@mcnees If the many-worlds interpretation is correct, then vacuum decay is another form of the quantum suicide experiment: it could already have happened for some fraction of the wave function.
@mcnees We don't know if the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is correctβand may never knowβbut if it is, the universe is immensely larger still.
@mcnees@gregeganSF Would either of you mind filing a feedback report? To launch Feedback Assistant enter applefeedback:// in the Safari address bar and hit return. You can keep it in the dock once youβve launched it the first time.
@mcnees@gregeganSF If you haven't already, would you mind filing feedback reports? You can enter this URL in Safari: applefeedback:// and use the Feedback Assistant app (you can keep it in the Dock so you only have to use the Safari trick once).
@mcnees Itβs a double-edged sword: it makes it easier to develop theories at lower energies but harder to figure out whatβs going on at higher energies!
@mcnees I wouldn't say that. He was really, really busy, which is why I changed to Prof. Georgi. Also, I was still just doing coursework when he was my advisor (it was my first year). If he'd still been my advisor and I'd gotten into my thesis research, then I would call myself his student. π
@mcnees I like this philosophy, which is why it's distressing to see some abandon it in favor of instrumentalism when it comes to the interpretation of quantum mechanics.
@mcnees He was my adviser my first year of grad school (1978-79), but he received the Nobel that academic year (the department threw a party) and got too busy, so I switched to Howard Georgi for my second year. I took GR from Weinberg using his book as the text. I was very sad when he passed away (and Sidney Coleman too, whom I took QFT from).
After my second year I switched out of physics (with an MA) to computers, but I still miss physics.