Author Archives: woit

News of the Multiverse

Posted on April 8, 2015 by woit

Just about ten years ago, my April 1 posting here was a fantasy about the Stanford ITP getting major funding from the Templeton Foundation, using it to fund a program on the multiverse, and renaming themselves the Stanford Templeton Research … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 35 Comments

Various News

Posted on March 31, 2015 by woit

Some news from all over: The problem with a short in the LHC seems to have been resolved (one can follow progress here), looks like they’ll be ready to inject a beam in a few days. Also looks like they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 32 Comments

Back from Break

Posted on March 24, 2015 by woit

Clouds cleared about 15 minutes too late at Torshavn in the Faroe Islands, so totality was behind a cloud, but still an impressive sight. And the Faroe Islands are quite a remarkable place to visit. Some recent news: The plan … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 33 Comments

Spring Break

Posted on March 11, 2015 by woit

I’m heading off soon on spring break, planning on traveling to Scandinavia and hoping to see a solar eclipse. There hasn’t been much news recently from the math and physics worlds, and it’s unlikely I’ll be blogging until I get … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

GR100

Posted on March 7, 2015 by woit

I hadn’t thought until recently about the fact that this year is the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s discovery of the field equations of general relativity, so there will be quite a few events taking place commemorating this (for a list … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Quick Links

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 | 41 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 | 18 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 Book Reviews | 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