The Future of Fundamental Physics.
Fundamental physics began the twentieth century with the twin revolutions of relativity and quantum mechanics, and much of the second half of the century was devoted to the construction of a theoretical structure unifying these radical ideas. But this foundation has also led us to a number of parado...
| Publicado en: | Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Vol. 141; no. 3; pp. 53 - 67 |
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| Formato: | Essay |
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MIT Press
Summer2012
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=77846656&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 77846656 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00115266 DED jtl: Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences issn: 00115266 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Summer2012 vid: 141 iid: 3 pid: 776 pub: MIT Press artinfo: ui: 77846656 10.1162/DAED_a_00161 ppf: 53 ppct: 14 formats: tig: atl: The Future of Fundamental Physics. aug: au: Arkani-Hamed, Nima affil: Fellow of the American Academy Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study su: Physics Quantum theory Relativity (Physics) Gravity Spacetime Nuclear physics Quantum field theory Supersymmetry sug: subj: Physics Quantum theory Relativity (Physics) Gravity Spacetime Nuclear physics Quantum field theory Supersymmetry ab: Fundamental physics began the twentieth century with the twin revolutions of relativity and quantum mechanics, and much of the second half of the century was devoted to the construction of a theoretical structure unifying these radical ideas. But this foundation has also led us to a number of paradoxes in our understanding of nature. Attempts to make sense of quantum mechanics and gravity at the smallest distance scales lead inexorably to the conclusion that spacetime is an approximate notion that must emerge from more primitive building blocks. Furthermore, violent short-distance quantum fluctuations in the vacuum seem to make the existence of a macroscopic world wildly implausible, and yet we live comfortably in a huge universe. What, if anything, tames these fluctuations? Why is there a macroscopic universe? These are two of the central theoretical challenges of fundamental physics in the twenty-first century. In this essay, I describe the circle of ideas surrounding these questions, as well as some of the theoretical and experimental fronts on which they are being attacked. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Essay src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2012 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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