The Problem With the Cosmological Constant

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The multiverse says that the universe out there far away has different physical conditions than ours. That is indisputably a thing that is being said, very precise and concrete. It's an issue that we have to deal with, but it doesn't make it non-scientific. The practice of science involves hypothesizing different models and trying to use them to best fit our data.

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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