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HackettFan 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2012
Location: Oklahoma
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Points: 7946
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 Posted: July 31 2013 at 00:01 |
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I voted for 'yes, it's interesting', although no I don't really like it. There's been a long time tug of war between whether a unified field theory will look more like relativity or more like quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics has been winning out more often than not, though it still fails to seal the deal. Personally I think particles are particles not strings. They exist in space that is curved and wavy. The particles take on properties of waves because they travel through wavy space. Finally, I expect that a unified field theory will be more like relativity than quantum mechanics in the end. I'm not a physicist.
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 16:12 |
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I'll add it to the inexhaustible To Read list.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 14:48 |
 Equality 7-2521 wrote:
I have not. I did read Smolin's The Trouble with Physics. Does it add anything to the argument made there?
It's a bit ingenuous to say I work in string theory. I'm a pure mathematician whose research happens to be related to string theory / high energy physics.
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I have read 'The Trouble With Physics' too, nice one, I like Lee Smolin, I just ordered his 'Time Reborn' and I look forward to reading it.
I really recommend you 'Not Even Wrong', it's a kind of reaction to the popular science books about string theory such as Brian Greene's 'The Fabric Of The Cosmos' and such. It's maybe a bit over to the opposite side (against string theory) but very worth the reading if you are smart enough to use the reading to form your own opinion.
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
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Points: 15783
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 14:06 |
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I have not. I did read Smolin's The Trouble with Physics. Does it add anything to the argument made there?
It's a bit ingenuous to say I work in string theory. I'm a pure mathematician whose research happens to be related to string theory / high energy physics.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 13:00 |
Equality 7-2521 wrote:
Yes, of course. I doubt our prospects to test the hypothesis anytime in the near future though, and it makes me question that strategy to channel an overwhelming majority of funding into string theory at the loss of alternative unification theories when such an ability is lacking.
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Fully agree, have you read the book by Peter Woit 'Not Even Wrong'? if you work in string theory I'd say it's a must read.
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
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Points: 15783
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 11:50 |
Gerinski wrote:
Equality 7-2521 wrote:
My research is technically in string theory, so I guess I should say I find it interesting? I'm reluctant to say I do if we're considering it as a physical theory because I have low expectations that it will prove to be viable. |
That's interesting. I also think it more to be a mathematics theory than a physics one, but that's also fine, many interesting progresses have started by a theoretical mathematics discovery and only later found application in real fields of science. |
Yes, of course. I doubt our prospects to test the hypothesis anytime in the near future though, and it makes me question that strategy to channel an overwhelming majority of funding into string theory at the loss of alternative unification theories when such an ability is lacking.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 09:40 |
dr wu23 wrote:
Just curious......has there been any actual testing of this theory on a practical level via colliders or the like that show there's any merit to the theory..?
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No, this is one of the problems, string theory is not testable with our current technology, and not just by a small margin but by orders of magnitude. It is highly unlikely that we can ever achieve the energies required to probe strings processes. Scientists have been trying to find ways in which it could be possible to get some indirect testing of the theory at lower energies but so far have not found any viable experiment.
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dr wu23
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 09:23 |
Just curious......has there been any actual testing of this theory on a practical level via colliders or the like that show there's any merit to the theory..?
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
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Icarium
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 09:15 |
my understanding of physics goes in two directions one based on my interest in solarsystem and space, from age of 5 and i feel i take sceince naturaly since it hs been in my life so very long, ( i started with universe science and dinosaur science on the same time, age of 4-5 maybe as earl as 2 years old), so sceince is like water for me, astronomy and palentology as i leanrd thats their name when i was 20ish  ).
i have then been through everything, biology, zoology, ornithology, anatomy, geography, geology, cosmology,
but i have also a wide interest in fantastic literature so my taste for philology, mythology, linguistics, symbology, fairy-tales, myth, folklore, theology, humanism,
String theory intrigues both my scientific part of my brain but also the fantastical part of my brain, its feeds on both my curiosity and imagination, my hunger for learning more of science but also hunger for fantasy literature, with multiple dimensions.
Edited by aginor - July 15 2013 at 09:16
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 08:57 |
Equality 7-2521 wrote:
My research is technically in string theory, so I guess I should say I find it interesting? I'm reluctant to say I do if we're considering it as a physical theory because I have low expectations that it will prove to be viable. |
That's interesting. I also think it more to be a mathematics theory than a physics one, but that's also fine, many interesting progresses have started by a theoretical mathematics discovery and only later found application in real fields of science.
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tamijo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 06 2009
Location: Denmark
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Points: 4287
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 07:56 |
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As long as they dont start produsing mass destruction weapons from these "strings" i dont care.
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Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
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Points: 15783
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 07:19 |
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My research is technically in string theory, so I guess I should say I find it interesting? I'm reluctant to say I do if we're considering it as a physical theory because I have low expectations that it will prove to be viable.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
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Posted: July 15 2013 at 07:18 |
Gerinski wrote:
At any rate, String Theory may be an amusing (or even fascinating) idea to ponder, but at best it remains an interesting hypothesis. Quantum mechanics on the other hand is even more mind-boggling, and it is proven to be true. Now, that is genuinely fascinating. Don't fall prey of popular talking about string theory unless you are already familiar with quantum mechanics, I bet that knowing quantum mechanics and knowing that it has been proven to be true (up to our experimental accuracy limits) is going to give your thought much more food than all that string theory stuff (serious and respectable physics undoubtedly, but still unproven speculation).
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It wouldn't even be possible to understand an iota of string theory without grasping quantum mechanics first.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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twseel
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 15 2012
Location: abroad
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Points: 22767
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Posted: July 12 2013 at 11:00 |
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Tapfret
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 12 2007
Location: Bryant, Wa
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Points: 8571
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Posted: July 12 2013 at 01:56 |
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^I see your problem. Big difference between string and thread.
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twseel
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 15 2012
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Posted: July 11 2013 at 23:59 |
Oh god, I can't keep up with this thread. 
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
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Points: 5093
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Posted: July 11 2013 at 18:07 |
Earendil wrote:
I thought I had a decent (non-technical) understanding of quantum mechanics until I just listened to a theoretical physicist as a guest on a podcast. Just as mind-blowing (and incredible that we can know it to be true) as when I first heard about it.
Also amazing, but in a depressing way, most people don't have a clue about any of it. |
This is an unforgivable cultural shame. One of the most important (if not the most) milestones in human knowledge and it's basically unknown by most of the population. The same with Relativity (both Special and General), they were discovered 100 yeas ago and yet they are not known (let alone understood) by most normal people... but, sure they know about computer games and Facebook... what kind of world are we living in? Sure, quantum mechanics and relativity rarely touch our daily lives in direct ways, but the fact that such important rules governing our world are known only by a very small part of the population is sad.
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Earendil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 17 2008
Location: Indiana, USA
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Points: 1584
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Posted: July 11 2013 at 17:45 |
Gerinski wrote:
At any rate, String Theory may be an amusing (or even fascinating) idea to ponder, but at best it remains an interesting hypothesis. Quantum mechanics on the other hand is even more mind-boggling, and it is proven to be true. Now, that is genuinely fascinating. Don't fall prey of popular talking about string theory unless you are already familiar with quantum mechanics, I bet that knowing quantum mechanics and knowing that it has been proven to be true (up to our experimental accuracy limits) is going to give your thought much more food than all that string theory stuff (serious and respectable physics undoubtedly, but still unproven speculation).
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I thought I had a decent (non-technical) understanding of quantum mechanics until I just listened to a theoretical physicist as a guest on a podcast. Just as mind-blowing (and incredible that we can know it to be true) as when I first heard about it.
Also amazing, but in a depressing way, most people don't have a clue about any of it.
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 5093
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Posted: July 11 2013 at 17:14 |
Gerinski wrote:
I am actually cautiously respectful of John Wheeler's philosophy which roughly states that the 'purpose of life' is to understand (or rather, 'to make real' or 'make happen') the universe ('the participatory universe principle'), or those who propose that 'consciousness' eventually will evolve to encompass all the knowledge required to understand the universe, effectively making a loop where 'understanding' or 'awareness' and 'physical reality' are just two sides of the same coin.
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At the time of writing that post the name of such a view's proponent didn't come to my mind but I remembered it, for anyone interested it's Frank Tipler's Omega Point hypothesis
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Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 5093
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Posted: July 11 2013 at 16:51 |
At any rate, String Theory may be an amusing (or even fascinating) idea to ponder, but at best it remains an interesting hypothesis. Quantum mechanics on the other hand is even more mind-boggling, and it is proven to be true. Now, that is genuinely fascinating. Don't fall prey of popular talking about string theory unless you are already familiar with quantum mechanics, I bet that knowing quantum mechanics and knowing that it has been proven to be true (up to our experimental accuracy limits) is going to give your thought much more food than all that string theory stuff (serious and respectable physics undoubtedly, but still unproven speculation).
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