XiXiDu comments on Quantum Physics, CERN and Hawking radiation - Less Wrong

1 Post author: MatthewBaker 16 June 2011 08:44PM

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Comment author: XiXiDu 17 June 2011 09:39:23AM *  1 point [-]

This is not related to your question, but I thought it is important (and interesting) to note that predictions in physics can turn out not to match reality very well:

The vacuum catastrophe is sometimes cited as the biggest disagreement between theory and experiment ever. They disagree by a factor of at least 10^107.

Link: What exactly is the vacuum catastrophe and what effects does this have upon our understanding of the universe?

In cosmology the vacuum catastrophe refers to the disagreement of 107 orders of magnitude between the upper bound upon the vacuum energy density as inferred from data obtained from the Voyager spacecraft of less than 10^14 GeV/m³ and the zero-point energy of 10^121 GeV/m³ calculated using quantum field theory. This discrepancy has been termed "the worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics!"

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_catastrophe

Comment author: khafra 17 June 2011 03:03:09PM *  1 point [-]

Strongly reminiscent of the "infinite energy from black-body radiation" problem that kicked off quantum mechanics; but if we're only counting finite disagreements between theory and measurement, the vacuum catastrophe still wins.