Only a Matter of Time
Here is an unreal look at the what and why of time. Why do we have a sense of time when none of our five senses can sense it?
Science, Philosophy, Physics
Physics
Essays, Journal Articles, Discussion Forum Posts…
Philosophy, Physics, Science
Half a Bucket of Water
When philosophers look at anything, it becomes a bit technical. Their technical analysis may sound boring and irrelevant. Here is an attempt to tilt things in their favor.
Columns, The Wilmott Magazine, Corporate Life, Physics, Quantitative Finance
Modeling the Models
Mathematical finance is built on a couple of assumptions. The most fundamental of them is the one on market efficiency. Is it wise to trust this assumption? Are there limits to it? Are we operating at the right scale to ignore the shakiness of the market efficiency assumption?
Creative, Quotes, Philosophy, Physics, Science
Change the Facts
Of truth and beauty — in physics and philosophy
Creative, Books
The Unreal Universe – Reviewed
This post is a collection of reviews of my first book The Unreal Universe. As I’m beginning to work on my second book (Principles of Quantitative Development, commissioned by Wiley-Finance), I felt that these thoughts on my first book might be of interest to some of you.
Debates, SFN - Science Forums, Philosophy, Physics
The Big Bang Theory – Part II
This post is a continuation of my earlier musings on the Big Bang theory. This one looks at the foundational assumptions of quantum gravity. In management speak, it is a high level overview, which sounds like I understand it. In a physicist’s lingo, it is merely a layman description or a hand-waving argument. In other words, the management types out there may like it better than the smart ones. You be the judge!
Columns, The Wilmott Magazine, Physics, Quantitative Finance
Chaos and Uncertainty
This article appeared in the Wilmott Magazine in Jan 2009, and talks not quite about the chaos and uncertainty of the last few months in finance industry can be summarized in two words. It is more about the physics concepts bearing the same names, and how they can be applied to the turmoil in the financial and economic world.
Debates, Philosophy, Physics
What is Space?
This post examines the realness of our space perception. (Why did you think this blog was called Unreal?)
Articles and Essays, Unpublished, Philosophy, Physics, Science
Light Travel Time Effects and Cosmological Features
This unpublished article is a sequel to my earlier paper (also posted as Are Radio Sources and Gamma Ray Bursts Luminal Booms?). This blog version contains the abstract, introduction and conclusions. The full version of the article is available as a PDF file.
Are Radio Sources and Gamma Ray Bursts Luminal Booms?
This post is the blog version of my article published in the International Journal of Modern Physics D (IJMP-D) in 2007, soon to become the Top Accessed Article of the journal by Jan 2008. Although it might seem like a hard core physics article, it is in fact an application of the philosophical insight permeating this blog and my book.
The Big Bang Theory
People present the Big Bang theory in physics pretty much like Evolution in biology. But I feel that it is disingenuous to do that. To me, it looks as though the Big Bang theory is so full of patchwork, such a mathematical collage to cook up something that is consistent with GR that it is hard to imagine that it corresponds to anything real. Here is a short list of my trouble with the theory.
Science
End of Evolution
Does evolution still work among human beings? Or, have we messed up the potential genetic advantages of random mutations to such an extent that we have stopped evolution on its track?