Earlier this month, scienceblog.com, published an article entitled, "Physical reality of string theory demonstrated". For those of you who haven't yet seen it, it is worth a little read. No doubt you will now sings shouts of "proof" and "down with the unbelievers" due to this HUGE amount of evidence that string theory is THE theory. (Note the extra smattering of sarcasm)
At least nature seems to be dangling the little carrot of experimental testability in front of us once again. Things like this will hopefully keep the strings community going until we can prove (or in the very unlike event: disprove) that 'strings are the thing'!
Jared, so good to hear you are still true to string theory!
ReplyDeleteI hope more connections between string theory and experiments become apparent. The more excuses we have to study it and demand money for it the better. :)
By the way, I started an ADS/CFT superconductor project, but it didn't go anywhere so I moved on, but I know that string superconductivity is a hot topic.
ReplyDeleteAs one uninitiated into the world of string theory, what exactly did these guys do? It sounds like they may have used a technique from string theory on a quantum mechanical problem (quantum critical states in high Tc superconductors). Is that correct? What does this mean for string theorists like yourself moving forward?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it's good to hear from you again Jared. I was afraid that Waco had eaten you. :)
ReplyDeleteYou know Nick, I think this is one of those things that make a string theorist shout for joy (that their work has some justification) but I think that they would then get right back to calculating. It would be nice if theorists had an eye towards experimentation whilst deriving but it's hard to say one way or another, especially when the forced specialization of our studies. I mean, it seems really difficult to know enough about your theory to be able to say, "hey, here's a weird result that no one would ever think of...here you go experimentalist, check it out...". What have you all seen with respect to that? As a die-hard theorist, I love to learn for learning sake but once in a while it would be nice to know that your work is going to have some physically realizable results. I'll let you all know what to look for after I generate some more string universes. We'll probably find evidence for them in the way water drains out of your sink... ;)
ReplyDeleteAs long as you do string cosmology you should be good. Just say you calculating some type of string inflation with such and such moduli space, etc... In all seriousness, this area of string theory may actually lead to an experimental prediction that can be tested.
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