Monthly Archives: September 2019

Various and Sundry

Posted on September 26, 2019 by woit

A couple of mathematics items: Photographer Jessica Wynne has been taking photographs of mathematician’s blackboards, and there’s a story about this in the New York Times. Many of her photographs have been taken here at Columbia, where we happen to … Continue reading →

Posted in Swampland, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Recently Modified Posts

Posted on September 18, 2019 by woit

I’ve often added material to recent posts as “updates”, while aware that some who might be interested would likely not realize the added material was there. To improve the situation, I’ve just added a “Recently Modified Posts” widget on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Number of the Heavens

Posted on September 18, 2019 by woit

Multiverse mania seems to have been dying down recently, with this only the third entry in that category here so far this year, after 10 in 2018, 13 in 2017, 10 in 2016, 17 in 2015, 18 in 2014, 12 … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Multiverse Mania | 10 Comments

Metaphorical Worlds Interpretation

Posted on September 17, 2019 by woit

Chad Orzel has a piece at Forbes which I like a lot, where he argues that the “Many Worlds” of the MWI interpretation should be taken metaphorically, and thus the MWI really should be the “Metaphorical Worlds Interpretation”. I urge … Continue reading →

Posted in Quantum Mechanics | Comments Off on Metaphorical Worlds Interpretation

Some background on “high energy physics”

Posted on September 16, 2019 by woit

There was a workshop last week at the Harvard CMSA, focusing on new ideas about physics rooted in topology. Talks are available on the workshop webpage, and those interested in high energy physics might be most interested in the ones … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

Chasing Einstein

Posted on September 16, 2019 by woit

Last night I went to a showing of Chasing Einstein, a new documentary about the search for dark matter. It’s quite well done, and if you’re near New York, Berkeley or LA, you might want to take the opportunity to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews | 15 Comments

An Apology

Posted on September 15, 2019 by woit

I’m afraid I made a serious mistake in this previous posting discussing Sean Carroll’s new book. Since the book was relatively reasonable, while the jacket and promotional material that came with it were nonsense, I assumed that Carroll was just … Continue reading →

Posted in Quantum Mechanics | Comments Off on An Apology

Regarding Papers about Fundamental Theories

Posted on September 9, 2019 by woit

Discussion in the comment section of the previous blog entry led me to do a little bit of historical research this morning, and I thought I’d write up the results here. First of all, for some interesting comments from people … Continue reading →

Posted in Favorite Old Posts, Quantum Mechanics | 26 Comments

Quantum Supremacy II

Posted on September 7, 2019 by woit

About the only thing that has transcended the bitter partisan divisions between Democrats and Republicans in the US during recent years has been quantum mechanics, with the enactment late last year of the National Quantum Initiative Act (the NQI was … Continue reading →

Posted in Quantum Mechanics | 26 Comments