Feb 17, 2023 07:36 PM
The String Theory Wars
https://iai.tv/articles/eric-weinstein-t...-auid-2394
SUMMARY: String Theory has been the dominant candidate for a ‘theory of everything’ for decades. But Eric Weinstein thinks its dominance is unjustified and has resulted in a culture that has stifled critique, alternative views, and ultimately has damaged theoretical physics at a catastrophic level. In this exclusive interview, Weinstein defends String Theory against some of its critics, but ultimately argues for the ned of a fundamental cultural shift to save the field from certain death... (MORE - details)
An attempt to solve a quantum problem just deepens the mystery
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/standa...fermi-lab/
EXCERPTS: . . . The mark of a good scientific theory is that it predicts many separate measurements. In the subatomic world, however, there are two large discrepancies that don’t match predictions stemming from the Standard Model of particle physics. A recent paper in the journal Nature Communications attempted to solve this mystery and the result was that it made things worse.
[...] researchers explored the effect of these strongly interacting particles on predictions of the mass of the W boson and the magnetic properties of the muon. They found that any attempt that decreased the discrepancy between measurement and calculation for the mass of the W boson increased the discrepancy for the magnetic properties of the muon, and vice versa.
While the original hope of this research was that perhaps a careful calculation of the contributions due to the quarks in the quantum foam would resolve both discrepancies, the actual outcome was that it exacerbated the situation. You can fix one discrepancy only by making the other one worse.
Scientists are currently trying to understand the ramifications of this new result. While it seemed reasonable to many researchers that the quark component of quantum foam could resolve these discrepancies, this does not appear to be the case.
Assuming that the measurements and calculations were done properly, and this new work is confirmed, it appears that researchers are facing a fascinating mystery. It may be that either the measurement of the mass of the W boson or the magnetic properties of the muon may point the way forward to a new theory and a better understanding of the laws of nature... (MORE - more details)
https://iai.tv/articles/eric-weinstein-t...-auid-2394
SUMMARY: String Theory has been the dominant candidate for a ‘theory of everything’ for decades. But Eric Weinstein thinks its dominance is unjustified and has resulted in a culture that has stifled critique, alternative views, and ultimately has damaged theoretical physics at a catastrophic level. In this exclusive interview, Weinstein defends String Theory against some of its critics, but ultimately argues for the ned of a fundamental cultural shift to save the field from certain death... (MORE - details)
An attempt to solve a quantum problem just deepens the mystery
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/standa...fermi-lab/
EXCERPTS: . . . The mark of a good scientific theory is that it predicts many separate measurements. In the subatomic world, however, there are two large discrepancies that don’t match predictions stemming from the Standard Model of particle physics. A recent paper in the journal Nature Communications attempted to solve this mystery and the result was that it made things worse.
[...] researchers explored the effect of these strongly interacting particles on predictions of the mass of the W boson and the magnetic properties of the muon. They found that any attempt that decreased the discrepancy between measurement and calculation for the mass of the W boson increased the discrepancy for the magnetic properties of the muon, and vice versa.
While the original hope of this research was that perhaps a careful calculation of the contributions due to the quarks in the quantum foam would resolve both discrepancies, the actual outcome was that it exacerbated the situation. You can fix one discrepancy only by making the other one worse.
Scientists are currently trying to understand the ramifications of this new result. While it seemed reasonable to many researchers that the quark component of quantum foam could resolve these discrepancies, this does not appear to be the case.
Assuming that the measurements and calculations were done properly, and this new work is confirmed, it appears that researchers are facing a fascinating mystery. It may be that either the measurement of the mass of the W boson or the magnetic properties of the muon may point the way forward to a new theory and a better understanding of the laws of nature... (MORE - more details)