Aaron
bergman | August 20, 2007Let's say you have a theory, and, let's say it happens to have a whole lot of solutions. Maybe it's the theory you're thinking about, but it doesn't have to be. Nothing of what I'm going to say depends on any details besides this surfeit of solutions.
I should begin by saying what it means for a theory to have a lot of solutions. In fact, given any set of equations, one will almost always have many solutions. A polynomial of degree n will generically have n roots, for example. In classical physics, instead of a finite number of solutions, you will almost always have an infinite number. If you…
bergman | August 20, 2007When Chad first asked me to guest blog here, my first response was that I didn't have anything to say. After a little thought, however, it occurred to me that this would be an opportunity to do a little exposition. Unfortunately, my research area is quite a bit on the esoteric side, so I had to look elsewhere for possibilities. Thus, the "ask a string theorist" post below. But, the next thing that occurred to me was to talk about multiple universes.
Why do that? Not because I believe that it's central to string theory, and not because I believe that it's even necessarily science. What I do…
bergman | August 17, 2007Over at Andrew Sullivan's place, he's been presenting candidates for best movie line ever. Since I seem to have control of a blog of my very own, I'd like to present my nomination:
Holly Gennero McClane: After all your posturing, all your speeches, you're nothing but a common thief.
Hans Gruber: I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane. And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.
(transcription from IMDB)
Apparently my affection for this line is not widely shared, however, as finding the clip online has proven to be beyond my google skills. On the other hand, I did…
bergman | August 17, 2007One of the things Chad didn't mention about me in his introduction is that in addition to being a physics major as an undergraduate, I also majored in mathematics. My research interests these days tend towards the exciting confluence of mathematics and high energy physics. So, in honor of that (but really completely unrelated), I give you:
60499999499 / 490050000000
If you like, consider it an easy puzzle to understand the significance of this number.
bergman | August 17, 2007First of all, I'd like to thank Chad for the keys to his internet-house for the next few weeks. If you're here, you know that one of the things Chad believes in (and is quite good at) is using his weblog for the exposition of science for the general public. While I don't think I can manage any funny dog stories, I'd like to try to follow his example. I have some ideas already planned (such as, god help me, a three part series on the multiverse), but I thought as an initial post here, I'd go straight to the public. What do you want to hear about? Is there some aspect of string theory, quantum…
drorzel | August 16, 2007As mentioned several times hereabouts, Kate and I are headed to Japan on Saturday, where we'll be spending three weeks touring around and attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama. We will have at least some Internet access, and I may post the occasional travel update from Japan, but I'm not going to try to schedule three full weeks worth of posts to keep the blog going during my absence.
If, for some strange reason, you find that you are wholly dependent on Uncertain Principles for your computer-based entertainment needs, have no fear-- I'm not going to leave you totally…