From: aw3@ukc.ac.uk (A.Wilson)
Newsgroups: sci.physics
Subject: Re: Compelling Mysteries (II)
Keywords: compelling, mysteries, partridges and pear trees
Date: 10 Nov 92 12:52:44 GMT
Reply-To: aw3@ukc.ac.uk (Alan Wilson)
Organization: Chemical Laboratory, University of Kent at Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK

In article <1992Nov10.033543.21908@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Cameron Randale Bass) writes:
>
>     Since my first posting made a less-than-resounding thud, like the 
>     plodding pedantic humourless engineer I am, I figured I'd try again
>     (and since I have a couple of minutes to kill before the next run ends).
>
>     Several people have complained lately about the subject matter
>     around this neck of the woods, so I wonder if some of those people
>     will oblige me by posting what they believe to be compelling
>     mysteries or pressing problems in their particular field.
>
>     I have already posited that I believed the 
>          a) galactic rotation curves
>     and
>          b) cavitation sonoluminescence
>     were pretty interesting indications that maybe we were thinking about
>     said problem(s) incorrectly.  Now a couple of people did take me
>     to task about problem a) not being that much of a problem.  However,
>     since it's my list, and visceral examination counts for as much as
>     anything when one is speculating about unsolved problems, I'll leave it.
>
>     There are others, 
>         c) the long-time stability of the solar system
>     that several of us discussed earlier.  Biology tends to tell us
>     that the solar system (or at least the earth's orbit) has been stable
>     for long lengths of time.  Calculations and perturbation theory tend
>     to tell us differently.  Of course, I don't believe the calculations,
>     but what do I know?  Opinions are very cheap, so spill them all over the
>     place.  Where is our fundamental misunderstanding?  Where are others?
>          d) the solar neutrino 'problem'.  Is it a problem?  Do we believe 
>     the calculations.  Why do no two experiments seem to tell us the same 
>     thing?   Is something being left out of the 'standard model' of the 
>     sun?  How much *is* gallium chloride by the ton?
>          e) why does the Hubble 'constant' float all over the place.  It
>     almost seems like one could select a value at random and find very
>     good support for that value in astrophysical observations.
>
>     I'll save the rest of my rather voluminous mental 'list'.
>
>     Now surely many of the people reading here have a physical problem that is
>     compelling enough to discuss; compelling enough to wonder aloud what the
>     ultimate solution might be.  Surely large numbers of us have a list
>     of compelling physical problems that we are dying to share with the
>     rest of the sci.physics world?
>
>     Now scout's honor, I personally promise not to comment in any but a very
>     very positive manner if anyone wants to bring up anything, anything
>     at all (even chaos).  I cannot guarantee anyone else, but if you stick 
>     your neck out, I promise that the bleeding will ultimately be minimal.
>     And you'll have the side benefit of greatly increased typing speed
>     like the rest of us loudmouths.
>
>     I like a bit of wonder and mystery in the universe, it gets so boring
>     when a common attitude is that everything is fundamentally solved.
>     And actually, I'm just looking for things to add to *my* list. 
>
>                                   dale bass
>
This highlights a point I raised earlier (no offence) that the great
unsolved problems in physics are by no means restricted to cosmology, 
GUT's and solar neutrinos, wlthough these are interesting to those
concerned, and to the rest of us no doubt in a more general way.
There must be other areas of physics with equally interesting and
controversial problems, some of them possibly with quite profound
implications for our understanding of nature, yet never seem to get
the same publicity as the old "Physicists think there may be a black
hole in the centre of Washington..." stories. I would be interested to
hear about the great problems in other fields of endeavour apart from HEP
and cosmology! Any comments?

Alan

--
Dr. Alan Wilson        (Approved by Morrissey, the consumer monkey)

" That was MY idea "
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Newsgroups: sci.physics