Comments on: At The Monastery http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:09:16 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: News From the Front, IV - Asymptotia http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18467 News From the Front, IV - Asymptotia Mon, 23 Oct 2006 01:08:25 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18467 [...] I began wondering about this issue (i.e., How do you recognise a string theory if it walked up and shook you by the hand?) a while ago, off and on, and then again this year in earnest. Two weeks in the monastery I referred to previously helped me crystallize some of the thoughts into a specific narrative, with the specific examples presented, and I’ve been chipping away at some of these thoughts and computations ever since then (including at the other monastery), resulting in the (long overdue) paper appearing tonight. [...] [...] I began wondering about this issue (i.e., How do you recognise a string theory if it walked up and shook you by the hand?) a while ago, off and on, and then again this year in earnest. Two weeks in the monastery I referred to previously helped me crystallize some of the thoughts into a specific narrative, with the specific examples presented, and I’ve been chipping away at some of these thoughts and computations ever since then (including at the other monastery), resulting in the (long overdue) paper appearing tonight. [...]

]]> By: Unite d’Habitation at asymptotia http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18468 Unite d’Habitation at asymptotia Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:42:01 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18468 [...] On the 14th of July of this year, Bastille Day - the important French holiday - we inhabitants of the mathematics “monastery” at which I was staying in Luminy in the South of France (see a CV post about this here) were forced to wander out into the outside world. There was no food and no lectures, you see. So off to Marseille! The plan was to go up to have a look around the city and stay for the fireworks in the evening if we were not too exhausted. I was accompanied by Ilarion Melnikov (a postdoc at Chicago) and Claudine Chen (a postdoc at Penn State) initially, and the plan was to wander up to the city, and meet up with David Kutasov (professor at Chicago) to wander around the port. [...] [...] On the 14th of July of this year, Bastille Day – the important French holiday – we inhabitants of the mathematics “monastery” at which I was staying in Luminy in the South of France (see a CV post about this here) were forced to wander out into the outside world. There was no food and no lectures, you see. So off to Marseille! The plan was to go up to have a look around the city and stay for the fireworks in the evening if we were not too exhausted. I was accompanied by Ilarion Melnikov (a postdoc at Chicago) and Claudine Chen (a postdoc at Penn State) initially, and the plan was to wander up to the city, and meet up with David Kutasov (professor at Chicago) to wander around the port. [...]

]]> By: At The Other Monastery | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18461 At The Other Monastery | Cosmic Variance Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:12:10 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18461 [...] Drinking tea at high altitude again. Still a bad idea…. must remember to bring a pressure cooker next time. See this link if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Yes, I’m at the other monastery, the Aspen Center for Physics, where I’ll be continuing my quest to get coherent research thoughts fully explored before the end of the Summer and my other academic duties begin in earnest. For some of the time I’m here, I’ll overlap with a couple of workshops in my area (and other interesting ones besides), and hence several old friends and colleagues, which is always very nice to do. I’m coming in near the middle of the workshop entitled “String Theory, Gauge Theory & Particle Physics”, and have already today heard two excellent outdoor talks, once by Savdeep Sethi entitled “Can Time End?” and the other by Frederik Denef entitled “Factorization of BPS Degeneracies and the OSV Conjecture”. [...] [...] Drinking tea at high altitude again. Still a bad idea…. must remember to bring a pressure cooker next time. See this link if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Yes, I’m at the other monastery, the Aspen Center for Physics, where I’ll be continuing my quest to get coherent research thoughts fully explored before the end of the Summer and my other academic duties begin in earnest. For some of the time I’m here, I’ll overlap with a couple of workshops in my area (and other interesting ones besides), and hence several old friends and colleagues, which is always very nice to do. I’m coming in near the middle of the workshop entitled “String Theory, Gauge Theory & Particle Physics”, and have already today heard two excellent outdoor talks, once by Savdeep Sethi entitled “Can Time End?” and the other by Frederik Denef entitled “Factorization of BPS Degeneracies and the OSV Conjecture”. [...]

]]> By: Plato http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18460 Plato Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:23:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18460 Can <a href="http://www.haloscan.com/comments/59de/115278240916126308/?a=19080#201438" rel="nofollow">orbitals</a> be held "consistently" in relation to the idea of "fermions" held to the brane? Can orbitals be held “consistently” in relation to the idea of “fermions” held to the brane?

]]> By: Plato http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18458 Plato Tue, 11 Jul 2006 13:39:42 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18458 IN light of "current information" with regards to the QGP, does one not think the "singularites" have to be rewritten? IN light of “current information” with regards to the QGP, does one not think the “singularites” have to be rewritten?

]]> By: John G http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18459 John G Sun, 09 Jul 2006 02:54:14 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18459 Horowitz and Susskind even wrote about the 27-dim bosonic M-theory: http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-th/0012037 If lots of things get figured out using the bosonic string, people may not notice if they still think it's a toy. The reasons for going away from the bosonic string may not be valid concerns any more. There's even a 28-dim bosonic F-theory. The 26-27-28-dims relate to E6-E7-E8. http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/stringbraneStdModel.html Horowitz and Susskind even wrote about the 27-dim bosonic M-theory:
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/hep-th/0012037

If lots of things get figured out using the bosonic string, people may not notice if they still think it’s a toy. The reasons for going away from the bosonic string may not be valid concerns any more. There’s even a 28-dim bosonic F-theory.

The 26-27-28-dims relate to E6-E7-E8.
http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/stringbraneStdModel.html

]]> By: i http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18486 i Sat, 08 Jul 2006 12:58:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18486 Amara, I really like the last VVG quote: it is so true! Amara,
I really like the last VVG quote: it is so true!

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18453 Clifford Sat, 08 Jul 2006 06:24:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18453 Cynthia... dimension is an elusive thing in string theory. See my comments in replies to others above about how the 26 dimensional bosonic string may not be unconencted to ten dimensional string theory. We don't have a good handle on the possible vacua and dynamics of string theory yet.... there may be a lot to learn about how dimensions may change.... -cvj Cynthia… dimension is an elusive thing in string theory. See my comments in replies to others above about how the 26 dimensional bosonic string may not be unconencted to ten dimensional string theory. We don’t have a good handle on the possible vacua and dynamics of string theory yet…. there may be a lot to learn about how dimensions may change….

-cvj

]]> By: Cynthia http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18452 Cynthia Sat, 08 Jul 2006 02:01:23 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18452 Clifford, My bad... I wrongfully assumed that 25+1 dimensions were declared obsolete during the rise of the second superstring revolution. More specifically, I erroneously thought that this revolution announced that all string models merge together to form a unified 10+1 dimensional model called M-theory. However, I gather from your message that bosonic strings are not part of this unification and still uniquely remain in the 26 dimensions. Regardless of my misunderstanding, enjoy teething on 26 dimensions... :-) Have a nice weekend! Clifford,

My bad… I wrongfully assumed that 25+1 dimensions were declared obsolete during the rise of the second superstring revolution. More specifically, I erroneously thought that this revolution announced that all string models merge together to form a unified 10+1 dimensional model called M-theory. However, I gather from your message that bosonic strings are not part of this unification and still uniquely remain in the 26 dimensions.

Regardless of my misunderstanding, enjoy teething on 26 dimensions… :-)

Have a nice weekend!

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/comment-page-1/#comment-18457 Clifford Fri, 07 Jul 2006 23:43:38 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/07/06/at-the-monastery/#comment-18457 Cynthia, I don't understand your question. The 26 dimensional bosonic string is a very common model to study. The first one most people cut their teeth on, in fact. Ambitwistor, I am not an expert -or even close- in this, and so I'll leave it to someone else to give a better answer than I can. Cheers, -cvj Cynthia, I don’t understand your question. The 26 dimensional bosonic string is a very common model to study. The first one most people cut their teeth on, in fact.

Ambitwistor, I am not an expert -or even close- in this, and so I’ll leave it to someone else to give a better answer than I can.

Cheers,

-cvj

]]>