A Different Universe

Short description: Book by Robert Betts Laughlin

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A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down

First edition cover

Author| Robert B. Laughlin
Country| United States
Language| English
Publisher| Basic Books

Publication date

| March 01, 2005
Media type| Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages| 272 pages
ISBN| 978-0465038282 (reissue)

A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down[1] is a 2005 physics book by Robert B. Laughlin, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the fractional quantum Hall effect. Its title is a play on the P. W. Anderson manifesto More is Different[citation needed] (historically important in claiming that condensed-matter physics deserves greater respect[2]). The book extends his articles "The Middle Way"[3] and "The Theory of Everything",[4] arguing the limits of reductionism. A key concept in Laughlin's works is protectorates, meaning robust physical regimes of behavior that do not depend on (that is, they are protected from the fickle details of) the underlying smaller-scale physics such as quantum noise. Such robust or reliable behavior at macroscopic scales makes possible higher-level entities, from biological life to nanotechnology. The book emphasizes more study of such macroscopic phenomena, sometimes called emergence, over the ever-downward dive into theoretically fundamental ideas such as string theory, which at some point become empirically irrelevant by having no observable consequences in our world. The arguments come full circle with modern dark energy ideas suggesting that spacetime or the vacuum may not be empty, but rather (for all we can observe) a medium, a possibility ironically glimpsed even by Einstein whose career began with demolishing the similar but too-simplistic notion of ether with his special relativity work.

## Reception

Keay Davidson reviewed the book for the New York Times, saying that "Laughlin's thesis is intriguing, if not completely persuasive."[5] Carlos Lourenço, reviewing the book for the CERN Courier, found it "thought-provoking" and "worth reading", though he was left disappointed by the time it spent on seemingly irrelevant topics and polemics against reductionists. Lourenço concludes that "there is a lot of talking but in the end not much physics really gets reinvented."[6]

## References

1. ↑ Laughlin, Robert B. (2017-06-27) (in en-US). A Different Universe. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03829-9. https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/robert-b-laughlin/a-different-universe/9780465038299/.
2. ↑ Martin, Joseph D. (2019-01-01). "When condensed-matter physics became king". Physics Today 72 (1): 30–37. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4110. ISSN 0031-9228. https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/preview/1291599/29160.pdf.
3. ↑ Laughlin, R. B.; Pines, David; Schmalian, Joerg; Stojković, Branko P.; Wolynes, Peter (2000-01-04). "The middle way" (in en). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97 (1): 32–37. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.1.32. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 10618366.
4. ↑ Laughlin, Robert B.; Pines, David (2008-03-28). "The Theory of Everything". Emergence: Contemporary Readings in Philosophy and Science. The MIT Press. pp. 259–268. doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262026215.003.0017. ISBN 978-0-262-02621-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262026215.003.0017. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
5. ↑ Davidson, Keay (2005-06-19). "'A Different Universe': You Are More Important Than a Quark". https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/books/review/a-different-universe-you-are-more-important-than-a-quark.html.
6. ↑ Lourenço, Carlos (2005-11-25). "A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down". https://cerncourier.com/a/a-different-universe-reinventing-physics-from-the-bottom-down/.

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