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Author
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Topic: Duuuude, it's a theory of everything!
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Doug
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 44
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posted 15 November 2007 05:59 PM
Well, it does come from a surfer...who happens to have a PhD in theoretical physics. quote:
Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year. Although the work of 39 year old Garrett Lisi still has a way to go to convince the establishment, let alone match the achievements of Albert Einstein, the two do have one thing in common: Einstein also began his great adventure in theoretical physics while outside the mainstream scientific establishment, working as a patent officer, though failed to achieve the Holy Grail, an overarching explanation to unite all the particles and forces of the cosmos. Now Lisi, currently in Nevada, has come up with a proposal to do this. Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he says.
http://tinyurl.com/2cq2tz
From: Toronto, Canada | Registered: Apr 2001
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DrConway
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 490
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posted 20 November 2007 07:25 PM
The thing *I* like about this is that I never really liked the idea of having to add in extra dimensions in order to make unified theories 'work'; it smacked a little too much of adding epicycles. Heh.Also, the fact that we cannot yet see the Higgs Boson even though it should weigh somewhere between 80 and 160 GeV (well within the reach of today's colliders, but the caveat is that the cross-section for production may be very low, in which case the LHC gives us a lot more energy and so the cross-section for production should go up), and the fact that so far supersymmetry doesn't seem to exist physically is another mark, to me, against some commonly-accepted models of the universe. Unfortunately, because of a mathematical requirement called gauge invariance, the Higgs boson is required to exist in the Standard Model, and so its lack of existence means that the weak interaction's successful mathematical analysis may rest on a rather tortuous hornswoggling that cries out for a better physical description. The odd thing is that it was an analysis of the weak interaction's symmetry-breaking properties in the first place that led to this notion that there's a connection to the fact that it is the only one of the four known ones in this universe to use massive exchange particles.
From: You shall not side with the great against the powerless. | Registered: May 2001
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500_Apples
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12684
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posted 21 November 2007 07:53 AM
quote:
Originally posted by jrootham:
I have to figure there are at least 6 (arbitrary physics constant) emergency meetings of tenure committees at physics departments coming up with tenure track (if not tenure) positions for this guy.He's probably going to be happily employed for the next few years. Bonus if he can talk to students or write grant applications. Sorry, minor error, reverse the positions of the bonus point skills.
1) Theories like this are published all the time. The difference is this guy got the attention of a New Scientist reporter. NS specializes in scientific sensationalism, with many cover stories on the ether, on loop quantum gravity, on extra dimension and on global warming denial. 2) Most physics professors are very good at communication with physics students.
From: Montreal, Quebec | Registered: Jun 2006
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