Cari Cesarotti

Hi, Sean. Thanks for having me.

Hi, Sean. Thanks for having me.

Ooh, interesting question. I've never had it quite posed like that. I think in some ways... It is quite beautiful in the sense that there's a lot of patterns that we see. And in physics, really the thing that we love to see is patterns. So we see that there are three generations of a lot of things. We see that the gauge bosons kind of fit nicely in one bucket.

Ooh, interesting question. I've never had it quite posed like that. I think in some ways... It is quite beautiful in the sense that there's a lot of patterns that we see. And in physics, really the thing that we love to see is patterns. So we see that there are three generations of a lot of things. We see that the gauge bosons kind of fit nicely in one bucket.

We see that there's the pattern of things getting heavier and things coupling more strongly to the Higgs. So in that sense, it is a very beautiful model. But in the bigger sense of where did this thing come from, it's very ugly in the sense that there's not really a fundamental explanation as to why particles look and behave the way that they do.

We see that there's the pattern of things getting heavier and things coupling more strongly to the Higgs. So in that sense, it is a very beautiful model. But in the bigger sense of where did this thing come from, it's very ugly in the sense that there's not really a fundamental explanation as to why particles look and behave the way that they do.

Fair enough. Yeah. So in the standard model, there are basically two kinds of particles. They're either fermions or bosons. So the fermions are the things that tend to make up matter. Things like electrons are fermions. Things like quarks, which are the particles that you find inside of nucleons, are fermions.

Fair enough. Yeah. So in the standard model, there are basically two kinds of particles. They're either fermions or bosons. So the fermions are the things that tend to make up matter. Things like electrons are fermions. Things like quarks, which are the particles that you find inside of nucleons, are fermions.

And then the gauge bosons are the particles that effectively tie everything together because they mediate the forces exchanged between these particles. So fermions, often we like to think of as matter. If they live long enough to survive, then they can be stable matter. And then the bosons are the force carriers.

And then the gauge bosons are the particles that effectively tie everything together because they mediate the forces exchanged between these particles. So fermions, often we like to think of as matter. If they live long enough to survive, then they can be stable matter. And then the bosons are the force carriers.

So things like electromagnetic fields, the particle description would be made out of bosons.

So things like electromagnetic fields, the particle description would be made out of bosons.

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of funny. Whenever I think of standard model, I kind of think of like... you know, like the most beautiful, you know, like the most beautiful model, like the standard model, like the thing that you would think of when you consider a beautiful person. It's like, yeah, okay. So interesting that you have that.

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of funny. Whenever I think of standard model, I kind of think of like... you know, like the most beautiful, you know, like the most beautiful model, like the standard model, like the thing that you would think of when you consider a beautiful person. It's like, yeah, okay. So interesting that you have that.

But I mean, yeah, so the model is inherently something that it's not supposed to be a first principles object, right? It models the things that we see, but it doesn't come from a deep, you know, a core principle. So in the sense that, yeah, it could move around if we find something that's in conflict with our current model, that's true.

But I mean, yeah, so the model is inherently something that it's not supposed to be a first principles object, right? It models the things that we see, but it doesn't come from a deep, you know, a core principle. So in the sense that, yeah, it could move around if we find something that's in conflict with our current model, that's true.

But so far it's done an amazing job at actually accounting for a lot of the physical phenomena we've been able to see.

But so far it's done an amazing job at actually accounting for a lot of the physical phenomena we've been able to see.

Yeah, I mean, so this is a really subtle question that I feel like you kind of roll your eyes at the first time you're taught this distinction in school, right? But yeah, a model is something that we use to account for phenomena that we observe. So it's very empirical in nature, right?

Yeah, I mean, so this is a really subtle question that I feel like you kind of roll your eyes at the first time you're taught this distinction in school, right? But yeah, a model is something that we use to account for phenomena that we observe. So it's very empirical in nature, right?