8 Beyond the Standard Model
515
This success was not matched by validating any of the TPs (Theoretical
Prejudices) which I had discussed in some detail. The discovery of the quite likely
absence of new particles in the new energy vistas opened by the LHC had an impact.
Of course one can still hope that positive new discoveries will be made and I for one
do hope so; still it is more and more considered as a possibility that we will need to
settle for a long time for accelerators that will validate the Standard Model and not
uncover treasures beyond it. A school of thought is developing, since the activation
of the LHC, that beyond the Standard Model lurks non other than the Standard
Model itself. At least for a while.
This requires soul searching of the theoretical physics community. What could
be the result of such an examination of the routes taken so far? Recall that NOH
(Nobody Owes Humanity), it may be that using elegance and beauty as our guiding
principles, and indeed SUSY and string theory are beautiful, has failed us. Perhaps
our esthetics taste does not confirm with that of nature. Perhaps these TPs will
manifest themselves at some higher energy and perhaps we are on a totally wrong
track. Falsifying ideas is a most important component of the scientific method, but
many would not agree that the TPs have been indeed falsified. New ideas should be
encouraged and welcomed, there is nothing as good as a good new idea to revitalize
our thinking. The results of such debates cannot be dictated. Each researcher will
draw her/his own conclusions. Be that as it may, such an open debate is required.
Hopefully there will be something to report on in the next edition of this book.
One aspect of “Beyond” physics that is considered more actively now involves
testing the possibility that the Standard Model has scale or even conformal invariant
features. Some of them I suggested long ago and pointed out in this volume,
especially its relation to the puzzle of the value of the vacuum energy.
The fact that, depending on the exact value of the top quark mass, the Universe is
living dangerously and may eventually self-destruct as it decays to some other place
was also noted and investigated.
The dark matter elephant in the room remains very present.
The mathematical aspects of SUSY have been considerably sharpened during
these years and have led to many new surprising exact results in more regions of
strong coupling where no one ventured before. I was most attracted to a branch
of research trying to attempt to use quantum information aspects as ingredients
that build up semiclassical geometry and also quantum space time. These attempts
are in their infancy but they have already covered quite some ground. Sometimes
it has happened that a change of perspective and bringing in new tools was a
way for a younger generation to take over the leadership of a field. The absence
of experimental data to crown new leaders serves as a fertile ground for this
mechanism.
Finally, back to experiment; for years black holes seemed as removed from
experiment as the detection of stringy effects are 2017 has seen the hundred years
search for the detection of gravitational waves reach a discovery moment. Humans
observed particles collide at the LHC and black holes collide in the Universe—a
great moment. Theorists are seriously considering the properties of those very black
holes in terms of information processing. Seeds for a new TP have been sown.
515
This success was not matched by validating any of the TPs (Theoretical
Prejudices) which I had discussed in some detail. The discovery of the quite likely
absence of new particles in the new energy vistas opened by the LHC had an impact.
Of course one can still hope that positive new discoveries will be made and I for one
do hope so; still it is more and more considered as a possibility that we will need to
settle for a long time for accelerators that will validate the Standard Model and not
uncover treasures beyond it. A school of thought is developing, since the activation
of the LHC, that beyond the Standard Model lurks non other than the Standard
Model itself. At least for a while.
This requires soul searching of the theoretical physics community. What could
be the result of such an examination of the routes taken so far? Recall that NOH
(Nobody Owes Humanity), it may be that using elegance and beauty as our guiding
principles, and indeed SUSY and string theory are beautiful, has failed us. Perhaps
our esthetics taste does not confirm with that of nature. Perhaps these TPs will
manifest themselves at some higher energy and perhaps we are on a totally wrong
track. Falsifying ideas is a most important component of the scientific method, but
many would not agree that the TPs have been indeed falsified. New ideas should be
encouraged and welcomed, there is nothing as good as a good new idea to revitalize
our thinking. The results of such debates cannot be dictated. Each researcher will
draw her/his own conclusions. Be that as it may, such an open debate is required.
Hopefully there will be something to report on in the next edition of this book.
One aspect of “Beyond” physics that is considered more actively now involves
testing the possibility that the Standard Model has scale or even conformal invariant
features. Some of them I suggested long ago and pointed out in this volume,
especially its relation to the puzzle of the value of the vacuum energy.
The fact that, depending on the exact value of the top quark mass, the Universe is
living dangerously and may eventually self-destruct as it decays to some other place
was also noted and investigated.
The dark matter elephant in the room remains very present.
The mathematical aspects of SUSY have been considerably sharpened during
these years and have led to many new surprising exact results in more regions of
strong coupling where no one ventured before. I was most attracted to a branch
of research trying to attempt to use quantum information aspects as ingredients
that build up semiclassical geometry and also quantum space time. These attempts
are in their infancy but they have already covered quite some ground. Sometimes
it has happened that a change of perspective and bringing in new tools was a
way for a younger generation to take over the leadership of a field. The absence
of experimental data to crown new leaders serves as a fertile ground for this
mechanism.
Finally, back to experiment; for years black holes seemed as removed from
experiment as the detection of stringy effects are 2017 has seen the hundred years
search for the detection of gravitational waves reach a discovery moment. Humans
observed particles collide at the LHC and black holes collide in the Universe—a
great moment. Theorists are seriously considering the properties of those very black
holes in terms of information processing. Seeds for a new TP have been sown.