John Donoghue
@jfdonoghue.bsky.social
Theoretical physics. University of Massachusetts. https://websites.umass.edu/donoghue/
Reposted by John Donoghue
For 48 years, physicists largely ignored a theory of gravity that was riddled with ghosts, nonsensical-seeming particles that have a negative probability of arising. Recent work by John Donoghue and Gabriel Menezes has helped reinvigorate the theory. www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
For 48 years, physicists largely ignored a theory of gravity that was riddled with ghosts, nonsensical-seeming particles that have a negative probability of arising. Recent work by John Donoghue and Gabriel Menezes has helped reinvigorate the theory. www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
This is a good article about a subtle topic in quantum gravity.
In a theory called quadratic gravity, “ghost” particles violate physicists’ intuition of quantum fields. This made the theory unpopular for decades. Now, it’s experiencing a resurgence.
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
@walkingthedot.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback | Quanta Magazine
Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?
www.quantamagazine.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:44 PM
This is a good article about a subtle topic in quantum gravity.
This is my talk at the Campagna conference www.pifp2025.it/home
July 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This is my talk at the Campagna conference www.pifp2025.it/home
This was quite an interesting and well organized conference.
[PIFP2025]
From Puzzles to New Insights in Fundamental Physics
23-27 June 2025
Website: www.pifp2025.it/home
Speakers: www.pifp2025.it/speakers
Recordings:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
From Puzzles to New Insights in Fundamental Physics
23-27 June 2025
Website: www.pifp2025.it/home
Speakers: www.pifp2025.it/speakers
Recordings:
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
July 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This was quite an interesting and well organized conference.
I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet, but we have gotten word from CERN that both Mary K Gaillard and Jonathan Rosner have died. Their paper with Ben Lee was the entry to charm physics for so many of us, but each had separately a large impact on particle physics.
May 25, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I haven’t seen it mentioned here yet, but we have gotten word from CERN that both Mary K Gaillard and Jonathan Rosner have died. Their paper with Ben Lee was the entry to charm physics for so many of us, but each had separately a large impact on particle physics.
Reposted by John Donoghue
Great news! Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics by Ta-Pei Cheng and Ling-Fong Li (Oxford) is now OPEN ACCESS! 🎉 You can read and download it for free using the PDF link below. 📖✨
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...
January 28, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Great news! Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics by Ta-Pei Cheng and Ling-Fong Li (Oxford) is now OPEN ACCESS! 🎉 You can read and download it for free using the PDF link below. 📖✨
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/...
I don't mean to keep harping on my books, but I just noticed that my QFT book with Lorenzo Sorbo "A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory" is presently discounted to only $22.37 on the Princeton University Press website. Seems to be a good price.
press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/...
press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/...
A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory
A concise, beginner-friendly introduction to quantum field theory
press.princeton.edu
January 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I don't mean to keep harping on my books, but I just noticed that my QFT book with Lorenzo Sorbo "A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory" is presently discounted to only $22.37 on the Princeton University Press website. Seems to be a good price.
press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/...
press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/...
This was posted due to the news that Gene Golowich has passed away. A sad event an an end of an era for many of us.
The most highly cited papers of Eugene Golowich
inspirehep.net/authors/1008...
inspirehep.net/authors/1008...
January 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
This was posted due to the news that Gene Golowich has passed away. A sad event an an end of an era for many of us.
Thanks for highlighting this. I had felt that it was mostly forgotten. Also thanks for doing these posts throughout December - I have enjoyed them and saved many for further study.
Dec 29 - Dispersion Relations & EFT
arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9...
Donoghue shows how to use subtracted dispersion relations to expose the structure of EFT. Specifically, this technique precisely illustrates UV information can be traded to local contact interactions.
arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9...
Donoghue shows how to use subtracted dispersion relations to expose the structure of EFT. Specifically, this technique precisely illustrates UV information can be traded to local contact interactions.
December 29, 2024 at 4:04 PM
Thanks for highlighting this. I had felt that it was mostly forgotten. Also thanks for doing these posts throughout December - I have enjoyed them and saved many for further study.
My new paper giving reasons why the cosmological constant and Newton's constant should not be treated as running parameters in physical processes.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.08773
arxiv.org/abs/2412.08773
Do $Λ_{CC}$ and $G$ run?
No. In this brief pedagogic note, I describe why the cosmological constant and Newton's constant are not running parameters in physical reactions.
arxiv.org
December 13, 2024 at 3:25 PM
My new paper giving reasons why the cosmological constant and Newton's constant should not be treated as running parameters in physical processes.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.08773
arxiv.org/abs/2412.08773
Astro/cosmo folks: Does anyone have an informed opinion on this work which says that the recent DESI result on running dark energy depends heavily on a couple of outlier points. The authors give the appropriate caveats, but it seems important.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.01740
arxiv.org/abs/2412.01740
Outliers in DESI BAO: robustness and cosmological implications
We apply an Internal Robustness (iR) analysis to the recently released Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) baryon acoustic oscillations dataset. This approach examines combinations of data sub...
arxiv.org
December 3, 2024 at 3:02 PM
Astro/cosmo folks: Does anyone have an informed opinion on this work which says that the recent DESI result on running dark energy depends heavily on a couple of outlier points. The authors give the appropriate caveats, but it seems important.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.01740
arxiv.org/abs/2412.01740
Steven Weinberg: A Life in Physics | Theoretical physics and mathematical physics
cup.org
November 14, 2024 at 12:31 PM
I am moving here from Twitter. That site is too full of misinformation and unhappiness. It is part of the problem and hopefully moving here can recreate a portion of the Science Twitter experience.
November 7, 2024 at 12:59 AM
I am moving here from Twitter. That site is too full of misinformation and unhappiness. It is part of the problem and hopefully moving here can recreate a portion of the Science Twitter experience.