton Chekhov
Cheer up, emo kid.

JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Why can everybody else access the website but I can’t?

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Hi Jane;

   I'm there right now, so try it.

Last edited by bobbym (2009-04-15 21:35:52)

---

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

JaneFairfax

Member

Registered: 2007-02-23

Posts: 6,868

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

My ISP seems to be blocking me from accessing the site.

But it’s fine now. I’m using a proxy server to connect to the site, and it’s working!

Last edited by JaneFairfax (2009-04-16 17:22:12)

Tigeree

Member

Registered: 2005-11-19

Posts: 13,883

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

Glad it's working for you now, Jane. It's still a good website. Very interesting stuff. Wouldn't you agree?

---

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
~ Anton Chekhov
Cheer up, emo kid.

Ricky

Moderator

Registered: 2005-12-04

Posts: 3,791

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

In recent years it has become popular to criticize string theory as out of touch with reality. Popular books have been written by scientists, some prominent and others not so prominent, arguing that string theory makes no predictions that experiment can test, that its fundamental objects can’t be observed, that physicists have wasted their time on an enterprise that isn’t even scientific to begin with.

Such arguments leave an impression of utter unfamiliarity with the history of science. In times past, the same kinds of aspersions were cast against quarks, neutrinos, even the very existence of atoms. Superstrings are in good company. And string theory’s limit on how low viscosity can go now seems to have established that string math does indeed mirror something real in nature. “This may well be the first prediction from string theory to be validated by experiment,” Steinberg writes in a recent paper (arxiv.org/abs/0903.1474).

From what I have read, this is a very poor representation for the criticism string theory has received.  It seems to say that string theory is receiving the criticism because it is new and uncharted territory, and that simply isn't the case.  The major problem with string theory is that it may be altered in so many ways so that there is a version of string theory that matches any experimental result.  This is what makes it untestable.

In times past, the same kinds of aspersions were cast against quarks, neutrinos, even the very existence of atoms. Superstrings are in good company.

"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."

- Carl Sagan

---

"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

Tigeree

Member

Registered: 2005-11-19

Posts: 13,883

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

It seems to say that string theory is receiving the criticism because it is new and uncharted territory, and that simply isn't the case.  The major problem with string theory is that it may be altered in so many ways so that there is a version of string theory that matches any experimental result.  This is what makes it untestable.

This I agree with and thought, long and hard, about from the start actually after my first post when I came to my senses.   

In times past, the same kinds of aspersions were cast against quarks, neutrinos, even the very existence of atoms. Superstrings are in good company.

Superstrings... hmm... very interesting. Kool!

"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."

- Carl Sagan

That's just funny! Go Carl Sagan!

Last edited by Tigeree (2009-04-17 12:56:26)

---

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
~ Anton Chekhov
Cheer up, emo kid.

Ricky

Moderator

Registered: 2005-12-04

Posts: 3,791

Re: String Theory gets a Boost

That's just funny! Go Carl Sagan!

It is a rather clever and witty quote, and if that's what you meant by "funny" that's fine.  But I hope you understand the concept that the quote is trying to convey.  In other words, it isn't just funny; there is a point behind it, and a rather important one at that.

---

"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."