Let’s get this right out of the way: yes, Cosmic Variance did make its first appearance in the New York Times. We get a passing mention in Dennis Overbye’s article about Lisa Randall, for Clifford’s justified annoyance at Ira Flatow’s remarks on Science Friday about Lisa’s appearance rather than her science.

The NYT profile is a good one, managing to mix the personal with the scientific in a more interesting (and less objectionable) way. And they always do a nice job with the graphics; here is their version of the Randall-Sundrum brane-world construction. (Click to enlarge.)

Randall-Sundrum (versions one and two) is a great idea, one that I hope to discuss at length at some point. The basic notion is to have two three-branes (a three-brane has three dimensions of space and one of time) separated by a five-dimensional bulk that is highly curved. The nice feature is that the curvature acts not only on stuff passing through the bulk itself, but also works to rescale energies on one brane in relation to the other. So, what appears naturally to be very high-energy on one brane can be naturally low-energy on the other. This idea may help to explain the huge discrepancy (fifteen or so orders of magnitude) between the typical energy scales of particle physics (about one trillion electron volts, or one TeV) and that of gravity (the Planck scale, 10¹⁵ TeV).

But all the publicity, of course, is currently associated with Lisa’s new book more than with any recent breakthroughs. As predicted, I’ve written a review of Warped Passages, along with Michio Kaku’s book Parallel Worlds, which has now appeared in American Scientist. You’ll see that these are very different books, and it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which I liked better. The holidays are coming — if there’s nobody in your family you like enough to get them my book or Clifford’s, you wouldn’t go wrong buying them Lisa’s.

Keeping with the CV Halloween theme, I am posting what I find to be the most frightening story this Halloween day - the nomination of Samuel Alito to the supreme court. Now, I like a good Halloween scare as well as anyone else, but this one is ringing all my alarm bells. Knowing little about him, I’ve been doing some reading today - he clearly has appropriate judicial credentials and seems to be intellligent, however he has a fearful reputation as an ultra-conservative and the radical right-wing strongly supports him. But it’s the tidbits of Alito’s judicial record, just starting to be publicized, that I find just plain scary. Here’s a sampling from various web sites:

In Doe v. Groody, Alito agued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when they strip searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his home. [Doe v. Groody, 2004]

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) “guarantees most workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a loved one.” The 2003 Supreme Court ruling upholding FMLA [Nevada v. Hibbs, 2003] essentially reversed a 2000 decision by Alito which found that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law. [Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development, 2000]

In separate cases, Alito wrote dissenting opinions that would have made it essentially impossible to prove employment discrimination based on race or disability.

And last, but not least:

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1991), Alito was the only dissenter in a case that, among other things, threw out a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking abortions to notify their husbands. The ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court, which partially affirmed the overall right to an abortion. Alito disagreed with the legal rationale used by the woman he would replace: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. In overturning the law, O’Connor established a new legal standard on abortion laws, that they impose no “undue burden” on women seeking the procedure.

A brief profile of him can be found here and here.

To my view, Charlotte Allen, of the Independent Women’s Forum put it best:

“We will be learning more in the coming days and weeks about why fringe extremists on the right are so pleased with Alito — and whether a Republican Party being torn apart by corruption, incompetence and fracturing coalitions can afford to let them continue to be in the driver’s seat.”

We will indeed continue to learn more about this rendition of trick or treat. And we should all take the time to educate ourselves on Alito’s views and then relay our views to our senators. If ever there was a time to get involved, this is it.

Well, I suddenly have 45 extra minutes on my hands as I was supposed to be at a very interesting two hour lunch meeting which I’ve now missed. I learned the hard way that we have in addition to the Annenberg School for Communication, the Annenberg Center for Communication, which is of course in a completely different location, North of main campus. I spent half the meeting running around the wrong place trying to find it, and no-one at the School could help me because they did not know anything about it, until after a long time someone had the bright idea of telling me about the existence of the other place….sigh. So I have some time to devote to you, dear Reader, and it will help me calm down from the frustration of it all.

Well, I promised a long time ago (since some of you asked) to tell you what it is that I am working on in my physics research. The problem always was that if I had time to go into a description in the blog, it seemed more appropriate that I should be doing the actual research rather than blogging about it. Time is not easy to find, you see. So sorry that it took so long.

It is hard to start without setting the scene with motivating remarks, so what I am going to do is steal some of my own words from the introduction to the paper I’m writing with my young collaborators James Carlisle (graduating soon with a Ph.D. from Durham, UK) and Jeff Pennington (an undergradaute at USC), and sprinkle in some comments for those who don’t work in this area. Then I’ll do a part III, and maybe even a part IV, to which the mysterious scribblings on the board will be connected.

It is safe to say that, at this point in time, we do not understand string (or M-) theory as well as we would like. While we have understood and appreciated that there is a rich bounty of physical phenomena contained in the theory, this has mostly been uncovered in perturbation theory, occasionally sweetened by a glimpse into the non–perturbative realm afforded by special sectors of the theory such as soliton solutions (including branes of various sorts) or various topological reductions.

(Yes, I really do write this flowery stuff in the introductions to my research papers! I don’t know how my various collaborators have put up with it, but they do, bless ‘em.)

I spent time time describing D-branes here.

The physics that we have so far learned from the theory has provided numerous promising and exciting phenomenological scenarios that form the basis for several research endeavours to understand and incorporate current experimental and observational data from Nature, and furnish testable predictions about new physics. These endeavours are still embryonic, and cannot fully mature without much more understanding of the underlying theory.

In fact, most of what you’ve heard about in various places about the exciting stuff that’s going on in string theory and what it promises for describing Nature are, in my humble opinion, early efforts in the game. Incredibly valuable endeavours….. but only the beginning. See my comments about what I think about some of the current issues here. Be sure to read my comments in the discussion part of that thread too.

Furthermore, much of what we have learned pertains to the critical string theories, a rich class for study of course, but after all of the non-perturbative lessons that we have learned in the last decade, the fact that as a field we mostly still linger in the critical domain should be regarded as nothing more than the force of habit; so much historical baggage.

Continue reading ‘News From The Front, II’

Or if you really want to be scared, visit 3 Quarks Daily to read Abbas’s story of being arrested at JFK airport for beating himself up several years before. It should give pause to people who think that legal representation for suspected criminals is a sign of bleeding-heart weakness. Not, apparently, that being represented by a public defender is any better than simply throwing yourself on the mercy of the court.

A busy Halloween for me, so I’ll shamelessly offer up an excerpt from the master — a bit from The Oval Portrait, by Edgar Allen Poe.

She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee. And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter. He, passionate, studious, austere, and having already a bride in his Art; she a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee; all light and smiles, and frolicsome as the young fawn; loving and cherishing all things; hating only the Art which was her rival; dreading only the pallet and brushes and other untoward instruments which deprived her of the countenance of her lover. It was thus a terrible thing for this lady to hear the painter speak of his desire to pourtray even his young bride. But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead.

But he, the painter, took glory in his work, which went on from hour to hour, and from day to day. And be was a passionate, and wild, and moody man, who became lost in reveries; so that he would not see that the light which fell so ghastly in that lone turret withered the health and the spirits of his bride, who pined visibly to all but him. Yet she smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly, because she saw that the painter (who had high renown) took a fervid and burning pleasure in his task, and wrought day and night to depict her who so loved him, yet who grew daily more dispirited and weak.

And in sooth some who beheld the portrait spoke of its resemblance in low words, as of a mighty marvel, and a proof not less of the power of the painter than of his deep love for her whom he depicted so surpassingly well. But at length, as the labor drew nearer to its conclusion, there were admitted none into the turret; for the painter had grown wild with the ardor of his work, and turned his eyes from canvas merely, even to regard the countenance of his wife. And he would not see that the tints which he spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sate beside him. And when many weeks bad passed, and but little remained to do, save one brush upon the mouth and one tint upon the eye, the spirit of the lady again flickered up as the flame within the socket of the lamp. And then the brush was given, and then the tint was placed; and, for one moment, the painter stood entranced before the work which he had wrought; but in the next, while he yet gazed, he grew tremulous and very pallid, and aghast, and crying with a loud voice, ‘This is indeed Life itself!’ turned suddenly to regard his beloved:- She was dead!

Well Saturday night’s party was excellent. My main problem was the costume, since the theme was the 70s, with disco involved in a big way. The idea was to “reach into the back of your closet” and bring out some clothes from the era and show up. Well that’s a problem for me since (a) I don’t have any 70s clothes of mine within easy reach (in my line of work, you move a lot during your formative years and don’t hang on to unneccesary stuff) and (b) if I did have any 70s stuff, it would not fit. I was a little kid back then.

So I had to think of something. Well, the oldest piece of clothing I had in my collection was a pair of old Kung-fu pants from the 80s. And a Kung-fu belt. Ah! Well, of course there was a huge fascination with karate and kung-fu (among other things) in the USA during the 70s, and so that could be it! But if I just showed up in these pants and a t-shirt that would not do. The pants did not fit well, anyway, and so I thought it would be great to do it properly. So my idea: a full Kung-fu uniform, with fangs….. undead Kung-fu, etc. Subtle (ish), and preserving a bit of dignity, if I can find a nice-fitting all-black outfit. (I have standards to maintain, you know…)

I was working on writing a paper all day and so did not put this idea into action until almost too late! Google local gave me the location of a Hollywood martial arts supply store not far from home over on Western and I made it over to it within one minute of closing time! I had no idea how much it would cost (but I had my hopes for what would be reasonable) and whether it would work or not, but it was just fantastic. They had exactly what I was looking for -the Kung-fu pants and the jacket- at exactly the price I’d hoped it would be, and they even had the Kung-fu shoes for an extra $3! They even had the (more elegant) jacket with black cloth buttons as opposed to white ones! I left the store thinking that I love this city - you can find anything you want in no time and it’s not crazily expensive. The thing is really rather well made too. At less that $40 for the whole outfit, and given how comfortable it is, I’m beginning to think that I might just start wearing Kung-fu outfits all the time…..hey, people did it in the 70s! Ok, maybe not such a good idea…..

So now for fangs. This meant that I got to go into two types of stores that I pass all the time in this city and never go into. I finally had a reason. The first type is dedicated party supply stores, called things like “American Party”, or something like that. I’d always fancied the idea that there were just parties going on in there all the time, and you can just go in if you feel like a party. Well, the one I went into was full of party stuff, and lots of people buying things for Hallowe’en parties, but it was no different from being in a supermarket, with people solemnly putting things like scream masks and ghoul makeup into baskets at though they were groceries. I found the few fangs they had left, but they were $15 and I’m trying to save money and could not bring myself to pay $15 for two tiny pieces of plastic -especially having just had such a great success with an entire suit of clothes including shoes! The other type of store is the 99c store. Filled with all kinds of things for 99c. They had a Hallowe’en section (like all stores do). No fangs. Target had no fangs either. I was beginnig to despair a bit, driving all around Hollywood and finding no fangs. It had become a bit of a mission. I then got a suggestion from one store worker - Of course! On the main drag of Hollywood Blvd Continue reading ’70s Monster Mash’

Well, I’ve way too much work to do today, having recovered from the Hallowe’en party, and so can’t blog about it or the costume yet. But here’s a head shot, showing some fangtastic props that I bought! That’s all you’ll get, I’m afraid, as I’m not enough of an exhibitionist to show more of the outfit. (Oh, and it’s not actually that interesting.)

-cvj

(Yes, I’ve thought of several of the jokes “string theory is hard to kill”, “string theory is not dead, but undead”, etc, etc… No doubt you’ve thought of more.)

I think this is going to be one of those holidays that I grumble about in an unappealing Scroogish manner, rather than embracing with a childlike innocence. Fitzmas, for those who have been hiding from the Inter Net these past few weeks, is the day when cherubic investigator Peter Fitzgerald hands down his indictments in the Plamegate scandal, sticking a pointy dagger of righteousness into the icy heart of the Bush administration. The day itself was yesterday, as Fitzgerald fingered Scooter Libby for perjury, making false statements, and obstruction of justice; more indictments may be on the way, perhaps including the Prince of Darkness himself Karl Rove. (Although deserving of the moniker, I don’t think many people really call Rove the Prince of Darkness — the label has been appropriate for so many GOP operatives, it’s kind of lost its punch.)

The liberal blogosphere has been gleefully awaiting this day, when they finally get to see some justice brought to the pack of medacious scheming liars currently running the country. Atrios, to pick on him unfairly, has been hoarding bottles of champagne in anticipation.

Personally, I’m not in the holiday spirit. The recent troubles for the White House are not a “positive good” so much as a “minor slowing-down of a tremendous amount of positive bad.” For one thing, indicting a few administration aides, even quite influential ones, on perjury charges is just not that big a deal. For another, putting a crimp in the White House’s style just doesn’t seem like a cause for celebration; it perhaps generates some mild satisfaction, but mostly a melancholy appreciation of the depths to which the country has sunk.

A lot of people, in perfectly good faith, believe that invading Iraq was the right thing to do, for various reasons. That’s fine, we can disagree. But does any reasonable person deny that the Bush administration engaged in a systematic campaign of lies and distortions to get us there? Does anyone in their right mind think that these folks made a careful and conscientious effort to ascertain whether Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, and then presented the case to the world honestly as they best understood it? And are there sensible people out there who aren’t deeply bothered by this?

It’s sobering to understand that we are ruled by a group of people who (1) have only a tenuous connection to reality themselves, and (2) have absolutely no hesitation in using lies and intimidation to put into action the policies they want. It’s a dangerous combination, one that should be off-putting to conservatives just as much as liberals. When the current leadership of the Republican party wants something to be true, sincere arguments for or against that thing are completely beside the point. Saddam had WMD’s. Saddam was involved in September 11th. Human-produced emissions have no affect on our climate. Tax cuts reduce the deficit. Life is intelligently designed. The world supported us in Iraq. There’s nothing else we could have done after Katrina. Evidence for or against these propositions has no weight in their calculations.

Yesterday a friend of mine told me a story that she was told by a friend of hers, well-known explorer Sylvia Earle. Apparently Earle found herself at a fancy White House dinner, seated next to Trent Lott of all people. Innocent that she is, Earle thought this would be a great opportunity to explain to him the various ways in which our activities are wreaking havoc with the environment, in the oceans as well as in the atmosphere. After listening patiently to her over the course of dinner, at the end Lott nodded his head and said, But you have to understand that the long-term fate of the Earth doesn’t really matter to us, since everything will be re-arranged when the Lord returns on Judgment Day.

These are not the opinions of some fringe kook — these are the people who are ruling the country.

So I’m not in much of a celebratory mood. (To be fair, neither is Atrios.) We’ve been beaten senseless in a back alley by a group of a dozen thugs, and Fitzgerald’s indictments are like catching one or two of them for jay-walking violations. Even if by some miracle we could see the entire adminstration thrown out tomorrow, my mood would simply be one of relief, not of joy. Since that’s not about to happen, it’s all we can do just to minimize the damage.

Well, I’ve just returned from an excellent concert at Frank Gehry’s wonderful Walt Disney Concert Hall (photo at left by Tom Bonner). The Los Angeles Philharmonic (the Hall has been its home since it opened in Fall 2003) had as guest conductor Andras Schiff, who is one of those marvellous people who can direct from the piano while playing remarkably complex material. It was a program of Mendelssohn (String Symphony No. 10 in B minor), Schumann (Introduction and Allegro appasionato, Op. 92), Haydn (Piano Concerto in D major, Hob. XVIII: 11) and closing with Schumann again (Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38 -Spring).

Schiff was just fantastic, and the orchestra was really solid, as usual. He played the Haydn with delight and a level of electricity that I’ve not seen for a while brought out of that material, even though its brightness is quite conducive to that sort of treatment.

So much about watching an orchestra while listening to it fascinates me, and I love having seats that get me as close as possible to watch what is going on. Different things fascinate me on different evenings, depending upon my mood. One thing that was particularly interesting in both Schumann pieces, even though separated in time quite a bit, was how the composer splits some of the lines across the instrumentation, starting a lot with french horns but then breaking it across to trumpets and some interesting doubling with flutes and oboe. I’ve not noticed it quite so clearly before in this work. Part of this may have been my mood, and part of it may be the fact that the acoustics in the Disney Hall are so amazing that I’ve (re)discovered aspects of several pieces that I thought were familiar by listening to them in that place. Something about the careful design of the space has produced the remarkable ability to separate out every instrument in the orchestra -even when at full size (which is was not this evening)- and allow you to hear them clearly.

The other thing that catches my attention a lot are the musicians who are not doing something the whole time. This can be interesting for a host of reasons, and not just the obvious, which is your curiosity about what they must be thinking about while waiting, and when are they going to come in. This is often the timpanist, but it is quite easy to work out when they are going to be needed most of the time. But tonight was a special treat for me. They had a triangle guy on the last piece! If you don’t know the piece very well -and I did not- it is not clear when he’s going to come in, and so you can sit and try to anticipate depending upon how the music is developing. The piece’s popular title is “Spring” so there’s clearly going to be some need in several places for bright sparkly springy bits in both quiet and loud places. Challenge to get into the mind of the composer there and see if you can anticipate. The other thing that was notable was that Mr. Triangle had not one but two chairs. He had one in which he sat in a state of readiness for the majority of the piece, but eventually he did stir himself, and pick up his triangle and one of his two tiny metal traingle-beater-sticks (do you “beat” a triangle or “tickle” it? And why do you need two sticks?) he had carefully laid out. He did his thing for a short while and then he sat in the taller chair, as he was to play soon after. I think of that second chair as his chair of preparedness - in the other chair he’s merely in readiness - or is it the other way around? I’ve enlarged the picture of the orchestra that I snapped secretly (no flash or noise of course) to show you the triangle guy, his chairs, and his equipment.

Well, while I was watching and listening to him in action, I began to wonder: Why is a triangle a triangle? Would a square sound as good? Or a pentagon or other polygon? Are triangles equilateral ones or isosceles? I think the latter, but I’m not sure. And was there a reason for his having two ticklers/beaters? (He did swop from one to another at one point, and I listened for a tone difference but was not sure if I heard it.) There’s got to be some interesting physics in the vibrations of such shapes….is the triangle shape just a traditional one or is there some experimental reason behind the preference for that shape?

Well, I’ll go to bed with these important questions on my mind, along with the pressing puzzle of what on earth to wear to tomorrow night’s Hallowe’en party in West Hollywood. Apparently it’s a 70s disco theme. I’ve no clothes for that….can’t I just go as a scary Physicist from the 21st Century, i.e., me? At parties, women (and men) already run screaming when I tell them what I do anyway, at any time of year, so I don’t need a costume.

-cvj

I really should get back to work, but it’s Friday evening, and so I can take a moment and share this with you*.

(The context is the giant squid story of last month.)

-cvj

(*via Arcane Gazebo and Pharyngula.)