Yearly Archives: 2006

Witten Geometric Langlands Talk and Paper

Posted on April 22, 2006 by woit

I spent yesterday afternoon down in Princeton, and attended a talk by Witten at the Institute on his work relating gauge theory and the geometric Langlands program. He says that his paper with Kapustin is done, it’s about 220 pages … Continue reading →

Posted in Langlands | 105 Comments

Science Fantastic

Posted on April 20, 2006 by woit

Michio Kaku has joined the Talk Radio Network, where he will have a new radio show called “Science Fantastic” that will appear on 90 radio stations around the country. Topics that will be covered include “black holes, higher dimensions, string … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments

Susskind Turns Down Templeton Prize

Posted on April 18, 2006 by woit

OK, maybe they haven’t offered it to him yet, but over at the Edge web-site, in a comment about John Horgan’s recent piece about the Templeton Foundation, Susskind writes: I don’t understand the idea that a convergence between science and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 64 Comments

The Jasons

Posted on April 15, 2006 by woit

One of the less well-known parts of the history of particle physics is the involvement of many prominent theorists in research (often classified) conducted for the U.S. military through an organization known as “Jason”. My advisor at Princeton (Curt Callan) … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Uncategorized | 21 Comments

Schroer Notes and Other Links

Posted on April 13, 2006 by woit

Bert Schroer has sent me some notes comparing the Lagrangian path integral and algebraic approaches to quantum field theory, which others may also find interesting. I have a very different perspective than he does, but have gone through the experience … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 36 Comments

Memorials

Posted on April 9, 2006 by woit

The May issue of the Notices of the AMS has memorial articles about two great mathematicians who passed away recently. The first is about Serge Lang and includes contributions from many people, including my Columbia colleague Dorian Goldfeld. When Lang … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Polchinski on the Landscape

Posted on April 9, 2006 by woit

At the recent Solvay conference there was extensive discussion of the Landscape, and I’ve already discussed here Michael Douglas’s write-up of his talk on the subject, entitled Understanding the Landscape. Now Joe Polchinksi’s rapporteur talk on the subject has appeared; … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 63 Comments

Eurostrings 2006

Posted on April 8, 2006 by woit

This past week there has been a conference going on in Cambridge called Eurostrings 2006. It’s a bit like the annual “Strings XXXX” conferences, although about half the size and organized just by European institutions that are part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

The Templeton Foundation: A Skeptic’s Take

Posted on April 6, 2006 by woit

Science writer John Horgan has just written a piece about the Templeton Foundation that is causing a bit of a ruckus. It first appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, and is also posted a the Edge web-site, where perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 37 Comments

Back

Posted on April 4, 2006 by woit

Had an amazing trip, which involved several days of travel through hundreds of miles of spectacular sand dunes in four-wheel drive vehicles operated by impressive Tuareg drivers (no camels). This put me and the group I was traveling with somewhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments