Table Of Content\
Not Even Wrong
The Failure of String Theory and the Continuing
Challenge to Unify the Laws of Physics
Peter Woit
JONATHAN CAPE
LONDON
Published by Jonathan Cape 2006
2468 10 9 75 3 1
Copyright © Peter Woit 2006
Peter Woit has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
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in which it is published and without a similar condition
including this condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser
First published in Great Britain in 2006 by
JONATHAN CAPE
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA
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For Ellen
Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
About this book 8
1. Particle Physics at the Turn of the Millennium 10
2. The Instruments of Production 14
Basic principles 14
Experimental particle physics, a quick history 18
Current accelerators 28
Accelerators: future prospects 31
Further reading 36
3. Quantum Theory 38
Quantum theory and its history 39
Further reading 56
4. Quantum Field Theory 58
Further reading 66
5. Gauge Symmetry and Gauge Theories 67
Further reading 74
6. The Standard Model 75
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Not Even Wrong
The standard model: electro-weak interactions 76
The standard model: strong interactions 83
Further reading 91
7. Triumph of the Standard Model 92
Further reading 97
8. Problems of the Standard Model 98
9. Beyond the Standard Model 102
Grand unified theories 102
Technicolour 104
Supersymmetry and supergravity 107
10. New Insights in Quantum Field Theory and
Mathematics 113
Edward Witten 113
Instantons in Yang-Mills theory and in mathematics 116
Lattice gauge theory 120
Large N 122
Two-dimensional quantum field theories 124
Anomalies and quantum mechanical symmetry breaking 129
Topological quantum field theory 132
Further reading 145
11. String Theory: History 146
S-matrix theory 146
The first string theories 153
The first superstring theory revolution 156
The second superstring theory revolution 161
Recent trends 163
Further reading 166
12. String Theory and Supersymmetry: An Evaluation 167
Supersymmetry 168
Superstring theory 179
String theory, supersymmetry and mathematics 193
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Contents
13. On Beauty and Difficulty 198
14. Is Superstring Theory Science? 208
15. The Bogdanov Affair 217
16. The Only Game in Town: The Power and the
Glory of String Theory 224
17. The Landscape of String Theory 240
18. Other Points of View 250
19. Conclusion 258
Notes 268
Index 275
ix
Acknowledgements
M
y knowledge about the topics discussed in this book is the prod
uct of many years spent in both the mathematics and physics
communities, and I've benefited over this time from conversations on
these topics with a large number of mathematicians and physicists. By
now this number is so large that I'm afraid I'm only able to remem
ber and thank those who have been of help during the last few years
while I've been writing this book and seeing it through to publication.
Of important assistance have been string theorists and other string-
friendly physicists who have been willing to share their expertise
with me as part of discussions about string theory in various inter
net venues. I've learned a great deal from these discussions, so even
though many of them are not likely to be very happy with this book,
their efforts have made it a much better one than would otherwise
have been possible. For help of this kind, I'd like specifically to
thank Aaron Bergman, Sean Carroll, Jacques Distler, Robert Helling,
Clifford V. Johnson, Lubos Motl, Moshe Rozali and Urs Schreiber.
During the past few years I've been grateful to the many people
who have contacted me, sometimes anonymously, with expressions
of support and enthusiasm, often together with an interesting story
of one sort or another. Finding out that my concerns about the
present state of particle theory are so widely shared has been an
important incentive for the writing of this book.
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Not Even Wrong
I'd also like to thank Roger Astley of Cambridge University Press,
together with Jim Lepowsky and several anonymous referees. While
publication by Cambridge ultimately didn't work out, going through
the process there ultimately turned the original manuscript into a
much better book. At a later stage, Binky Urban provided excellent
advice about what should be done to make the book a success, much
of which I fear I haven't taken.
Professor Karl von Meyenn provided me with the reference indi
cating that the attribution of the phrase 'Not Even Wrong' to Pauli
is not as apocryphal as I had feared, together with useful comments
about the context of the phrase and the influence of the Vienna
Circle on Pauli's thinking.
John Horgan has provided encouragement and advice, together
with interesting discussion of his views on some of the topics treated
here.
Among friends and supporters who have listened to me go on
far too long about string theory and some of the other subjects
treated here, I'd like especially to thank Oisin McGuinness, Nathan
Myhrvold, Peter Orland and Eric Weinstein, as well as my Columbia
colleagues Bob Friedman, John Morgan, D.H. Phong and Michael
Thaddeus, whose interest and support have been invaluable.
It has been an honour to have the opportunity to discuss in
person or via e-mail some of the issues treated here with some
truly great mathematicians and physicists, all of whom have
provided helpful advice. These include Gerard 't Hooft, Lee
Smolin and Martin Veltman, as well as two people whose work has
had an overwhelmingly large influence on my understanding of
mathematics and physics, Sir Michael Atiyah and Edward Witten.
While many of them may disagree very strongly with the point of
view from which I am writing, whatever value there is in it owes
a lot to them.
Another great physicist, Sir Roger Penrose, was of critical help in
encouraging this project and helping to find it a publisher, for which
I am exceedingly grateful.
My editors at Jonathan Cape, Will Sulkin and Richard Lawrence,
have been a pleasure to work with and I hope they won't regret their
willingness to help me write and publish exactly the book I've wanted
xii
Acknowledgements
to write, one that may be more intellectually uncompromising than
most publishers would find comfortable.
Finally, I owe an immeasurable debt to Ellen Handy. Her exten
sive editorial assistance over many years has created a text of far
higher quality than would otherwise have been conceivable. More
importantly, her love, selfless encouragement and unwavering belief
in me have made possible the writing of this book, and much else
besides.
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