| Re : les parodies de warren siegel why the nothing theory is better than the everything th
Un petit coup d'oeil là par exemple (glossaire)
aardvark
So far this word has nothing to do with physics, but we're sure it will soon.
astrophysical
Astrological.
B-Bbar
A blues musician.
beauty
A property of matter which tends to be short-lived.
chromodynamics
The force that holds quacks together.
classical string
The kind Stradivarius used.
cohomology
The same as homology, but with too many o's.
condensate
A kind of particle which requires adding water.
conformal field theory
Quantum mechanics.
constant
Number which changes with each experiment.
contact interactions
Higher-point scattering, occuring generally in hockey games.
CP violation
A penalty in hockey games, imposed for illegal contact interactions.
deformation
A birth defect commonly suffered by geometers.
experimental
Engineering.
finite
Either vanishing or incalculable.
functional integration
Bussing.
fundamental particle
Something so basic it can never be found.
gauge fixing
An automobile repair, usually requiring a quantum mechanic.
gaugino
An Italian friend who isn't heterotic.
geometric
Hand-waving.
ghosts
Unphysical fields used to scare away experimentalists.
grassmanian
1. Of, or pertaining to, Grassmania (e.g., "Grassmanian devil"). 2. Addicted to marijuana.
gravity
Seriousness.
homology
The study of various maps, none of which tells you which exit to take off the New Jersey Turnpike to get to Princeton.
Kondo problem
Selling apartment buildings to yuppies.
light cone
Diet ice cream.
manifestly
By birthright.
note added in proof
Reference to similar, earlier work.
phenomenological
Chemical.
physical
1. see experimental (as used by an experimentalist). 2. see theoretical (as used by a theorist).
proctology
A science as closely related to physics as string theory.
representation theory
The theory of how to represent mathematics as having something to do with physics.
stress tensor
A nervous disorder caused by doing too much quantum gravity.
string
Nobody has any idea what this word means.
super-
see Witten's.
superparticle
The largest of all microscopic objects.
supersymmetry partner
Someone to write useless papers with.
symmetry
Brokenness.
theoretical
Mathematical.
theory of everything
Theory of nothing.
topology
The theory of how to keep your doughnut from falling apart when you dunk it in your coffee cup.
truth
A flavor of physics which has not yet been discovered experimentally or in the text of theory papers.
twisted tori
A perverse load of bull.
twistor
Chubby Checker.
unification
A principle which has done for physics what the United Nations has for world government.
Witten's
Definite article (as in "How do you like Witten's weather today?").
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