Physicists’ Dreams and Worries in Era of the Big Collider

Swede

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Tue Jan-26-10 11:20 PM
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Physicists’ Dreams and Worries in Era of the Big Collider

They all seem to be,not stuck,but waiting for a big breakthrough.

Where, asked Michael Turner of the University of Chicago, were the big ideas? The passion? Where, for that matter, was the universe? Dr. Kane’s hypothesized breakthrough did not include an explanation for the so-called dark energy that seems to be speeding up the expansion of the universe.

Dr. Kane grumbled that the proposed solutions to dark energy did not affect particle physics.

The worrying continued. Lawrence Krauss, a cosmologist from Arizona State, said that most theories were wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/science/26essay.html?ref=science

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HeresyLives

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Wed Jan-27-10 12:25 AM
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1. Fridge magnets??

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scubadude

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Wed Jan-27-10 07:25 PM
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2. Sure, 2 fridge magnets, one under another, with like poles aligned.

The top-most will remained suspended if not allowed to twist. This opposes the gravitational force of the entire earth.

Check out this link for an example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVTDALl2Eg8

To my mind there is a bit of hyperbole in the statement the physicist made.

Scuba

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caraher

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Thu Jan-28-10 11:16 AM
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3. Not if you're a theoretical physicist

In the world of particle physics as done in accelerators, gravity really is almost entirely negligible compared to electromagnetic forces. It takes a LOT of matter to produce even a modest gravitational field.

It's hard to come up with true hyperbole when describing differences in interaction strengths of 25 orders of magnitude or more! (see the table at the bottom of the "Overview" section)

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scubadude

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Thu Jan-28-10 07:20 PM
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4. The hyperole referred to refridgerator magnets...

I was envisioning the superconducting magnets levitating themselves (as was shown in the link in my post), as compared to refrigerator magnets.

25 orders of magnitude indeed, I must be dumber than W....

Scuba

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