Ahh, the fragrance of our finest brew wafting on the breeze has led me home, again.
Nice digs. Who picked this one, you?
It'll do for a month, at least, and it'll be better when we're done with it than it is today.
Hey! Did YOU know...
Quantum field theory is plagued with infinities, which show up in diagrams in which virtual particles go in closed loops. Normally these infinities can be gotten rid of by "renormalization," in which infinite "counterterms" cancel the infinite parts of the diagrams, leaving finite results for experimentally observable quantities. Renormalization works for QED and the other field theories used to describe particle interactions, but it fails when applied to gravity. Graviton loops generate an infinite family of counterterms. The theory ends up with an infinite number of free parameters, and it's no theory at all. Other approaches to quantum gravity are needed, and they might not describe static fields with virtual gravitons.
Isn't that intriguing??
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/virtual_particles.html
Actually, he and I had both saved it, but since he has the master ping list and I just have it for "emergencies" he ran the thread by me for "approval" and then we moved.
I really don't have much to do with it. I seem to be castle "decoration" or maybe Mathom would be a better word. Yah...that's it: Mathom Monkey Face...;o]