The Importance of Effective Field Theory

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The idea of an effective field theory is you can do quantum field theory perfectly well at energies below the ultraviolet cutoff. Even if space and time themselves exist above the ultraviolet cutoff, you don't need to know that. It will not show up in your low energy effective quantum field theory. The book's not going to be out until early next year, but keep your calendars ready for 2024 when the biggest ideas volume two comes out.

Physics is in crisis, what else is new? That's what we hear in certain corners, anyway, usually pointed at "fundamental" physics of particles and fields. (Condensed matter and biophysics etc. are just fine.) In this solo podcast I ruminate on the unusual situation fundamental physics finds itself in, where we have a theoretical understanding that fits almost all the data, but which nobody believes to be the final answer. I talk about how we got here, and argue that it's not really a "crisis" in any real sense. But there are ways I think the academic community could handle the problem better, especially by making more space for respectable but minority approaches to deep puzzles.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/07/31/245-solo-the-crisis-in-physics/

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