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[Phys-l] 2008 Big Year in Physics




The Chinese proverb offers the admonition to live in interesting times. And
2008 is shaping up to be just such a time for Physics. A few highlights.


1) Sometime in 2008 the LHC at CERN should be collecting data bringing
particle physics back in to the experimental era. Questions about the Higgs, SUSY
and extra dimensions may all be forthcoming.

2) Sometime in 2008 we should start getting data from the Clover project,
giving us greater detail on the CMB especially with regard to possible gravity
waves perturbations of the CMB. If we see these gravity waves perturbations
it will be bad news for string theory.

3) Sometime in 2008 the Planck Surveyor will be launched which will give us
confirmation and refinement perhaps of the Clover data.

Additional note. The surprising results at Brookhaven from the RHIC
experiment has produced results predicted by the Ads/CFT proposal according to string
theorists. In the Ads/CFT model gravity is S dual to QCD so a weak QCD
coupling means a very strong gravity coupling. This means that the RHIC results
can be calculated by using a black hole model. When this is done it correctly
predicts the liquid phase observed for the quark gluon plasma rather than the
formerly expected gas state.

Bob Zannelli



" A Large part of history is replete with the struggle for Human rights, an
eternal struggle in which a final victory can never be won. But to tire in
that struggle would mean the ruin of society."

Albert Einstein






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