Author Archives: woit

This and That

Posted on May 25, 2022 by woit

Various things that may be of interest: MSRI in Berkeley has announced a \$70 million dollar gift from Jim and Marilyn Simons, and Henry and Marsha Laufer. This gift will make up the bulk of a planned endowment increase of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 22 Comments

Two Titans

Posted on May 10, 2022 by woit

If one tried to pick a single most talented and influential figure of the past 100 years in each of the fields of pure mathematics and of theoretical physics, I’d argue that you should pick Alexander Grothendieck in pure math … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 51 Comments

Brian Conrad on the California Mathematics Framework

Posted on May 5, 2022 by woit

Brian Conrad has been doing the state of California a great service by taking a careful look at the drafts of the proposed California Mathematics Framework and the research they are supposedly based on.   He has recently created a website … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Three Quick Items

Posted on May 3, 2022 by woit

Just time for three quick items: There’s a wonderful book out now published by the Simons Center at Stony Brook, with the title Crossings. It tells the story of the center and of various people involved with it through a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Various and Sundry

Posted on April 18, 2022 by woit

Last week a review of the Mochizuki IUT papers appeared at Math Reviews, written by Mohamed Saïdi. His discussion of the critical part of the proof is limited to: Theorem 3.11 in Part III is somehow reinterpreted in Corollary 3.12 … Continue reading →

Posted in abc Conjecture, Uncategorized | 24 Comments

Two New Quantum Field Theory Books

Posted on April 11, 2022 by woit

I’ve recently noticed that two very good new books on quantum field theory have become available, one aimed more at mathematicians, one purely for physicists. What Is a Quantum Field Theory? Available online now from Cambridge University Press (actual printed … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | 35 Comments

ABC on NHK

Posted on April 9, 2022 by woit

There will be a documentary broadcast tomorrow in Japan on Mochizuki’s claimed proof of the abc conjecture. I was interviewed for this by the filmmakers last year, but don’t know anything about whether and how that footage will be used. … Continue reading →

Posted in abc Conjecture | 16 Comments

The Anti-Science Movement

Posted on April 6, 2022 by woit

I noticed recently that Stony Brook is hosting next week a panel discussion devoted to a conversation about one of the most grave challenges to confront humanity: the anti-science movement. There is a truly grave challenge being referred to, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Fake Physics, Uncategorized | 42 Comments

Is Space-Time Really Doomed?

Posted on March 31, 2022 by woit

For many years now the consensus in a dominant part of the theoretical physics community has been that the center of attention should be on the problem of quantizing gravity, and that conventional notions of quantum theory and space-time geometry … Continue reading →

Posted in Euclidean Twistor Unification | 22 Comments

2022 Abel Prize to Dennis Sullivan

Posted on March 23, 2022 by woit

This year’s Abel Prize has gone to topologist Dennis Sullivan, for the announcement see here, with more information about Sullivan and his work here. There are press stories at Nature, the New York Times, Quanta, and elsewhere. Sullivan was one … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on 2022 Abel Prize to Dennis Sullivan