Ask HN: Is physics moving forward? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is physics moving forward?

#71

Post by stared » Fri, Jul 17, 2015, 9:45 PM UTC

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #66

stared wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quantum information is indeed a new field. Yet, I wouldn't compare it with 20s or 70s. In the last 20 years there was hardly any paradigm shift in that matter (don't be fooled by poor science reporting/popularizing or scientist overadvertising their results, in search for fame and grants). And for example, when I as attending conferences in quantum information (my PhD field), people were constantly lowering their exp…

I myself am getting at PhD in quantum information. I completely agree that the timeline for quantum computing was extremely optimistic 20 years ago. However, I think current estimates are much closer to the truth. We now have a much better understanding of the systems on which we are building QCs. Estimates of fault-tolerance thresholds have become much better. We have 20 years of experimental progress to extrapolate…

I would argue that this difficulty is not more fundamental than difficulty of producing light bulbs by Edison.

The thing I do not want to normalize w field by its difficulty - then progress would be just related to the effective number of smart people working on it.

I was raised in a scientific culture (Central/Eastern Europe), where difficulty was a virtue, not - impact. But that way produces a --lot-- small number (because they are difficult!) of difficult results, with little impact.

Likewise, the most progress happens where there are low-hanging fruits.

Re: Ask HN: Is physics moving forward?

#72

Post by brudgers » Sat, Jul 18, 2015, 3:23 AM UTC

Lex III: Actioni contrariam semper et æqualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse æquales et in partes contrarias dirigi.

Only if something is moving backward.

Re: Ask HN: Is physics moving forward?

#73

Post by nanooq » Sat, Jul 18, 2015, 8:13 AM UTC

ISL wrote: post #13

As someone who's been in physics for much of the last twenty years, I'd guess that things are going at about the same rate. I don't think that the rate is "crawling", though. If you look on log plots of parametrized experimental progress, progress remains linear, so it's a Moore's law like improvement on many fronts. The emergence of precision cosmology has really transformed astrophysics in the last twenty years. Th…

what is this \theta_{13} ?

Re: Ask HN: Is physics moving forward?

#74

Post by ChrisGranger » Sun, Jul 19, 2015, 11:27 AM UTC

twerkmonsta wrote: post #53

pwnna wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think there's a limit on how much we can understand in physics/any field? My reasoning on this is that since everyone has a finite lifespan, understanding/work will be lost as the researcher retire, move to a different field, or die, unless this information is transmitted to someone else during their life time. However, as we understand more, we have to teach people more. This brings in two problems that I see…

I'm not physics expert, but I think there may be a limit to what we can understand about the physical world. Especially when we get down to such small scales. However, I don't think this is because of limited lifespans. I've heard it said that string theory could never be scientifically tested in a traditional sense. People sometimes compare it to a religious philosophy because of this quality of untestability. Maybe…

Is digital physics what you're getting at here? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_physics

I'm also reminded of Dr. Nick Bostrum's writings on the topic of simulated existence.

Re: Ask HN: Is physics moving forward?

#75

Post by pvaldes » Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 11:05 AM UTC

nanooq wrote: post #73

ISL wrote: post #13

As someone who's been in physics for much of the last twenty years, I'd guess that things are going at about the same rate. I don't think that the rate is "crawling", though. If you look on log plots of parametrized experimental progress, progress remains linear, so it's a Moore's law like improvement on many fronts. The emergence of precision cosmology has really transformed astrophysics in the last twenty years. Th…

what is this \theta_{13} ?

The neutrino mixing angle Θ13 probably, written in latex :-)