Author Archives: woit

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Posted on February 25, 2015 by woit

The LHC is getting close to the point where it can be restarted with a 6.5 TeV beam energy. Latest news here, schedule here. Plan is for a sector test late next week (beam in part of the machine), beam … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments

This Week’s Hype

Posted on February 20, 2015 by woit

A quarter-century or so ago, one of common arguments for string theory research was that it was “the only game in town”, in the sense that it was the only possible way to get a unified theory. For instance, back … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 16 Comments

Towards a Grand Unified Theory of Mathematics and Physics

Posted on February 14, 2015 by woit

A draft of an essay I’ve written, with plans to submit it to the FQXI essay contest, is available here. Constructive comments welcome… People who have a take on the subject that has nothing to do with what I’m writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 64 Comments

The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time

Posted on February 14, 2015 by woit

Lee Smolin has a new book out last month, co-written with philosopher Roberto Unger, entitled The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time. To get some idea of what he’s up to, there’s a review by Bryan Appleyard at The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Short Items, and a Quick Book Review

Posted on February 13, 2015 by woit

Peter Orland has a new blog, Ensnared in Vacuum, where he’s writing about some non-perturbative QFT questions. Physics Today this month has book reviews of two books about theology and the multiverse (one of which I wrote about here). There … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 16 Comments

IPMU Conversation with Edward Witten

Posted on February 6, 2015 by woit

I recently heard from Hirosi Ooguri that a transcript of a long conversation with Witten held at the time of his Kyoto Prize award has just appeared in the Kavli IPMU Newsletter. It’s a truly fascinating document, giving some great … Continue reading →

Posted in Langlands | 23 Comments

Planck Data Out

Posted on February 5, 2015 by woit

Long awaited data from the Planck satellite was released today, papers available here. The accompanying press release leads with results about the timing of the first stars, 500 million years or so after the big bang, with little mention of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

A Letter to the AMS

Posted on February 3, 2015 by woit

Leonid Reyzin at Boston University has drafted a letter in response to the recent article published in the Notices by Michael Wertheimer of the NSA (discussed here). He’s collecting signatures, and if you’re a member of the AMS I urge … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Short Items

Posted on January 29, 2015 by woit

Science magazine this week has an article and a podcast about the NSA and the AMS. AMS president David Vogan is portrayed as outraged at the NSA’s misuse of mathematics, but without much support for doing anything about it: But … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 21 Comments

It Really Is Just Dust

Posted on January 29, 2015 by woit

The Planck collaboration has an inimitable way of releasing important new results, they like to do it in French (see here for instance). Tonight a French Planck website contains the long-awaited news of the results from the BICEP2/Keck/Planck collaboration to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments