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This is Laughlin's thesis in his book [1]. The idea is that the mathematics of renormalization as used by the particle physicists, is the same mathematics used
by mathgenius 11y ago
This is Laughlin's thesis in his book [1]. The idea is that the mathematics of renormalization as used by the particle physicists, is the same mathematics used to describe quasiparticles. It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea.
[1] http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/laughlin.cfm http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/writers/laughlin.cfm
- tfgg 11y ago> It seems physicists in general have not had much to say in response to this idea Huh? My impression is that the notion that the current laws of physics are an effective field theory of some more fundamental theory is pretty widespread and mainstream.
- mathgenius 11y agoSure, maybe I am not channelling Laughlin very well. Perhaps it was his general pessimism that any deeper theory could be derived from the emergent phenomenon. It was a while since I read that book.
- selimthegrim 11y agoThey've had plenty to say. Laughlin's only acolyte is a fellow named Chapline who is known for his unusual theories about black holes. Laughlin has nothing to say about Lorentz invariance. For a real stab down Laughlin's direction, done 100,000 times better with testable predictions, check out G. Volovik's book "The Universe in a Helium Droplet"