Category Archives: Swampland

Theorists with a Swamp, not a Theory

Posted on August 13, 2018 by woit

In recent weeks string theory has been again getting a lot of press attention, because of claims that new progress is being made in the study of the relation of string theory and the real world, via the study of … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 15 Comments

Strings 2018 Panel Discussion

Posted on June 30, 2018 by woit

A panel discussion at the Strings 2018 conference ended by addressing audience questions, and this seemed to me to give some insight into where string theory is now. I noticed that the Youtube video comes with an auto-generated transcript, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Strings 2XXX, Swampland | 18 Comments

This Week’s Hype

Posted on June 27, 2018 by woit

New Scientist today has a feature article headlined How to think about… The multiverse The idea of an infinite multitude of universes is forced on us by physics. It starts off quoting Sean Carroll: “One of the most common misconceptions … Continue reading →

Posted in Fake Physics, Multiverse Mania, Strings 2XXX, Swampland | 17 Comments

Are We In the Swampland?

Posted on April 5, 2018 by woit

Way back in 2005, soon after the emergence of the “String Landscape” and the ensuing debate over whether this made string theory untestable pseudo-science, Cumrun Vafa in response started writing about the “Swampland”. In contrast to the “Landscape” of effective … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 21 Comments

Hype from the Swampland

Posted on May 1, 2006 by woit

Over the last twenty years there has been an endless stream of hype about “tests of string theory”, pretty much all of it complete nonsense. For some examples just from the first few months of this year, see here, here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 77 Comments

Swampiness on Long Island

Posted on February 9, 2006 by woit

At first I thought this must be an April Fool’s day joke, but I just checked the calendar, and it’s not April 1 yet. For the last few years Stony Brook has been running a workshop on math and physics … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 13 Comments

More Swampiness

Posted on November 14, 2005 by woit

Jacques Distler has a new posting about the Swampland, based on hearing a talk by Cumrun Vafa and discussions with him in Eugene, Oregon. Vafa seems to have made clear to Jacques that what he had in mind was just … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 6 Comments

Mucking About in the Swampland

Posted on October 1, 2005 by woit

A little while ago I wrote about the recent Vafa paper on The String Landscape and the Swampland, as well as about postings on the subject by Lubos Motl and Jacques Distler. Lubos’s contribution to the subject was introducing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 33 Comments

Into the Swampland

Posted on September 28, 2005 by woit

Last month Cumrun Vafa gave a talk at Stony Brook entitled The Swamp Surrounding the Landscape. Tonight he has a new paper on the arXiv entitled The String Landscape and the Swampland. Vafa appears to be suggesting that, faced with … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland | 26 Comments