Owen - Haven't read . . . but in an effort to understand "why string (or something?) theory?" I've been doing some background reading on "what the issues are" . . . (e.g., what actually makes up the Standard Model, that needs "updating").
Recent lunch reading for me has been this article (from a recent issue of the Bulletin of the the American Mathematical Society): http://www.ams.org/journals/bull/2010-47-03/S0273-0979-10-01294-2/S0273-0979-10-01294-2.pdf One of the authors is John Baez (UC Riverside), whose article on Physics, Topology and Logic (sometimes called the "Rosetta Stone" paper) has been referenced on Friam in the past: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/rosetta/rose4.pdf Warning: the "Algebra of Grand Unified Theories" article is a mathematicians' attempt at (a simplified version of) the Standard Model, and hence the math is somewhat rigorous :-) (see sample sentences below . . .) The introduction does give a reasonably readable "lay of the land," putting various of the issues in context . . . tom Note that this is an element of su(2) divided by i. So, it lies in sl(2,C), the complexified adjoint representation of SU(2). In fact it equals W 0, one of the gauge bosons. So, up to a constant of proportionality, the observable Iˆ is one of the gauge bosons! Similarly, corresponding to hypercharge Y is an observable Yˆ. This is also, up to proportionality, a gauge boson, though this gauge boson lives in the complexified adjoint representation of U(1). Here are the details . . . On Oct 30, 2010, at 8:01 PM, Owen Densmore wrote: > Sorry for the spam, but I found that "the other anti-string" book's author > (Not Even Wrong, Peter Woit) has a positive review of the book: > http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=3165 > > I believe this, in part, is due to the need for sophisticated geometric > mathematics in non-string theories like loop quantum gravity. > > Interesting to note: of the 19 reviews on Amazon, all 19 are 5-stars! > > Has anyone here read it and have an opinion or insight? > > -- Owen > > > On Oct 30, 2010, at 8:45 PM, Owen Densmore wrote: > >> This does look interesting, especially after reading Smolin's book The >> Trouble with Physics. >> >> I bet I like them both, even though many (wrongly) consider Smolin's book >> anti-string. Its more pro-physics (at least as practiced through the 1970s). >> >> Did you read it (Yau, not Smolin)? Yau won the Fields medal, always a good >> recommendation. >> >> -- Owen >> >> >> On Oct 30, 2010, at 9:29 AM, joseph spinden wrote: >> >>> I have not seen this mentioned on the list yet, but some on this list might >>> find it interesting: >>> >>> The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's >>> Hidden Dimensions, by Shing-Tung Yau and Steve Nadis >>> >>> Yau has been at the center of string theory development. >>> >>> Joe S >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." >>> >>> -- Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, 1913. >>> >>> >>> ============================================================ >>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >>> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
