The newest measurement of the electron dipole moment reduces the likelihood of supersymmetry even more. See http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.7534 . It is the newest step from supersymmetry to supercemetery.
Of course, this is not a surprise; enough people, including Nobel Prize laureates in particle physics, have stated since decades that supersymmetry is a "figment of the human mind". And of course, there is no string theory without supersymmetry. Yes, a tiny negative experimental result can destroy even the most ugly theory.
That's a good one, Clara: supersymmetry to supercemetery. Catchy.
ReplyDeleteSo if not symmetries in general, then why any gauge symmetries at all?
Christoph Schiller says it's because of the three Reidermeister moves: twist for SU(1), poke for SU(2), and slide for SU(3), and it looks like he has worked out quite a few of the details (or at least attempted to -- I can't judge). Has anybody else even got a suggestion of how to account for SU(1), SU(2), and SU(3)?
Babbling of a fanatic physicist:
ReplyDeletehttp://motls.blogspot.com/2013/11/state-of-art-non-susy-so10-grand.html
Something about SO(10). Why? Lots of little reasons but no principle.
DeleteI can't help feeling that this whole grand unification business might be mistaken. Wanted is physics that tells what happens when both gravitational and quantum effects are strong. Maybe they never are.
All those virtual particles in the vacuum don't curve spacetime even one bit. Black holes are black -- nothing to see there at all (let alone of a quantum nature). Maybe the idea that it should be otherwise proceeds from incorrect assumptions.