Author Archives: woit

Physical Intuition vs. “Math”

Posted on June 29, 2024 by woit

A common theme in discussions online of the problems of fundamental theoretical physics is that the subject has gotten “lost in math”, losing touch with “physical intuition”. In such discussions, when people refer to “math” it’s hard to figure out … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Latest Breakthrough From String Theory

Posted on June 19, 2024 by woit

PRL has just published this paper (preprint here), with associated press release here. The press release explains that the authors have discovered how to use string theory to provide “an easier way to extract pi from calculations involved in deciphering … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 17 Comments

The Mystery of Spin

Posted on June 13, 2024 by woit

The following makes no claims to originality or any physical significance on its own. For a better explanation of some of the math and the physical significance of the use of quaternions here, see this lecture by John Baez. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Strings 2024

Posted on June 4, 2024 by woit

There’s been very little blogging here the past month or so. For part of the time I was on vacation, but another reason is that there just hasn’t been very much to write about. Today I thought I’d start looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Strings 2XXX | 31 Comments

Wormholes, Part Deux

Posted on May 27, 2024 by woit

I had thought that the universally negative reaction to the fall 2022 wormhole publicity stunt meant that we’d never hear more about this, with even the editors of Quanta magazine having understood that they’d been had. While away on vacation … Continue reading →

Posted in Wormhole Publicity Stunts | 4 Comments

Various and Sundry

Posted on April 28, 2024 by woit

The semester here is coming to a close. I’m way behind writing up notes for the lectures I’ve been giving, which are ending with covering the details of the Standard Model. This summer I’ll try to finish the notes and … Continue reading →

Posted in Euclidean Twistor Unification, Langlands | 14 Comments

This Week’s Hype

Posted on April 23, 2024 by woit

Until about a year and a half ago, the way to get funding in physics was to somehow associate yourself to the hot trend of quantum computing and quantum information theory. Large parts of the string theory and quantum gravity … Continue reading →

Posted in This Week's Hype | 23 Comments

Science Outreach News

Posted on April 16, 2024 by woit

A few items on the science outreach front: The Oscars of Science were held Saturday night in Hollywood, with a long list of A-listers in attendance, led by Kim Kardashian. More here, here and here. You’ll be able to watch … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Wormhole Publicity Stunts | 27 Comments

What is String Theory?

Posted on April 11, 2024 by woit

This semester the KITP has been running a program asking What is String Theory?, which is winding up next week, and was promising to “arrive at a deeper answer to the question in the title.” It seems though that this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

How I fell out of love with academia

Posted on April 5, 2024 by woit

Sabine Hossenfelder today posted a new video on youtube which everyone in theoretical physics should watch and think seriously about. She tells honestly in detail the story of her career and experiences in academia, explaining very clearly exactly what the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 35 Comments