Related papers: The Grand View of Physics
Lev Davidovich Landau was arguably one of the greatest and most versatile physicists. His work spans a very wide range and has had a considerable impact on all areas of physics including condensed matter physics, plasma, high energy and…
In this essay we discuss the difference in views of the Universe as seen by two different observers. While one of the observers follows a geodesic congruence defined by the geometry of the cosmological model, the other observer follows the…
Starting from general considerations, some ideas of the philosopher Derek Parfit on consciousness, self-awareness, and reductionism are briefly reviewed and critically examined from the standpoint of physics.
Einstein's general relativity is increasingly important in contemporary physics on the frontiers of both the very largest distance scales (astrophysics and cosmology) and the very smallest(elementary particle physics). This paper makes the…
I discuss the main features of the concept of law in physics. Fundamental laws from Newtonian mechanics to general relativity are reviewed. I end with an outlook on the new form of laws in the emerging theory of quantum gravity.
We still lack any consensus about what one is actually talking about as one uses quantum mechanics. There is a gap between the abstract terms in which the theory is couched and the phenomena the theory enables each of us to account for so…
Some thoughts are presented on the inter-relation between beauty and truth in science in general and theoretical physics in particular. Some conjectural procedures that can be used to create new ideas, concepts and results are illustrated…
A particular science is not only defined by its object of study, but also by the point of view and method under which it considers that same object. Taking space and time as an illustrative example, our main aim here is to bring out an…
The key difference between math as math and math in science is that in science we blend our physical knowledge with our knowledge of math. This blending changes the way we put meaning to math and even to the way we interpret mathematical…
Despite its apparent complexity, our world seems to be governed by simple laws of physics. This volume provides a philosophical introduction to such laws. I explain how they are connected to some of the central issues in philosophy, such as…
I give a compact, pedagogical review of our present understanding of the universe as based on general relativity. This includes the uniform models, with special reference to the cosmological 'constant'; and the equations for…
However, the observations encompassed by classical physics excludes the observer from the physical reality, yet the deep-down understandung of nature --{\it the quantum theory}-- can not avoid the intrusion of observer into the measurement…
We discuss David Bohm's dual contributions as a physicist and thinker. First, de Grijs introduces Bohm's universe, with an emphasis on the physical quest that led Bohm to the elaboration of an original cosmology at the nexus of science and…
The reader surely knows what particles physics is about: finding building blocks of nature that appear elementary at a given time and study their interactions - so why in the world this essay? The problem is how to arrive at a fundamental…
In this essay, I wish to share a novel perspective based on the principle of universalization in arriving at the relativistic and quantum world from the classical world. I also delve on some insightful discussion on going ``beyond''.
The God Almighty Grand Unification Theory proposed by Oyibo to unify all known forces in nature and other possibly unknown force fields has remained controversial not just because of its ambitious claims but also because of its…
A personal perspective on the future challenges of research in particle physics is presented with emphasis on the role of DIS physics in this endeavour.
Astrobiology is the field of science devoted to searching for life elsewhere in the Universe. It is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating results from multiple fields of science, and in this respect has strong synergies with 'big…
The talk presents the main lines of biography of the prominent physicist and bright personality. Also given is a necessarily brief description of Gribov's scientific work.
The job of a physicist is to describe Nature. General features, hypotheses and theories help to describe physics phenomena at a more abstract, fundamental level, and are sometimes tacitly assigned some sort of real existence; doing so…