Author Archives: woit

Why Does the World Exist?

Posted on May 9, 2012 by woit

With a lot of attention these days (see here for instance) going to an argument between philosophers and physicists about the “Why is there Something rather than Nothing?” question, this is the perfect time for Jim Holt’s new book Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 45 Comments

Phenomenology 2012

Posted on May 8, 2012 by woit

This week at the University of Pittsburgh the Phenomenology 2012 Symposium has talks reviewing the current situation in particle physics phenomenology. Not much new, but there is one plenary talk on string phenomenology, Cumrun Vafa’s Stringy Predictions for Particle Physics. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Half Hour to Midnight

Posted on May 5, 2012 by woit

Matt Strassler posts here about a recent panel discussion of phenomenologists talking about the implications of the latest results from the LHC. You can listen to the thing for yourself, and see what Matt has to say at his blog, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 51 Comments

Correction

Posted on May 3, 2012 by woit

A while ago I wrote here about a recent “conference of Nobel Laureates” convened by Jeffrey Epstein in the Virgin Islands. This was based upon stories in boston.com (Boston Globe) and marketwatch.com (Wall Street Journal), which were based upon this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Neutrinos to Give High-Frequency Traders the Millisecond Edge

Posted on May 1, 2012 by woit

Recently US plans for the LBNE next-generation neutrino experiment have run into trouble finding room in projected HEP budgets. Today (via Emanuel Derman’s twitter feed), I learn of a promising new source of funding. A Forbes columnist reports here on … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News | 18 Comments

A Prediction About a Prediction

Posted on May 1, 2012 by woit

In the years leading up to the LHC, string phenomenologists were vocal about their hopes to use string theory to make predictions about what the LHC would see, despite a history of a quarter-century of failure on the prediction front. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 37 Comments

Much Ado About Nothing

Posted on April 27, 2012 by woit

I suppose I’m posting too much about this, but the ongoing fight over nothing between prominent physicists and philosophers strikes me as perhaps marking some kind of end-point in the multiverse-mania-driven decline of part of theoretical physics from a difficult, … Continue reading →

Posted in Favorite Old Posts, Multiverse Mania | 60 Comments

Something and Nothing

Posted on April 23, 2012 by woit

In the something of interest category, last week at Columbia there was a panel discussion held as part of the World Leader’s Forum, introduced by our president Lee Bollinger, on the topic What If We Find the Higgs Particle and … Continue reading →

Posted in Multiverse Mania, Uncategorized | 34 Comments

Weinberg on the Crisis of Big Science

Posted on April 21, 2012 by woit

Steven Weinberg has a new article in The New York Review of Books on The Crisis of Big Science, which is based on a talk he gave this past January at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin (for some … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 54 Comments

Spring in the Virgin Islands

Posted on April 19, 2012 by woit

One thing that a career in math or physics research can get you, courtesy of financial industry wealth, is a nice trip to the Virgin Islands. A couple current possibilities are: The Simons Foundation funds week-long Simons Symposia, at Caneel … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments