Author Archives: woit

PPAP Community Meeting

Posted on September 18, 2012 by woit

Following up on last week’s European Strategy Group Meeting in Krakow, this week UK particle physicists are doing something similar, with a Particle Physics Advisory Panel community meeting in Birmingham. The talks on the experimental side tell much the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 22 Comments

European Strategy Group Meeting

Posted on September 10, 2012 by woit

CERN has a new version of the European Strategy Group (last convened in 2005/6), tasked with updating medium to long-term plans for future accelerators and particle physics in general. This week they’re running an Open Symposium (live webcast here), with … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News | 21 Comments

Langlands and Twistors?

Posted on September 6, 2012 by woit

I just heard about this from George Sparling, who is giving a talk this afternoon with the title “From Roger Penrose to Robert Langlands and back” at a symposium in Pittsburgh. I don’t at all know what this is about, … Continue reading →

Posted in Langlands | 5 Comments

This Week’s Hype

Posted on September 5, 2012 by woit

BBC Horizon this week is running an episode How Small is the Universe? with a description that features the usual sort of hype about modern physics: It is a journey where things don’t just become smaller but also a whole … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 15 Comments

Proof of the abc Conjecture?

Posted on September 4, 2012 by woit

Jordan Ellenberg at Quomodocumque reports here on a potential breakthrough in number theory, a claimed proof of the abc conjecture by Shin Mochizuki. More than five years ago I wrote a posting with the same title, reporting on a talk … Continue reading →

Posted in abc Conjecture | 17 Comments

Fall Course: Quantum Mechanics for Mathematicians

Posted on September 3, 2012 by woit

This fall I’m teaching on quantum mechanics for mathematicians, at the undergraduate level. There’s a web-page with more information here. I’ll be writing up lecture notes, which should appear on that web-page as the course goes on, starting Wednesday. We’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 35 Comments

The Templeton Effect

Posted on September 3, 2012 by woit

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a long story about the Templeton Foundation, entitled The Templeton Effect. Much of it is about various subfields of philosphy where Templeton money has been successful at bringing religion, theological concerns and religious philosophers … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Short Math Links

Posted on August 31, 2012 by woit

Some links of mathematical interest that I’ve recently run across: The life and work of Alexander Grothendieck is one of the great stories of modern mathematics. Winfried Scharlau’s first volume of a biography of Grothendieck, covering the years up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Simons Foundation and the arXiv

Posted on August 28, 2012 by woit

Via the Quantum Pontiff, news that the Simons Foundation will be providing up to \$300,000 in financial support to the arXiv for each of the next five year. Last year, the arXiv announced a \$60K planning grant from Simons. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 22 Comments

Linde on Inflation and the Multiverse

Posted on August 25, 2012 by woit

Andrei Linde is one of Yuri Milner’s $3 million dollar men, best known for his “chaotic inflation” version of inflationary theory, as well as being one of the main proponents of anthropic multiverse mania. There’s a long piece based on … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania | 38 Comments