Author Archives: woit

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

Bill Thurston, 1946-2012

Posted on August 22, 2012 by woit

Bill Thurston passed away yesterday, at the age of 65, after a battle with melanoma. Thurston was for many years the dominant figure in the study of 3 dimensional topology and geometry, winning a Fields medal for this work in … Continue reading →

Posted in Obituaries | 15 Comments

This Week’s Hype

Posted on August 21, 2012 by woit

The Higgs suggests that there could be more dimensions of space-time than we previously thought. From a New Yorker piece this week (subscription required) about Joe Incandela of CMS and the Higgs discovery. Even the famed New Yorker fact-checkers are … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 38 Comments

LHC News

Posted on August 17, 2012 by woit

The LHC is operating well, hitting record peak luminosities, with integrated luminosity for the year over 11 fb-1. By the end of the year there may be 25 fb-1 per experiment or so. Current plan seems to be to update … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News | 30 Comments

SUSY 2012, and Strassler on the String Wars

Posted on August 15, 2012 by woit

This post was originally going to be just about the latest SUSY exclusion results announced at SUSY 2012 and their significance, but I realized there’s nothing much new to say, and it would be tedious to just write the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 38 Comments