pmbryant
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Mon Jan-31-05 10:57 AM
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The 25 most important questions in physics |
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Via Sean Carroll's Preposterous Universe blog and John Ellis' entry in Quantum Diaries, here is a list of what 2004 Physics Nobel winner David Gross thinks are the 25 most important questions in physics today: 1 - The origin of the Universe:
Was there a Big Bang, was it preceded by a Big Crunch, ....
2 - The nature of Dark Matter:
Is it composed of some unknown elementary particle, if so, what ....
3 - The nature of Dark Energy:
What is its microphysical origin, is it constant or varying ....
4 - The formation of structures in the Universe:
Testing the standard Cold Dark Matter paradigm, formation of stars ..
5 - The validity of General Relativity:
Does it work at all scales, in strong fields, ....
6 - The validity of Quantum Mechanics:
Is it modified at short distances, for large systems, in the Universe ...
7 - The problems not solved by the Standard Model of particles:
Particle types, masses and mixing, unification of forces ....
8 - The existence of supersymmetry:
Does this framework for new physics appear at accessible energies ....
9 - The solution of QCD:
Can it be solved analytically, e.g., via a string model ....
10 - The nature of string theory:
What is it ....
11 - The nature of space and time:
Are they fundamental or emergent phenomena ....
12 - Whether the laws of physics are unique:
Perhaps they are statistical accidents ....
13 - Can kinematics, dynamics and initial conditions be separated:
Perhaps they cannot be disentangled ....
14 - Are there new states of condensed matter:
Not just the usual Fermi liquids ....
15 - The understanding of complexity in computing:
Is there something beyond the artefacts of approximations ....
16 - The construction of a quantum computer:
One with 10,000 qbits would be useful ....
17 - The existence of a room-temperature superconductor:
It would make a technological revolution ....
18 - The existence of a theory of biology:
Does it have an underlying conceptual structure, like physics ....
19 - Deducing physical form from genomics:
Can one deduce the shape of an organism from its DNA sequence ....
20 - The physical basis of consciousness:
New physics, emergent phenomenon, or ....
21 - Could a computer become a creative physicist:
Would we train it starting from Newton and Einstein ....
22 - How to avoid the balkanization of physics:
People from different fields should understand each other ....
23 - The scope of reductionism:
Is it universal, or do new laws emerge in complex systems ....
24 - The role of theory:
Does it lead or follow experiment ....
25 - How to avoid depending on unrealizable big physics projects:
They cannot continue for ever growing in size, cost and time-scale ....
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brainshrub
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Mon Jan-31-05 10:59 AM
Response to Original message |
1. 26. If you spell Dog back-wards, you get God. |
OneBlueSky
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Mon Jan-31-05 12:40 PM
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3. 27. Does anything fill the vaccuum between Bush's ears? . . . n/t |
sakabatou
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Tue Feb-01-05 07:33 PM
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5. 28. Can you vacuum seal all the RW pundits' heads? |
trotsky
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Mon Jan-31-05 11:02 AM
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The next generation of supercolliders will likely answer several of these, which is tantalizing.
But #24 seems like a "chicken-or-the-egg" question to me. Sometimes you come up with a theory to try and explain something, then test it with an experiment. Other times, you are running an experiment and find an unexplained phenomenon, and come up with a theory. Which of course is followed up with more experiments, which leads to refinement of the theory, etc.
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On the Road
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Tue Feb-01-05 04:51 PM
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4. I Saw an an Article on Improvement in Collider Technology |
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in which streams of charged particles could be accelerated further with lasers, I think it was. Makes it easier to reach Higgs particle energies. Good thing -- the estimates were raised further recenty.
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DU
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Tue May 07th 2024, 09:42 PM
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