Math Physics Seminar

Speaker: 
Robert Maxton
Topic: 
Solomonoff Induction and Quantified Elegance

Abstract: 
The concept of "elegance" or "naturalness" in a model has often and long guided our search for new physics; one common complaint of the Standard Model is that it is too "fine-tuned", or that it simply has far too many free parameters (twenty-one at last count). It is reasonable to ask whether or not such considerations can be grounded in anything more rigorous than aesthetics. By numericizing models onto the integers and arguing from fundamental constraints on any distribution on such models, we find an exponential penalty on the length of a model and interpret it as a rigorous argument against unnecessary complexity or details in models in the absence of distinguishing evidence -- a quantitative version of Occam's Razor.

Event Date: 
September 15, 2020 - 2:30pm to 3:20pm
Location: 
Online & 309 VAN
Calendar Category: 
Seminar
Seminar Category: 
Mathematical Physics