Opinions of ideas in Not Even Wrong

In summary, Peter Woit argues that string theory has not made any predictions that can be tested, and that the theory is based on assumptions that are not supported by evidence. He also suggests that other fields of research are more promising, and offers no constructive advice about what should be done for research.
  • #1
FieldIntensity
13
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Opinions of ideas in "Not Even Wrong"

The new book by Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong, gives a lengthy discussion as to why we should abandon string theory and move to more promising fields of study. He claims, and as far as I know correctly, that superstring theory has not made one single testable prediction, but has simply stated what is already known in terms of superstrings.

He cites the fact that superstrings need more dimensions than have been empirically observed to exist in order to make any sense at all as one indication of a problem. And the necessary "hiding" of seven of the required dimensions in abstract "calabi-yau" spaces as going against the Occam's Razor principle. In other words, superstring theorists have begun clutching at straws, so to speak, to make the theory true, when they should be trying to find ways to make it false, and thus testable.

What are others opinions on this topic? Are superstrings, while mathematically rich, only a fanciful want of today's theorists? Or can real testable science be coaxed out it?
 
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  • #2
FieldIntensity said:
What are others opinions on this topic? Are superstrings, while mathematically rich, only a fanciful want of today's theorists? Or can real testable science be coaxed out it?


Perhaps it is more fair to ask yourself whether there exists ONE research line in quantum gravity which satifies the above mentioned criteria.

Careful
 
  • #3
I fall somewhere between the two extreme views. I definitely think American physics has been concentrating its resources too much on string theory. But I don't think string theory is a waste of time. I would like to see continued funding of string theory research, but I would like to see a greater emphasis on particle physics phenomenology, by for example contributing to the ILC.
 
  • #4
FieldIntensity said:
The new book by Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong, gives a lengthy discussion as to why we should abandon string theory and move to more promising fields of study. He claims, and as far as I know correctly, that superstring theory has not made one single testable prediction, but has simply stated what is already known in terms of superstrings.

The author does not offer any constructive advice about what to do for research. I suspect if he would be able to contribute something positive to science, he would have already done so in the form of real publications. Instead he chooses to gain his 15 minutes of fame by discrediting the work of others.

There are definitely a number of true statements and deserved criticism in the book, but also a lot of quite misleading claims. First of all, there aren't really "more promising" fields of study other than string theory, as of today.

Means: while there are other approaches, they have even more problems and thus are much less promising. That's why so many people work on string theory. It is wrong to claim that ppl want to stick there because they don't want to switch - almost every physicist dreams of making a surprise breaktrough and to impress his peers, so wherever he sees a minute opportunity in a particular direction, he will go there. That ppl do not switch en masse towards LQG has very good scientific, and not sociological reasons, in contrast to what self-proclaimed experts try to convey.

FieldIntensity said:
that superstring theory has not made one single testable prediction

Again misleading. String theory makes an enormous amount of predictions, but we humans of today unfortunately cannot measure them experimentally (and the same tends to apply to any theory of quantum gravity). This is a huge difference to a theory that makes no prediction _in principle_, and this issue is confused by purpose all the time. String theory is very much the opposite of a completely arbitrary and floppy theory.

I usually like to make the comparison with ants who have, by sheer smartness, discovered Maxwell's equations. However, they are accused that they cannot make a prediction concerning their little world - indeed while practically all what they see (or rather smell) around them is governed by these equations, they cannot pin down how to test them. They may even have found electromagnetic waves as a solution, but lack the technological means to detect them.

In the real world, what people have been doing instead was to make theoretical experiments, like computing the entropy of toy black holes. There have been countless tests of this sort, and they all have passed. This is extremely non-trivial. Other "alternative" theories did not pass such tests. So already at this level, string theory stands out without credible competitors.

Don't be brainwashed by wannabee theories presented here in this forum and otherplace, like what is discussed under "Lee Smolin's LQG may reproduce the standard model". There is no indication whatsoever that this makes any sense. These "may reproduce" speculations are much worse than in the worst speculative string papers (and indeed, there are plenty of those).

FieldIntensity said:
He cites the fact that superstrings need more dimensions than have been empirically observed to exist in order to make any sense at all as one indication of a problem. And the necessary "hiding" of seven of the required dimensions in abstract "calabi-yau" spaces as going against the Occam's Razor principle.


(Here I recycle something I was writing before:)
String theory requires for consistency extra degrees of freedom beyond gravity;
this is a richness and not a disease. In 4d string models, this is what leads to elementary particles such as the electron. Often these extra degrees of freedom can be given a geometric interpretation, namely in terms of extra "hidden" dimensions. This viewpoint is however valid only at weak string coupling, in a particular corner of the parameter space. Generically, such an extra dimensional interpretation does not exist (because quantum corrections blur the classical geometrical picture), and therefore debates whether one likes or does not like extra dimensions are moot - whatever, the matter fields must originate from somehwere, and whether one uses the language of extra dimensions or rather avoids it, does not matter; the point being that string consistency forces one to have certain extra matter degrees of freedom. However, unfortunately, this has turned out too much of a good, in that in four dimensions there are too many possibilities for matter theories that pass all consistency conditions.

In a purely gravitational theory such as LQG, I don't know of any consistency constraint that forces you to have a matter sector in the theory in the first place. The recent discussions (eg at Distler's blog) about matter couplings in LQG just show how poorly understood this point is even to the experts in that field. In particular, they don't see anything wrong even when coupling inconsistent (anomalous) matter theories, and this tells me and my collegues that they are far far away of any understanding of what consistency means in their theories to begin with. Perhaps matter coupling and thus the unification of the interactions is simply outside of the scope of LQG, and predictions pertaining to this sector may not be even there _in principle_.

So if you don't like string thery and extra dimensions (which is the stringy way of parametrizing extra "matter" degrees of freedom that are needed for consistency), you have to come to grips with "another" mechanism to provide those matter fields like the electron in the first place. But you will find that almost inevitably, internal (matter) degrees of freedom are intimately tied to extra dimensions, simple because charge behaves like momentum in other dimensions. For example in the recent work of Connes he rewrites the standard model in terms of non-commutative extra dimensions; I think this may well be most minimalistic way to do this, and shows how extra dimensions almost invariably pop out if one wants to see them. However, this framework is not restrictive (because the outcome is put in by hand) and it is not yet clear what can be learned from it. The situation for strings is better: internal degrees of freedom must be there, but in the present stage the theory is not restrictive enough in order to make a prediction at low energies. Whether an important ingredient is missing, or whether things really are undetermined at a fundamental level and our Universe is anthropic, is IMHO an open question too early to decide given the limited knowledge we have.

FieldIntensity said:
In other words, superstring theorists have begun clutching at straws, so to speak, to make the theory true, when they should be trying to find ways to make it false, and thus testable.

As for falsifying string theory: this is certainly possible in principle, while not in practice (at least as of today). Just fire up your favorite Planck energy accelerator and look for the excited string modes - either you see them or not. So Popper cannot be invoked to claim string theory isn't science.
 
  • #5
R.X. said:
Don't be brainwashed by wannabee theories presented here in this forum and otherplace, like what is discussed under "Lee Smolin's LQG may reproduce the standard model".

Here is a link to the thread that R.X. is criticising, for the benefit of anyone who would like to appreciate what R.X. is saying:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=128654

:smile:
 

1. What is the premise of "Not Even Wrong"?

"Not Even Wrong" is a phrase coined by physicist Wolfgang Pauli to describe scientific theories that are not falsifiable and therefore cannot be tested or proven wrong. The book "Not Even Wrong" by Peter Woit uses this phrase as a critique of certain ideas in theoretical physics that lack empirical evidence.

2. How does "Not Even Wrong" challenge traditional scientific thinking?

The book "Not Even Wrong" challenges the traditional scientific thinking that all theories must be testable and falsifiable in order to be considered valid. Instead, it argues that some theories in theoretical physics, such as string theory, have gained popularity despite not being able to be tested or proven wrong.

3. What are some key criticisms of "Not Even Wrong"?

Some key criticisms of "Not Even Wrong" include that it oversimplifies complex scientific concepts and that it dismisses the potential for untestable theories to lead to new discoveries. Additionally, some critics argue that the book unfairly targets string theory and ignores other areas of theoretical physics that also lack empirical evidence.

4. How has the scientific community responded to "Not Even Wrong"?

The scientific community has had mixed responses to "Not Even Wrong". While some have praised the book for bringing attention to the issue of falsifiability in theoretical physics, others have criticized it for promoting an overly narrow view of science and overlooking the potential benefits of untestable theories.

5. What impact has "Not Even Wrong" had on the field of theoretical physics?

"Not Even Wrong" has sparked ongoing debates and discussions within the field of theoretical physics. It has also led to a greater emphasis on the importance of empirical evidence and testability in scientific theories. However, it has not significantly altered the overall direction of research in theoretical physics.

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