Physics • Machine Learning • Curiosity
Welcome to Tensors & Quarks
Exploring the cosmos of physics and the depths of machine learning with hands-on experiments, notes, and essays.
Latest Posts
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Life: A Cosmic Fluke or a Common Spark?
One of the most fundamental questions in astrobiology is whether life is common in the universe. The Earth provides an encouraging clue: fossil evidence suggests that life began relatively quickly after our planet became habitable. A naïve interpretation of this fact is that abiogenesis, the origin of life from non-living chemistry, is easy and should occur rapidly wherever conditions are right. Yet this reasoning runs into a major complication: the emergence of intelligent observers like us took almost the entire span of Earth’s habitable history. If intelligence is slow, then life had to begin early on Earth, otherwise we would not exist at all. This selection effect makes early life a weak indicator of rapid abiogenesis unless intelligence is modeled explicitly alongside it.
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The Equation That Birthed String Theory
In the late 1960s, theoretical physics was at a turning point. The Standard Model was still under construction, and quantum chromodynamics—the theory of the strong force—had not yet emerged in its modern form. Physicists struggled to make sense of how hadrons—particles like protons, neutrons, and pions—scattered at high energies. These interactions exhibited puzzling patterns: an endless tower of resonances and strange scaling behaviors, all seemingly unrelated to point-like particles. Amid this confusion, a single equation appeared that not only modeled these scattering processes with uncanny precision, but also laid the groundwork for what would become string theory.
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The Rumors Are Wrong: Private Equity Still Outperforms
In the investment world, few debates have grown as intense—or as consequential—as the one surrounding the long-term performance of private equity (PE). A growing number of analysts, including a high-profile paper by Ilmanen, Chandra, and McQuinn from AQR, have argued that the golden age of private equity may be over. According to them, net-of-fee returns from private equity no longer provide the edge they once did over public equities. Instead, they suggest that investors are increasingly drawn to private equity for its return-smoothing features, rather than for genuine alpha.
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Glitter Isn’t Gold: How the Gold Standard Fails Modern Economics
To many, gold is the ultimate symbol of stability. So why not tie our money to it again? Because when we did, it wrecked the economy — over and over again.
The Allure of Gold: A False Promise
In times of financial uncertainty, calls to “return to the gold standard” often resurface, echoing from op-eds, political campaigns, and even corners of social media. On the surface, the idea sounds responsible, even noble: tie your nation’s currency to a fixed amount of gold, and suddenly you’ve imposed discipline. No more reckless money printing, no more runaway inflation, no more economic meddling.
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When House Prices Rise, Birth Rates Fall (and Rise): A Tale of Two Households
“Why aren’t young people having kids?”
It’s a question that economists, demographers, and policymakers have been grappling with for years. We often hear explanations that point to rising student debt, changing gender norms, delayed marriage, or even lifestyle preferences. But a groundbreaking paper by economists Lisa J. Dettling and Melissa Schettini Kearney titled “House Prices and Birth Rates: The Impact of the Real Estate Market on the Decision to Have a Baby” adds another powerful force into the conversation — housing.
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