Quote:
Originally Posted by renormalised
That's true, but he was still right. Phenomenology is nothing more than an attempt to bridge that gulf between the physics "fantasy" and the real world. It's only as successful as those who can understand how to make that bridge, in which case it's the "egg heads" trying to help the "hands on" guys to get the jist of their brand of hieroglyphics  |
In particle physics the "hands on guys" or experimental physicists are very much guided by the theory. The theory not only predicts an outcome but also how an experiment needs to be devised in order to achieve the outcome. That's where phenomenology comes into the picture.
The LHC is a good example. Although the Standard Model does not accurately predict the mass of the Higgs Boson we know the minimum energy required to perform the test. Also the theory predicts how the Higgs boson will decay which will help the hands on guys "where to look".
Steven