OT - And You Thought Your Kid's Homework Was Hard!

[COSteve]

My son asked me to review a paper he wrote for grad school. He's half way through his research towards his PhD in Physics and his papers are getting a bit over my head to say the least! His current paper is titled, "Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry" and after reading it 3 times I'm still not sure what I read!






If only I was 1/2 as smart as he is.....



Actually, I'd settle being twice his age

[J Miller]

Steve,

I know what you are talking about. Higher math baffles me, computers are beyond my ability to understand, and I feel like an anachronistic dinosaur.

Joe

[Markbo]

Don't let them fool you! My younger stepson has a Master's Degree in Computer data systems. His first job out of college was for one of the largest banks in the world making near 6 figures. He can't troubleshoot any problem on my computer or install speakers or anything a 'normal' kid can! And reloading and ballistics absolutely baffle him. I use that to my advantage when he tries to start a "I'm so smart" conversation.

[Blaine]

I tried Googling that, and didn't understand the explaination

[COSteve]

I tried Googling that, and didn't understand the explanation

I looked at the Wikipedia page and then called my son to ask him about it. He said his paper actually starts with that and goes into more depth and detail.

[Chas.]

Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry??

Simple, but rather than re-write what's been written:

"We analyze simple models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking in the context of supergravity. We distinguish two cases. One is when the messenger of the supersymmetry breaking is a non Abelian gauge force and the other is when the messenger is a pseudoanomalous U(1). We assume that these models originate from string theory and we impose the constraint of the vanishing of the cosmological constant requiring also the stabilization of the dilaton. In the first case, we do not find vacua that are consistent with the constraints of gauge mediation and have a zero tree level cosmological constant. In the second case, no such conflict arises. In addition, by looking at the one loop cosmological constant, we show that the dilaton F-term can not be neglected in either case. For the gauge mediated case our considerations suggest that the dilaton must be frozen out of the low energy field theory by non-perturbative string dynamics." - S. P. de Alwis and Nikolaos Irges of the U. of Colorado, Butler

I hope this will aid in understanding.

[AJMD429]

The first time your kid does something you can't do, or understands something you don't understand, is humbling, yet truly one of the best 'proud parent' moments.

My kids give me lots of those moments...

[Blaine]

Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry??

Simple, but rather than re-write what's been written:

"We analyze simple models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking in the context of supergravity. We distinguish two cases. One is when the messenger of the supersymmetry breaking is a non Abelian gauge force and the other is when the messenger is a pseudoanomalous U(1). We assume that these models originate from string theory and we impose the constraint of the vanishing of the cosmological constant requiring also the stabilization of the dilaton. In the first case, we do not find vacua that are consistent with the constraints of gauge mediation and have a zero tree level cosmological constant. In the second case, no such conflict arises. In addition, by looking at the one loop cosmological constant, we show that the dilaton F-term can not be neglected in either case. For the gauge mediated case our considerations suggest that the dilaton must be frozen out of the low energy field theory by non-perturbative string dynamics." - S. P. de Alwis and Nikolaos Irges of the U. of Colorado, Butler

I hope this will aid in understanding.

Oh, now that you said it THAT way.......

[jeepnik]

Many moons ago, on the first day of an advanced math course, the instuctor made a statement. "There are only four operations in mathematics, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. If you can do those, you can pass this course". He was right, all you have to do is figure out in which order to do them on any given problem, no matter how complex, it's still one of four operations.

[damienph]

I wish my foreign born Calculus instructor could have explained it that way, no telling what I could have accomplished!

[damienph]

Oops, should have left out "foriegn born", but this english speaking skills certainly didn't help.

[damienph]

Apparently, besides limited math skills, I can't spell either.

[Blaine]

Apparently, besides limited math skills, I can't spell either.

That sums it up nicely. Can we quotient you on that?

[damienph]

Blaine, I don't care what the rest of them say, I really do think you're funny!

[alnitak]

Personally, I prefer to believe that M-theory will eventually be proven, thus bringing together all five current string theories. I think that minimal supergravity mediated ideas (such as those foundational to MSSM), that attempt to only slightly modify the standard model to account for the quantum effects of gravity, will eventually fall short in their ability to fully integrate current models (I doubt they will adequately deal with the Higgs boson mass).

The idea of electrons and quarks being 0-dimensional objects in the Standard Model doesn't make near as much sense to me as compared with the theory of them as 1-dimensional objects operating in two dimensional space, which is inherent to superstring and M-theory. Besides, I kinda like the idea of living in an 11-dimensional space-time continuum.

On a related note, I remember one "scientific" religious book I read, back when 10-dimensional string theory was just becoming accepted, that posited that the 10 dimensions were time, and three each for earth, Heaven and Hades. It fit nicely with their dogma, but their science left a bit to be desired....

[new pig hunter]

c'mon, total piece of cake ....... here, I'll simplify and we'll take it from the beginning:

F = m(dv/dt)

See, intuitively obvious where to go from here .... nothing more than a simple recitation/regurgitation of a second order linear differential equation. POC.

Heck, balancing your checkbook, now that is much more difficult and frightening.

Cheers,

Carl

p.s. COSteve, what school is he at ??

[Pisgah]

>"Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry"

Dang if'n I don't get persnicketty when youngun's plagiarize my stuff!

[KirkD]

... after reading it 3 times I'm still not sure what I read!

3 Times! That, in itself, is an accomplishment.

[Old No7]

"There are only four operations in mathematics: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division."

Nope, you missed one... It's called "complication".

I had a few math teachers who always added that "shun" into the mix, with the way they explained -- or tried to explain -- how things worked... Notice I didn't use the word "teach"...

(No offense to teachers intended! My mother taught for 47 years... And she'd agree with me!)

Old No7

[piller]

I tried to lear string theory, but I just couldnt push it into my head. I even had a guitar playing friend who didn't understand string theory. We both could see that strings were more than just a theory.

[COSteve]

Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry??

Simple, but rather than re-write what's been written:

"We analyze simple models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking in the context of supergravity. We distinguish two cases. One is when the messenger of the supersymmetry breaking is a non Abelian gauge force and the other is when the messenger is a pseudoanomalous U(1). We assume that these models originate from string theory and we impose the constraint of the vanishing of the cosmological constant requiring also the stabilization of the dilaton. In the first case, we do not find vacua that are consistent with the constraints of gauge mediation and have a zero tree level cosmological constant. In the second case, no such conflict arises. In addition, by looking at the one loop cosmological constant, we show that the dilaton F-term can not be neglected in either case. For the gauge mediated case our considerations suggest that the dilaton must be frozen out of the low energy field theory by non-perturbative string dynamics." - S. P. de Alwis and Nikolaos Irges of the U. of Colorado, Butler

I hope this will aid in understanding.

My son knows Professor de Alwis as he is doing his grad work at University of Colorado, Boulder (not Butler) and has read the paper in which that quote is from. Only trouble is that the quote above is referring to Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking (GMSB), not Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry. Well, that's what my son said anyway. I don't know enough about either one to be sure I'm even spelling them correctly!

[Rdm_01]

???? Ummmm...I guess this is why I went to a trade school! Better at working with my hands than understanding theories!

RDM

[COSteve]

Heck I have a MBA, a BS in engineering, and 40+ years experience in high tech aerospace (orbital platforms) and I don't know what the heck he's talking about!!

[hfcable]

Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry??

Simple, but rather than re-write what's been written:

"We analyze simple models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking in the context of supergravity. We distinguish two cases. One is when the messenger of the supersymmetry breaking is a non Abelian gauge force and the other is when the messenger is a pseudoanomalous U(1). We assume that these models originate from string theory and we impose the constraint of the vanishing of the cosmological constant requiring also the stabilization of the dilaton. In the first case, we do not find vacua that are consistent with the constraints of gauge mediation and have a zero tree level cosmological constant. In the second case, no such conflict arises. In addition, by looking at the one loop cosmological constant, we show that the dilaton F-term can not be neglected in either case. For the gauge mediated case our considerations suggest that the dilaton must be frozen out of the low energy field theory by non-perturbative string dynamics." - S. P. de Alwis and Nikolaos Irges of the U. of Colorado, Butler

I hope this will aid in understanding.

thanks, it certainly cleared it all up for me! ; )-

[Modoc ED]

"Minimal Supergravity Mediated Supersymmetry"

Does this have anything to do with a train leaving the Atlanta, GA train depot at 10:00 AM traveling at a speed of 50mph and a car leaving the Denver, CO Main St. parking lot at 10:00 AM traveling at a speed of 62mph and wondering which one will reach Quebec, Canada first?

Steve -- You said in your initial post that you wished you were 1/2 as smart as your son. That's just not right. He may be smarter than you in this area but was he smart enough to figure out how to fill empty pretzel containers with used brass, label it, and stack it neatly for ready access for reloading -- no he wasn't.

Let's keep things in perspective here.

All BS aside, it's nice to see a member of the younger generation making a contribution.