Gravity waves and A. Grothendieck

14 Feb 2016

Currently there is a general excitement (both among the scientists and in mass media) about the detection of gravity waves. Certainly it is an important breakthrough in technology and also in Signal Processing (yes, signal processing is responsible at least for half of the detection success, the description of employed algorithms can be found here). However, for me this event is another confirmation of a tremendous gap which exists between the theoretical and experimental physics today (and possibly until forever). The state of the art in experimental physics today (2016) corresponds to the state of the art of theoretical physics in 1916. Theoretical physicists work today on the structure of space and time on Planck’s scales (i.e. ~ 10^{-33} cm / 10^{-44} s). There are some reasons to think that most probably we shall never be able to access experimentally to these scales.

On a more positive side, I would like to share another article from Inference Review, devoted to Alexander Grothendieck. This person for me is a symbol of the scientific revolution. The article is available both in French and in English for your convenience:

• P. Cartier. Alexander Grothendieck. Un pays dont on ne connaîtrait que le nom, Inference Review, 1(1), 2014

• P. Cartier. Alexander Grothendieck. A Country Known Only by Name, Inference Review, 1(1), 2014

Many fields of Mathematics (and of Science in general) wait for their A. Grothendieck!

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