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Farewell to Reality

Page 39

by Jim Baggott


  John Templeton Foundation 273—8

  Just Six Numbers (Rees) 149—50, 265

  Kachru, Shamir 225

  Kallosh, Renata 225

  Kaluza—Klein (KK) particles 203—4, 208, 261

  Kaluza—Klein theory 184, 192

  Kaluza, Theodor 183, 184, 192, 193

  Kane, Gordon 164—5, 176

  kaons 64, 65, 77

  Kelvin, Lord 298

  Kent, Adrian 219

  Kepler, Johannes 13—15, 13n, 97—8

  Khoury, Justin 227

  Kibble, Tom 69, 70, 71

  Klein, Oskar 184, 185

  Kragh, Helge 198, 272, 273, 279—80

  Kuhn, Thomas 180

  Landauer, Rolf 245

  lasers 33, 34, 47, 48, 163, 298

  Lawrence Berkeley National

  Laboratory, California 126

  Le Verrier, Urbain 19

  Lederman, Leon 73, 75, 136—7

  Leggett, Anthony 46, 50, 51, 52, 53, 129, 135, 210, 235, 298

  Leggett’s inequality 51, 52, 53, 129, 135, 210, 235

  Lehners, Jean-Luc 228

  Lemaître, Georges 108, 110

  Lense-Thirring effect 100

  Lense, Josef 100

  leptons 65, 77n, 78, 136n, 137, 138, 160, 161, 167, 170, 177, 234, 235, 238n

  Leutwyler, Heinrich 76

  Level IV multiverse 238

  Lewis, Gilbert 30

  Liebniz, Gottfried 83

  light:

  and matter, strange theory of 61—4

  collapse of the wavefunction and 35—8

  photon spin and polarization 32—5

  quantum hypothesis,

  Einstein’s 28—30

  speed of 28, 32, 34, 42, 48, 59, 59n, 69, 84—7, 88, 90, 91, 92—3, 94, 117, 125, 134, 135, 136

  travels in straight lines 96

  uncertainty principle and 38—40

  wave particle duality and the

  Copenhagen interpretation 30—1

  see also photons and wave

  behaviour

  Linde, Andrei 222, 225

  logical positivism 285, 286

  Lorentz-FitzGerald contraction

  Lorentz, Hendrik 90

  Los Alamos 113

  Lowell Observatory, Arizona 108

  LSP (Lightest Superpartner) 172, 174—5, 178, 203

  M-theory 196—8, 199, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 226, 227, 230, 231, 261, 266, 269, 282, 288, 291, 297, 300

  Macbeth 243—4

  Mach, Ernst 85

  magnetic monopole 119

  Maldacena, Juan 254—5, 256

  many worlds 216—21, 223—4, 227, 229, 231, 261, 286

  Martin, Stephen 163, 165

  Martinec, Emil 192

  mass:

  asymptotic freedom and 76

  ‘bare’ 63, 139

  calculating a priori 136—8

  colour force and 76—7

  construction of 54—80, 77—80

  electro-weak force and 67—8

  energy and E = mc2 59

  forces of nature and 55—8

  Higgs boson/field and origin of 55, 68—73, 78, 80, 235

  inertia and 55

  left hand of the electron 65—8

  ‘missing’ 123

  parity of wave function 65—6

  particle zoo and 64—5

  quantum field and second

  quantization 60—1

  quarks and 73—5 see also quarks

  relativistic 92, 93

  self-energy of electron and 62—3

  spinning electrons and

  antimatter 58—60

  strange theory of light and

  matter 61—4

  wave interference and 54—5

  what is? 55

  Massive Astrophysical Compact

  Halo Objects (MACHOs) 124, 124n

  Mathematical Foundations of

  Quantum Mechanics (von

  Neuman) 209—10

  Mathematical Universe

  Hypothesis (MUH) 236—8, 241

  matrix mechanics 58

  Matrix, The (film) 2—3

  matter particles 65, 75, 77, 78, 138, 164, 167, 172, 173, 175, 188, 189, 194

  Maxwell, James Clerk 28, 29, 61, 63, 85, 146, 183, 192

  Mercury 17, 19, 98, 106

  mesons 65, 74, 75, 77, 130, 161, 180, 185, 185n, 186, 195

  metaphysics 2, 7, 8, 17, 20, 21, 24, 58, 85, 202, 205, 208, 209, 215, 218, 219, 233, 236, 254, 258, 259, 261, 262, 285, 286, 287, 291, 292, 294, 295

  Michelson, Albert 85, 86, 90

  Millikan, Robert 30

  Minimal Supersymmetric

  Standard Model (MSSM) 165—6, 165n, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 172, 178, 190

  Minkowski, Hermann 93—4

  MIT 236

  Morley, Edward 85, 86, 90

  Mount Wilson, California 109—10

  multiverse ix, x, 218—33, 218n, 235, 238, 261, 268—9, 278, 281—3, 288, 291, 292, 293, 297, 300

  cosmic landscape 224—6, 261, 269, 283

  eternal inflation 221—4, 229

  Inflationary Multiverse

  Assumption 223—4

  influence of theory 231—3

  many worlds 216—18

  ‘multiverse mania’ 231—2

  reality check 219—21, 229—31

  universe next door 226—8

  muon 64, 65, 75, 77n, 89, 137, 138, 166, 175, 203

  Nambu, Yoichiro 69, 185

  NASA 122, 128, 143

  National Accelerator Laboratory,

  Chicago 187

  National Institute of Nuclear

  Physics, Italy 41

  National Physical Laboratory,

  UK 89, 99

  Nature 113

  nature, forces of 55

  Ne’eman, Yuval 74

  nebulae 108, 109

  Neptune 19

  neutralino 172

  neutrino 57, 59n, 65, 67, 75, 118, 124, 137, 141, 160, 162n, 172, 178

  neutron 56—7, 74—5, 76, 77, 78, 79, 111, 113, 124, 161, 180, 263—4, 266

  neutron stars 124

  Neveu, André 187, 188, 190

  New Scientist 231—2

  Newton, Isaac xi, 14, 15, 17, 18—19, 28, 32, 35—6, 38, 60—1, 81, 82—5, 93, 94—7, 98, 99—101, 106, 123, 131, 146—7, 201, 206

  Niels Bohr Institute,

  Copenhagen 185, 215

  Nielsen, Holger 185

  Nirenberg, Louis 194

  ‘no hair’ theorem 257

  Noether, Emmy 155, 156, 157, 164

  non-baryonic matter 124

  objectification, problem of 213

  observer self-selection 267

  OPERA experiment 59n

  Ostriker, Jeremiah 124

  Ovrut, Burt 227

  Padua, University of:

  Department of Physics 41

  Page, Don 251—2, 256

  Particle Data Group 32, 79, 137

  particle zoo and 64—5

  Pauli exclusion principle 34, 65

  Pauli, Wolfgang 34, 57, 62, 182

  Peccei, Roberto 141

  Peebles, Jim 114, 115, 116, 123—4

  Pennsylvania, University of 227

  Penrose, Roger 247

  Penzias, Arno 115

  Perlmutter, Saul 126

  phase 27, 32, 33, 103, 118, 119, 126, 132, 158, 212, 222, 228

  philosophers 295—6

  phlogiston 21, 22

  phoenix universe 228

  photons 3, 8, 10, 27—53, 54, 58, 61, 62, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 92, 96, 99, 109, 113, 118, 134, 136, 142, 158, 159, 161, 166, 172, 175, 191, 212, 239, 258, 286, 295

  as ‘carrier’ of electromagnetic

  force 62

  Bell’s inequality and 28, 31, 35—6, 37, 37, 38, 54, 55

  bounced off electrons 30

  collapse of the wavefunction 35—8, 42, 50, 132, 133, 134, 209—10

  Copenhagen interpretation

  and 30—1

  Einstein’s l
ight quantum

  hypothesis 28—30, 31

  exchange of photon between

  electrons as experience of

  force 62

  have no mass 27, 32, 33

  interference 28

  phase 27, 32, 33

  photino 166, 172

  photoelectric effect 29, 30

  polarization 34—5, 40

  quantum fluctuations of the

  vacuum 40—2

  quantum number 34

  spin 27, 32—5

  spooky-at-a-distance and 42—6

  teleportation of 49

  uncertainty principle and 38—40

  ‘virtual’ 41, 42, 62

  wave behaviour 28—31 see also

  wave behaviour

  physics:

  the end of 297—8

  fairy-tale see fairy-tale physics

  ‘ironic’ 299

  standard model of particle

  physics 16, 55, 57—8, 75, 77, 78, 79, 103, 124, 129, 136, 141, 146, 147, 148, 155, 157—8, 164, 165, 170, 171, 186, 188, 229, 261

  Physics World 296—7

  pilot waves 210—11

  pion 64, 65, 77, 161, 185

  Planck epoch 139

  Planck length 193, 195, 201, 249n, 251

  Planck mass 139, 140, 169, 200

  Planck scale 145, 147, 168, 169

  Planck, Max 29, 30

  Planck’s constant 136

  Plato 5—6, 237, 254

  allegory of a cave 5—6, 254

  Podolsky, Boris 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51

  Poincaré, Henri 92

  point particle 16, 19, 147, 186, 194

  polarizing film/filters,

  arrangement of 40n, 43, 47n, 48n, 49, 51, 210

  Polkinghorne, John 274, 275

  Popper, Karl 18, 293—4

  Popperazzi 293—4

  positron 8, 60, 61, 64, 160, 161, 166, 175

  Pound, Robert 99

  Powell, Cecil 64

  power spectrum 127—8

  A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving) 140—1

  primary quality 258

  primeval atom 110, 111

  Princeton String Quartet 192, 200

  Princeton University 76, 115, 124, 187, 188—9, 190—1, 192, 193, 215, 216, 228, 247, 267

  projection postulate 209—10

  protons 10, 56—7, 65, 67, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 109, 111, 113, 124, 132, 137, 138, 139, 160, 161, 162, 175, 176, 177, 178, 208, 263, 264n, 265, 266

  Prussian Academy of Sciences 30, 100, 145—6, 182

  Psillos, Stathis 295

  Ptolemaic system 23

  QCD (quantum

  chromodynamics) 77, 136, 141, 158, 159, 188, 255

  QED (quantum electrodynamics)

  63—4, 77, 136, 145, 158, 159, 198

  QFD (quantum flavour

  dynamics) 77, 136, 158, 159

  quantum field theory 60—2

  quantum measurement:

  collapse of the wavefunction

  and 209—10, 211—12

  cosmic landscape 224—6, 269, 281, 283

  dealing with the fallout 231—3

  decoherence and the

  irreversible act of

  amplification 211—14

  eternal inflation 221—4

  Everett’s ‘relative state’

  formulation of quantum

  theory 215, 216

  hidden variables and 210

  many worlds 216—21

  pilot waves 210—11

  quantum particles, first 28

  reality check 219—21, 229—31

  universe next door 226—9

  von Neuman’s ‘projection

  postulate’ 209—10

  quantum physics under individual

  theory area

  quantum probability 35—8, 47, 131—5

  quarks ix, x, 8, 16, 73—9, 118, 120, 130, 136, 137, 140, 160—1, 166, 167, 169, 170, 177, 178, 180, 185, 185n, 234, 235, 238n, 286, 295, 296

  Quinn, Helen 118, 141, 170

  Rabi, Isidor 64

  radiation:

  cosmic microwave

  background (CMB) 103, 112—15, 117, 120, 121, 127—8, 228, 230, 257, 286

  Hawking 142, 143, 247—50, 251, 252, 257, 258

  pressure 42

  radiative corrections 139—40, 169

  Ramond, Pierre 187

  Randall, Lisa 177, 201, 205—6, 226

  reality:

  as a metaphysical concept 1, 2, 7, 8, 21

  entity realism 8

  evolutionary selection

  pressures lead to

  development of a sensory

  apparatus that delivers a

  finely tuned representation of 4—5

  is simply electrical signals

  interpreted by your brain 2—4

  Plato’s allegory of a cave and 5—6

  point of view and 4—5

  Reality Principle 8, 21, 53, 129, 234

  red rose, experience of and 3—4

  things-in-themselves and

  things-as-they-are-

  measured, difference

  between 5, 6—8, 24, 39—40, 51—3, 129, 202, 234, 265

  veiled 6—8

  Rebka, Glen 99

  recombination 103, 113, 117, 128

  redshift 98—9, 109, 126—7

  Rees, Martin 231, 265, 276, 277

  Reiss, Adam 126, 127

  ‘relative state’ formulation of

  quantum theory 214—16

  relativistic mass 92, 93

  relativistic theory 59

  relativistic time dilation 89

  Representing and Intervening

  (Hacking) 8

  Republic, The (Plato) 4

  ‘result’ assumption 50, 51, 52

  Robinson, David 247

  Rohm, Ryan 192

  Roll, Peter 114, 115

  Rosen, Nathan 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51

  Rosenfeld, Léon 45

  Rubin, Vera 123

  Russell, Bertrand 18, 21

  Rutherford, Ernest 56—7

  Salam, Abdus 71, 117

  Sandage, Allan 110

  scalar 60, 165, 166, 174, 186, 222

  Scherk, Joël 188—9, 190

  Schmidt, Brian 126

  Schrödinger, Erwin 58

  Schrödinger’s cat 131—5, 211, 213

  Schwarz, John 187—9, 190, 191, 192

  Schwinger, Julian 63, 67

  science:

  abstract, importance of the 16—17

  authorized version of 25—53

  building theories from facts 13—16

  definition of, Science

  Council, UK, 2009 9, 24

  intuition, importance of

  15—16, 130, 164

  mistakes and bias of

  vulnerabilities of scientists 9—10, 14—15

  no facts without theory 11—12

  post-empirical xii

  predominance of fairy-tale

  physics in popular xii—xii

  see also fairy-tale

  physics

  putting theories to the test 17—21

  theorizing as a creative process 14—15

  truth is transient 131

  verisimilitude, scientific

  theories as possessing a 21, 24

  wrongdoing quickly found

  out in 9—11

  Scientific Method, The, reality,

  truth and 1—24

  scientific realists 7

  Scopes, John Thomas 271

  Searle, John 285—6

  second law of thermodynamics 242—8, 249, 256

  second quantization 61

  secondary quality 258

  Serber, Robert 74

  ‘set-up assumption’ 50, 51, 52

  sfermion 166, 169

  Shannon, Claude 244—5

  Shor, Peter 240, 241

  simultaneity 84—7

  Slipher, Vesto 108, 109

  Smolin, Lee 231, 280, 293

  smuon
166, 175

  Southern California, University

  of 197

  spacetime:

  curved 15, 93—101, 109n, 247, 248, 255, 286

  ‘empty’ 127

  expansion of 103, 107, 110, 112, 119, 120, 123, 222—3, 256, 278, 282

  experimental tests of general

  relativity and 97—9

  ‘foam’ 147

  gravity and curvature of 94—7

  Gravity Probe B and 99—100

  inflation and see inflation

  multidimensional ix, 93—4, 183, 186, 188, 190, 192, 194, 197, 201, 222—3, 226, 227, 228, 229, 254

  quantum gravity and 146, 147

  symmetries 164, 165, 173, 188

  sparticles 168, 169, 170, 172, 174, 176, 178, 180, 203, 208, 286, 299

  special theory of relativity 30, 34, 42, 55, 58—9, 59n, 70n, 81, 84—7, 91, 96, 99—100, 134

  speed of light 28, 32, 34, 42, 48, 59, 59n, 69, 84—7, 88, 90, 91, 92—3, 94, 117, 125, 134, 135, 136

  spin 27, 32—5, 40, 44, 52, 58, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66, 69, 71, 73, 83, 84, 100, 157, 166, 172, 173, 186, 189, 191, 203, 221, 235, 238, 258, 286

  Spinor field 60—1

  spooky action-at-a-distance 42—6, 47, 48, 49, 132, 182, 211

  squarks, ix, x, 166, 167, 169, 177, 178

  sine wave 65, 158

  standard candles 126

  standard model of particle physics 16, 55, 57—8, 75, 77, 78, 79, 103, 124, 129, 136, 141, 146, 147, 148, 155, 157—8, 164, 165, 170, 171, 186, 188, 229, 261

  Stanford Linear Accelerator

  Center (SLAC) 75, 76

  Steinhardt, Paul 227, 228, 231

  stellar nucleosynthesis 263

  stop squarks 166, 169, 177, 178

  string theory 16, 184—8, 189

  lack of progression in 297

  The String Assumption 186

  weakening grip of 299

  see also superstring theory

  Strominger, Andrew 193, 194

  strong nuclear force 56, 57, 65, 66, 70, 71, 76, 78, 103—4, 118, 139, 170, 171, 188, 189, 192, 200

  SU (2) quantum field theory 158—9, 162, 175

  SU (3) quantum field theory 158, 159, 162, 175

  SU (5) theory 159, 159n, 160, 175

  Sundrum, Raman 201, 226

  Suntzeff, Nicholas 126

  Super-Kamioke Nucleon Decay

  Experiments 162, 162n

  superconducting quantum

  interference devices

  (SQUIDs) 55, 100

  supercooling 119—20, 119n, 222

  supergravity 172—4, 190, 197, 206

  Supernova Cosmology Project

  (SCP) 126

  supernovae 113n, 116, 125—7, 264, 279

  superpartners 165—8, 169, 172—3, 174, 176

  superposition 35, 39, 55, 132, 133, 134, 134n, 172, 210, 211, 212, 212n, 213, 214, 217, 220, 239—40, 241

  superstring theory ix, x, xiii, 158n, 181, 184—8, 208, 209, 261, 266, 269, 281, 282, 283, 288, 298, 299

  branes and braneworlds 198—202, 226—7

  Calabi—Yau spaces 192—6, 200, 224—6

  compactification 184, 193

  holography and 254—6

  M-theory and the second

  superstring revolution 196—8, 202, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 269, 282, 297

 

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