Science – An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which as received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder.
where are all the great scientific minds that inhabit Propellor? - -Why aren't they chiming in? Could it be they are zoning out on E8?
"Mind the size of a planet, and what do I get..... Some human that thinks he's out-thought me.... Oh dear...."
LOL...I actually read the paper today.
From the abstract:
All fields of the standard model and gravity are unified as an E8 principal bundle connection. A non-compact real form of the E8 Lie algebra has G2 and F4 subalgebras which break down to strong su(3), electroweak su(2) x u(1), gravitational so(3,1), the frame-Higgs, and three generations of fermions related by triality. The interactions and dynamics of these 1-form and Grassmann valued parts of an E8 superconnection are described by the curvature and action over a four dimensional base manifold.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0770
Some elegant mathematics here...
There's another submitted story that come through a 1/2 hour ago that was very very critical of this theory. I think the title was "A Not Very Likely Theory of Everything". Waaaaay over my head (like the abstract you quoted) but since you seem to dig it I thought I'd let you know it's been released into the wild here on Propeller.
I've just found the commentary; there's a lot to digest. I have to digest some of the implications of the paper and compare them to the assertions of the commenter.
I've seen some great math used to describe the "the reality we live in" that ended up being a complete red herring. Just because it's elegant doesn't mean it's mathematically correct.
I think this theory will need to withstand some empirical data, which would likely come when the LHC comes online, as the article suggests.
"A Not Very Likely Theory of Everything"
While the science of his "Luboš Motl" retort is way above my head.
Also he has a wiki page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luboš_Motl
From a quick google search he has a rep of attacking anyone who disagrees with string theory, his attacks are personal, he had a review of a book 'by lee smolin' deleted from Amazon.
He strike me as someone who has found his theory and thats the end of the matter(not very scientific)
A small side bar- from a comment neartthe end of his wiki it seems he also 1 of few who supported Harvard president Lawrence Summers's that (basically) men are better at science & engineering than women, he left Harvard not long after this and went back to the Czech Rep. and currently, like the surfer dude, has no University affiliation.
The second I read the submitted article, I figured there would be a huge feedback from physicists on this subject. I don't think one can challenge string theory and the Standard Model at once and not have a fight on their hands. I read the "Not very likely theory of everything" as well. It's a bit over my head, but I get the gist of it. I have no doubt that the E8 theory (for lack of a better term) will be stripped down and scrutinized from top to bottom in the next few weeks and a verdict will be in. If it's critically flawed, it will be known soon. If they're still arguing this point when the LHC starts up, then I'll be more optimistic.
SOM, the title of the story you are referring to is "A Likely Incorrect Theory of Everything"
It's a link to Luboš Motl's review of Lisi's paper that he posted on his blog. Luboš Motl is a theoretical physicist best known for his contributions to string theory and theoretical quantum physics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubos_Motl
I imagine that in the near future there'll be more string theory proponents attacking Lisi's paper, even though he hasn't even submitted it to a peer reviewed journal, at least as far as I know.
I haven't read Lisi's paper yet, but I've found a more palatable and what I thought was a more balanced review of his hypothesis at http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2007/11/theore...
Hope you find it helpful.
I found Dr. Motl's review of Lisi's paper more indicative of his ego investment in string theory and the Standard Model than a balanced critique of the theory.
The review of the paper you posted is a nice sumary, and much more balanced.
Regardless, the debate is likely to be both intense and lively.
For those who are interested, here is the link to Garrett Lisi's paper: http://arxiv.org/pdf/0711.0770
I really need to score some better weed if I'm going to understand this better...
LOL...maybe this guy scored some in order to come up with this theory! Ask him where he bought his nickel bag :)
(Do they still call them nickel and dime bags or did I just show my age a bit there?)
some guy told me its eigths and quarters, half an oz etc.
I've heard nickel and dime, and always used to assume that was 5 and 10 dollar bags.
I think they had to change the terminology because a bag costs about $25, and if you say a quarter bag, there's a confusion between weight and price. inflation.
all pure speculation, of course. theory unsubstantiated by personal experience
nothing to do with nothing, but I saw the result of a pot deal gone bad, and a friend of mine got his hand cut pretty bad with a razor. seemed the guy really needed that weed to mellow out, and didn't feel like paying. I doubt it was over a confusion of terminology
just an old memory resurfacing
the guy is a somewhat talented guitarist, and lucky for him sustained no tendon damage. meat of the thumb[palm held out clasping baggie]
just goes to show another virtue of free-market legalization. This wouldn't have happened had your friend just went down to the local corner store, coughed up some cash & paid his taxes on his smoke...ah, but such is...it's always much better to foster an underground black market and all the associated evils it brings...
I wonder if anyone else out there has noticed that through life at times we lose things and we get in a panic to find them, but just when you say "well I give up" that is the point when you find the object. It is the same thing as when you say you will sleep on it and the answer becomes clearer. The human mind is a wonderful thing and if presented with a problem and supplied with information and time it will come to a conclusion. I believe this is what happened in this case. Now comes the interesting part, he will be forced to present his idea and that means a forced line of thinking which may cloud the original idea. I wish him well for there will likely be many critics. This was an interesting read.
Remember, the only lesson mankind has learned over its long and distinguished intellectual development is this: Nature reveals its secrets reluctantly and then only one at a time...Or, as my physics teacher in highschool used to say, "For every secret Man unlocks, Nature presents another one in its place!"
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When I first read the headline, I figured this was from 'The Onion'. Thankfully it was not. Very fascinating article.
That's what I thought as well.
I'll bet there is probably an article in the Onion archives with a similar title.
I looked, but this was the closest I came.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38718
How many times have you heard the statement "Expert predictions were way off"
I salute this man for his courage and Initiative especially since it is outside of consensus based (Group think and support) of the scientific community "Base".
Hey Neophile ya' think Exxon is paying his surfing bills?
It seems that historically, true breakthroughs are rarely achieved by the mass of conventional minds, but rather by the individual who dares stand up to (and perhaps oppose) that conventional mind-set.
In the '90's two Utah physicists, from an unconfirmed accident in their lab, sprung the concept of "cold fusion" on the world. They announced it to the press, rather than the scientific base.
That, of course, is why our cars are now powered by a Mr. Fusion that we can drop any garbage into and they fly. We no longer are beholden to OPEC countries for oil, and of course why we'd never think of invading them.
capeman,
The only way Exxon would pay for any new scientific research is if that research would lead to making the entire world ignore global warming and make the IPCC disappear.
What's more exciting is that perhaps this will lead to a new scientific age and perhaps put companies like Exxon out of business. One can only hope.
- I remember reading that one a long time ago. Still brings out more than a chuckle.