[Draft] [“Beyond the Standard Model” series] Background on the “crisis” This Quanta Magazine article (below) has an eye-catching title, but its gist relates to the hierarchy problem, which I discussed in a prior post. That 2017 post (and additionaL commentary) used quotes by physicists – Sean Carroll, Leon Lederman, Fermilab’s Don Lincoln (video) – and… Continue reading Reductionism in quantum physics – a naturalness mire?
In the chapter “Beyond this horizon,” Sean Carroll discusses two related problems involving properties of empty space. Before discussing the vacuum energy problem, he profiles the so-called hierarchy problem in the cosmic energy scale. It’s about the effects of virtual particles. The energy scale that characterizes the weak interactions (the Higgs field value, 246 GeV)… Continue reading Sisyphean hierarchy
Happy Pi Day! When you’re trying to solve any interesting problem (a problem about almost anything) — a problem with lots of interplay between different things, it’s important to know what’s important and not, what makes a big effect on the result and not. And just how precise the result needs to be anyway (at… Continue reading Effective theory
