Category Archives: Uncategorized

String theory might be about to finally be killed off

Posted on November 13, 2016 by woit

News site TechEye is reporting that String theory might be about to finally be killed off, with a story that starts off The world’s top boffins are debating finally killing off one of the more elegant scientific theories about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments

The Day After

Posted on November 9, 2016 by woit

The last few months have not been helpful for my sanity (and I think for that of a large number of other Americans). My three-point program to return to better mental health is to: Write one last blog post about … Continue reading →

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Vote!

Posted on October 30, 2016 by woit

Normally I avoid politics here, but these are not normal times. What follows is a request to my US readers, followed by some general remarks about the disturbing state of US democracy. Sorry, but if you want to discuss any … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Various Links

Posted on October 27, 2016 by woit

The 2016 LHC proton-proton run is now over, with delivered (41.07 CMS/38.4 ATLAS) and recorded (37.82 CMS/35.5 ATLAS) luminosities (in inverse fb) far above the goal for this year of 25. Together with last year’s data, the experiments now have … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Math Items

Posted on October 17, 2016 by woit

A few mathematics items: David Ben-Zvi’s overview talk about Representation Theory as Gauge Theory given last month at the Clay conference in Oxford that I attended is now available online, as slides and video. Other talks from the conference are … Continue reading →

Posted in Langlands, Uncategorized | 23 Comments

YITP at 50

Posted on October 11, 2016 by woit

The past couple days the YITP at Stony Brook has been celebrating its 50th birthday. It was started back in 1966 by C. N. Yang and has been an active center for theoretical physics ever since. The ITP at Stony … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 38 Comments

Retraction at Annals of Physics

Posted on October 8, 2016 by woit

Retraction Watch reports that Annals of Physics has removed a recently published article by Joy Christian, replacing it by a publisher’s note that just says: “This article was erroneously included in this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may … Continue reading →

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Back

Posted on October 4, 2016 by woit

Now back from traveling, regular blogging will resume. Here are a few items: I was going to write something yesterday, explaining that this year’s physics Nobel would surely go to the LIGO trio who have gotten every other major physics … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments

Heidelberg Laureate Forum

Posted on September 19, 2016 by woit

This week I’m in Heidelberg, attending the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, where I’ll be writing some blog posts for their website (which should appear here). You can follow talks on their website, either in real-time as streaming video, or by watching … Continue reading →

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Various and Sundry

Posted on September 8, 2016 by woit

A few unrelated items: Maybe Multiverse Mania in the popular press is fading. The Atlantic has The Multiverse Idea is Rotting Culture, where the author points out In 2014, the New Scientist published an article called “Multiverse Me,” revealing that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments