Today I bring wagers from the (recent) history of physics:
Thorne–Hawking bet (1974-c. 1988):
Contestants: Stephen Hawking vs. Kip Thorne
About: Cygnus X-1 is a black hole (Hawking against)
Prize: four year subscription to
Private Eye for Harking, a year of
Penthouse for Thorne.
Winner: Thorne
Thorne–Hawking–Preskill information bet (1997-2004):
Contestants: Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne, vs. John Preskill
About: if information of what enters a black is carried by the Hawking radiation (Thorne and Hawking against)
Prize: an encyclopedia of their choice
Winner: Preskill, (encyclopedia:
Total Baseball, The Ultimate Baseball Encyclopedia)
Gross–Lane supersymmetry (1994–2017?):
Contestants: David Gross vs
Ken Lane
About: LHC would not see supersymmetry (Gross against)
Prize: expensive dinner at Girardet’s, a three-star Swiss restaurant
Winner: Lane
Hawking–Kane on the Higgs (2002–2012):
Contestants: Stephen Hawking vs
Gordon L. Kane
About: existence of the Higgs boson (Hawking against)
Prize: $100
Winner: Kane
Lisi–Wilczek Superparticle Bet (PF article) (2008-2015)
Contestants:
Garrett Lisi vs Franck Wilczek
About: LHC will find supersymmetric particles (Lisi Against)
Prize: $1000
Winner: Lisi
Wager on supersymmetry (2000–2010):
Contestants: 20 physicists, (
Nima Arkani-Hamed said no, I cannot find a detailed list)
About: "Do you think that in ten years from now, that is by noon C.E.T. June 21st, 2010, at least one supersymmetric partner of any of the known particles will be experimentally discovered?"
Prize: cognac bottles (price no less than $100)
Winner: Those who signed no.
Kaku–Horgan on Nobel on string theory (2002–2020):
Contestants: Michio Kaku vs journalist
John Horgan
About: "no one will have won a Nobel Prize for work on superstring theory, membrane theory, or some other unified theory describing all the forces of nature” (Kaku against)
Prize: $2000
Winner: Horgan
Please be free to tell us of more wagers like these.