Maths, Twistors & String Theory ft. Peter Woit | Know Time #70

Peter Woit, theoretical physicist, author and professor of mathematics at Columbia University, talks about the beauty of mathematics, Theory of Everything, twistor theory, spinors and why string theory is (not even) wrong!

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Producer & Host: Shalaj Lawania

TIMELINE
0:00 Introduction
1:02 The Links Between Physics & Maths
9:02 Number Theory
11:20 The Theory Of Everything
18:12 Spinors
25:37 Twistor Theory
38:31 Beauty & Simplicity
42:44 Symmetry
48:46 Design Argument & God
52:03 The History Of String Theory
56:40 The Problems With String Theory
1:02:30 Rebuttal To String Theorists
1:11:46 Why Did String Theory Become Popular
1:18:48 The Big Problem In Physics & Academic
1:29:37 Lego Interpretation
1:30:24 Positive Influences (Books, Movies, Role Models)
1:33:10 Biggest Mystery, Legacy & Meaning Of Life

#maths #physics #learn

[KnowTime]

Is string theory wrong (or not even wrong)?

[erawanpencil]

Mr. Woit is spot on. Never underestimate the unwarranted confidence of many intellectuals... most of them have a tendency to vastly overcomplicate an analysis, often for the purpose of self-promotion, even if they're not necessarily conscious of it. Simplification and working towards simplification is selected against in most bureaucracies; the dude waving around giant stacks of papers and massive equations is the 'smart' one.

[dankurth]

I wonder since Euclidian Twistor theory may hopefully unify a version of modified (by Twistor theory) General Relativity with the weak interaction, Twistor String Theory (as introduced by Edward Witten) may do the job for including strong interaction and the electromagnetic force

[DerPanamaKanal]

Given that String Theory is correct. Isn't it mind-boggling that it doesn't make any observable predictions? This implies that our physical models of the currently observable universe are pretty accurate. Was there any other theory in history that was similar?

[SpotterVideo]

What do the Twistors of Roger Penrose and the Hopf Fibrations of Eric Weinstein and the "Belt Trick" of Paul Dirac have in common?
In Spinors it takes two complete turns to get down the "rabbit hole" (Alpha Funnel 3D--->4D) to produce one twist cycle (1 Quantum unit).
Can both Matter and Energy be described as "Quanta" of Spatial Curvature? (A string is revealed to be a twisted cord when viewed up close.) Mass= 1/Length, with each twist cycle of the 4D Hypertube proportional to Planck’s Constant.

In this model Alpha equals the compactification ratio within the twistor cone, which is approximately 1/137.

1= Hypertubule diameter at 4D interface

137= Cone’s larger end diameter at 3D interface where the photons are absorbed or emitted.

The 4D twisted Hypertubule gets longer or shorter as twisting or untwisting occurs. (720 degrees per twist cycle.)

[dr.elliotmcguckenfineartph]

Great interview! What are Woit's novel principles, postulates, equations, predictions, and proofs? Links please? Thank you!

[vanikaghajanyan]

1:33:33
"It can be convincingly proved that reality cannot be represented by a continuous field at all. It seems to follow from quantum phenomena that a finite system with finite energy can be completely described by a finite set of numbers - quantum numbers... A purely algebraic theory is required to describe reality." (Einstein, January, 1955).