... in other news ...

... the LHC may have generated particles at 750 GeV of a new kind, beyond the standard model. Assuming that this is real, the obvious question is how to explain it; Jester examined a simple toy model borrowed from the standard model, while Lubos reported on more interesting explanations, e.g. a sgoldstino or a radion.

Meanwhile, Peter Woit emphasized that the latest LHC run has further pushed up limits on superpartner masses and the probability that susy will be discovered with the LHC is significantly lower now.

Away from the LHC it might be possible to test (some ideas about) quantum gravity with heavy quantum objects, as reported by Sabine Hossenfelder.

Last, but not least, it turned out (already a year ago) that the spectral gap problem, studied by solid state physicists, is undecidable if the Hamiltonian is complicated enough; Scott has more about it .

10 comments:

rrtucci said...

Wolfgang, you are going to gives us all a heart attack if you keep killing and then resurrecting your blog. Welcome back again, if only to talk about "the little bump that couldn't".

wolfgang said...

>> all

all = one remaining reader?

I hope the bump is real and I hope it really is a radion or something similarly exciting ... in other words, that little bump is the only hope I have that some exciting new physics will be discovered during my remaining lifetime (there is also advanced Ligo, but nothing from them yet).

rrtucci said...

If the bump goes away, we have the consolation of schadenfreude of a not very evil kind, no?

wolfgang said...

It would mean that when I began studying (83) all the relevant physics I would encounter during my lifetime was already known and described ... with hindsight it would have been the better decision to become a professional drummer (something I actually considered briefly).

rrtucci said...

It's not that bad. I'm sure you are interested in other kinds of science and engineering besides HEP. Physics overlaps in interesting ways with all the sciences. Computer technology and biology have advanced tremendously in our lifetimes, and they seem to have plenty of steam still left in them. For example, I certainly have high hopes for quantum Bayesian networks as a programming language for quantum computers. It may be a tiny step for mankind but a very fun step for me.

wolfgang said...

Well there is a small overlap between physics and finance - enough that I could make a living out of it (like many other former physicists).

Perhaps a step backwards for mankind but sort of fun in a strange kind of way.

But I envy the kid somewhere in a parallel universe who decided to play drums for a living ...

ps: So where would you place your coins?

rrtucci said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rrtucci said...

I would play first with the center. Then for every coin he placed, I would place diametrically opposed.

Lee said...

>>But I envy the kid somewhere in a parallel universe who decided to play drums for a living ...

I'm not so sure about the "make a living" part.

Btw, there are at least several of us that would like for you to keep this blog going. "Honest Wolf" although probably more appealing to many is not to me.

Lee

wolfgang said...

>> appealing to many

The main purpose of H.W. is to clarify to some extent what I am (currently) thinking about the markets and what I would do if a, b or c happens. I dont think it is very appealing to anybody else ... and the best posts on H.W. are those I never wrote down.


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