The wavelength associated with a very massive particle is very short. So maybe there are virtual, very high mass particles that I don't know about that could change things. Wilson says, let's be honest. Let's ask whether we can do physics at low energies and long wavelengths without specifying what happens at high energies. This is the whole story, which is long and involved and beautiful of effective field theory.
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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