Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Supersymmetry vs QCD

Inspiring discussion - Dr. Peter Woit finds a declining trend in the number of articles on Supersymmetry (SUSY) since about 2015. See here. 

But what meaning can we draw from the absolute number?  I find it meaningful to compare with some other subject in particle physics.  I think "QCD" (quantum chromodynamics, the strong force) is a relatively stable subject of study, and it is about something real, unlike SUSY, which has proven to be quite speculative.

So here it is.  The data had to be collected by hand, so there might be transcription errors.

But the downward trend in SUSY relative to QCD begins around 1999.  Maybe particle physics is a bit healthier than expected.