Editing Bogdanov affair (section)

==Origin of the affair==
[[Image:Universe expansion-en.svg|thumb|right|299px|The Bogdanov papers assert that there is evidence of what happened during the first 10<sup>−43</sup> seconds of the [[Big Bang]], known as the [[Planck era]]. Present knowledge is unable to determine what happened during the Planck era, and the Bogdanov publications purported to have discovered what happened during this earliest epoch, and even before the moment of the putative [[gravitational singularity|cosmic singularity]] itself.]] The Bogdanov brothers were born in 1949 in the small village of [[Saint-Lary, Gers|Saint-Lary]], in the [[Gascony]] region of southwest France.<ref name="ladepeche">{{cite web|url=http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/08/22/306187-L-ete-scientifique-des-freres-Bogdanoff.html|title=L'été scientifique des frères Bogdanoff|website=[[La Dépêche du Midi|La Dépêche]]|language=fr|date=2001-08-22|last=Abela|first=Frédéric|access-date=2018-02-27}}</ref><ref name="overbye" /> The brothers each studied [[applied mathematics]] in Paris, but then began careers in television, hosting several popular programs on science and science fiction.<ref name="overbye">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/09/arts/are-they-geniuses-b-jokers-french-physicists-cosmic-theory-creates-big-bang-its.html?pagewanted=all |title=Are They a) Geniuses or b) Jokers?; French Physicists' Cosmic Theory Creates a Big Bang of Its Own |first=Dennis |last=Overbye |author-link=Dennis Overbye |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2002-11-09 |page=B2}}</ref><ref name="chronicle"/><ref name="johnson" /> The first of these, ''Temps X'' (''Time X''), ran from 1979 to 1989.<ref name="chronicle">{{cite web|url=http://chronicle.com/article/The-Emperor-s-New-Science/11130|title=The Emperor's New Science: French TV Stars Rock the World of Theoretical Physics|author=Richard Monastersky|website=The Chronicle of Higher Education|date=November 5, 2002|access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spektrum.de/rezension/reise-zur-stunde-null/957293|title=Eine Nullnummer|website=Spektrum.de|first=Frank|last=Schubert|date=2008-06-14|access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref>

In 1991, the Bogdanovs published their book ''Dieu et la Science'' (''God and Science''), drawn from interviews with Catholic philosopher [[Jean Guitton]], which became a French bestseller.<ref name="overbye" /> This book provoked a dispute of its own when [[University of Virginia]] astronomy professor [[Trinh Xuan Thuan]] accused the Bogdanovs of [[plagiarism|plagiarizing]] his 1988<ref name='newscientist'>{{cite news | first=Hazel | last=Muir | title=Twins raise ruckus | date=2002-11-16 | work =[[New Scientist]] | pages =6 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17623690-500-twins-raise-ruckus/ |access-date=2019-07-11 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> book ''The Secret Melody: And Man Created the Universe''. After a legal battle in France, during which a judge initially ruled in Thuan's favour, Thuan and the Bogdanovs settled out of court, and the Bogdanovs later denied all wrongdoing. Thuan suggests that the plagiarism suit pressed the brothers to obtain doctorates as fast as possible, since (according to Thuan) the back cover of the book claimed that the Bogdanovs held doctorates when they did not.<ref name="chronicle"/> In 1993, the brothers began work toward doctorates, first working under the mathematical physicist {{ill|Moshé Flato|fr}} of the [[University of Burgundy]]. Flato died in 1998, and his colleague Daniel Sternheimer (of CNRS) took over the job of supervising the Bogdanovs. According to Sternheimer, the twins viewed themselves as "the Einstein brothers" and had a propensity to voice vague, "impressionistic" statements; he considered guiding their efforts "like teaching [[My Fair Lady]] to speak with an Oxford accent."<ref name="overbye"/> As he said to ''[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]]'', Sternheimer did not consider himself an expert in all the topics Grichka Bogdanov included in his thesis, but judged that those portions within his specialty were PhD-quality work.<ref name="chronicle"/>

Grichka Bogdanov was given a PhD by the University of Burgundy ([[Dijon]]) in 1999,<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Grichka Bogdanoff|title=Fluctuations quantiques de la signature de la métrique à l'échelle de Planck|year=1999|type=doctorate in mathematics|publisher=[[University of Burgundy]]|others=Supervised by Daniel Sternheimer|url=http://www.sudoc.abes.fr/xslt/DB=2.1/SET=5/TTL=1/CMD?ACT=SRCHM&ACT0=SRCH&MATCFILTER=Y&MATCSET=Y&NOSCAN=Y&PARSE_MNEMONICS=N&PARSE_OPWORDS=N&PARSE_OLDSETS=N&IMPLAND=Y&screen_mode=search&IKT0=1004&TRM0=bogdanoff+grichka&ACT1=*&IKT1=4&TRM1=fluctuations&ACT2=*&IKT2=1016&TRM2=&ACT3=*&IKT3=1016&TRM3=&SRT=RLV&ADI_TAA=&ADI_LND=&ADI_JVU=&ADI_MAT=B&ADI_MAT=T&ADI_MAT=F&ADI_MAT=O&ADI_MAT=A&ADI_MAT=M&ADI_MAT=N&ADI_MAT=G&ADI_MAT=V&ADI_MAT=I&ADI_MAT=K&ADI_MAT=Y&ADI_MAT=X&ILN_DEP_BIB=DEP&ADI_BIB=|format=entry in the French academic library directory}}</ref> though this doctorate is sometimes erroneously described as having been granted by the [[École Polytechnique]].<ref name="overbye" /> He originally applied for a degree in physics, but was instead given one in mathematics, and was first required to significantly rewrite his thesis, de-emphasizing the physics content.<ref name="chronicle" /><ref name="le-monde">{{cite web|language=fr|author=Hervé Morin|url=http://www-cosmosaf.iap.fr/Le%20Monde_fr%20%20La%20r%C3%A9putation%20scientifique%20contest%C3%A9e%20des%20fr%C3%A8res.htm|title=La réputation scientifique contestée des frères Bogdanov|work={{Lang|fr|[[Le Monde]]}}|date=19 December 2002|access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref> Around the same time, Igor Bogdanov failed the defense of his thesis.<ref name="chronicle" /> His advisors subsequently agreed to allow him to obtain a doctorate if he could publish three peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2002, after publishing the requisite articles, Igor was given a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Burgundy.<ref name="overbye" /> Both of the brothers received the lowest passing grade of "honorable", which is seldom given, as Daniel Sternheimer told ''[[The New York Times]]'' science reporter [[Dennis Overbye]].<ref name="overbye"/><ref name="chronicle" /> In justifying the conferring of doctoral degrees to the Bogdanovs, Sternheimer told the ''Times'', "These guys worked for 10 years without pay. They have the right to have their work recognized with a diploma, which is nothing much these days."<ref name="overbye"/>

In 2001 and 2002, the brothers published five papers in peer-reviewed physics journals, including ''[[Annals of Physics]]'' and ''[[Classical and Quantum Gravity]]''.<ref name="bogdanov-spires">{{cite web|url=http://inspirehep.net/search?p=FIND+a+BOGDANOFF|title=INSPIRE-HEP citation information for Bogdanov papers|access-date=2018-02-24|website=[[INSPIRE-HEP]]}}</ref><ref name='economist'>{{cite news | title=Publish and perish |url=http://www.economist.com/node/1441745 | date=2002-11-16 | newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> The controversy over the Bogdanovs' work began on October 22, 2002, with an email sent by [[University of Tours]] physicist Max Niedermaier to [[University of Pittsburgh]] physicist [[Ezra T. Newman]].<ref name="nature" /> Niedermaier suggested that the Bogdanovs' PhD theses and papers were "spoof[s]", created by throwing together instances of theoretical-physics jargon, including terminology from [[string theory]]: "The abstracts are delightfully meaningless combinations of buzzwords ... which apparently have been taken seriously."<ref name="nature" /><ref name="newscientist" /> Copies of the email reached American [[mathematical physicist]] [[John Baez]], and on 23 October he created a discussion thread about the Bogdanovs' work on the [[Usenet]] newsgroup ''sci.physics.research'', titled "Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax?"<ref name = "Baez web" /><ref name="usenet">{{cite newsgroup | author=John Baez | title=Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax? | date=2002-10-24 | newsgroup=sci.physics.research |message-id=ap7tq6$eme$1@glue.ucr.edu | url=https://groups.google.com/group/sci.physics.research/browse_frm/thread/28e04d38aabd16f2/09f8fde48d7c3566#09f8fde48d7c3566 }}</ref> Baez was comparing the Bogdanovs' publications to the 1996 [[Sokal affair]], in which physicist [[Alan Sokal]] successfully submitted an intentionally nonsensical paper to a [[cultural studies]] journal in order to criticize that field's lax standards for discussing science. The Bogdanovs quickly became a popular discussion topic, with most respondents agreeing that the papers were flawed.<ref name="economist" /> The story spread in public media, prompting Niedermaier to offer an apology to the Bogdanovs, admitting that he had not read the papers firsthand. The Bogdanovs' background in entertainment lent some plausibility to the idea that they were attempting a deliberate hoax, but Igor Bogdanov quickly denied the accusation.<ref name="overbye" /><ref name="economist" />

The Bogdanov brothers themselves participated in the online discussions, sometimes using pseudonyms or represented by friends acting as proxies.<ref name="distler-bogdanorama"/><ref name="acrimed">{{cite web|url=https://www.acrimed.org/Les-freres-Bogdanov-la-science-et-les-medias|title=Les frères Bogdanov, la science et les médias|website=Acrimed|date=29 November 2004|access-date=11 January 2021|language=fr}}</ref> They used these methods to defend their work and sometimes to insult their critics, among them the [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] recipient [[Georges Charpak]].<ref name="acrimed"/>

In October 2002, the Bogdanovs released an email containing apparently supportive statements by [[Laurent Freidel]], then a visiting professor at the [[Perimeter Institute]].<ref name="chronicle"/> Soon after, Freidel denied writing any such remarks, telling the press that he had forwarded a message containing that text to a friend. The Bogdanovs then attributed the quoted passages to Freidel, who said, "I'm very upset about that because I have received e-mail from people in the community asking me why I've defended the Bogdanov brothers. When your name is used without your consent, it's a violation."<ref name="chronicle"/>

At the start of the controversy in the moderated group ''sci.physics.research'', Igor Bogdanov denied that their published papers were a hoax,<ref>{{cite newsgroup
  | title = Anti Hoax
  | author = Bogdanov, Igor
  | date = 2002-10-29
  | newsgroup = sci.physics.research
  |message-id= apmkrl$nej$1@glue.ucr.edu
  | url = https://groups.google.com/group/sci.physics.research/msg/75b90f8d1018cc9a
  | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref> but when asked precise questions from physicists [[Steve Carlip]] and [[John Baez]] regarding mathematical details in the papers, failed to convince any other participants that these papers had any real scientific value. ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporter [[George Johnson (writer)|George Johnson]] described reading through the debate as "like watching someone trying to nail Jell-O to a wall", for the Bogdanovs had "developed their own private language, one that impinges on the vocabulary of science only at the edges."<ref name="johnson">{{cite news|last=Johnson |first=George |author-link=George Johnson (writer) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/weekinreview/ideas-trends-in-theory-it-s-true-or-not.html?pagewanted=all |title=Ideas & Trends: In Theory, It's True (Or Not) |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2002-11-17 |page=4004004}}</ref>