Related papers: Addressing the Crisis in Fundamental Physics
We discuss the fundamental principles underlying the current physical theories and the prospects of further improving their knowledge through experiments in space.
It is extraordinary that a number of observations indicate that we live in a spatially flat, low matter density Universe, which is currently undergoing a period of accelerating expansion. The effort to explain this current state has focused…
The dramatic confrontation between new observations and theories of the early and recent universe makes cosmology one of the most rapidly advancing fields in the physical sciences. The universe is a unique laboratory in which to probe…
The Dark Energy problem is forcing us to re-examine our models and our understanding of relativity and space-time. Here a novel idea of Fundamental Forces is introduced. This allows us to perceive the General Theory of Relativity and…
Advances in quantum technologies are giving rise to a revolution in the way fundamental physics questions are explored at the empirical level. At the same time, they are the seeds for future disruptive technological applications of quantum…
Cosmology is living through fascinating times, where new observations from ground and space telescopes are questioning the established paradigm, the so-called Lambda Cold Dark Matter model. The particle nature of Dark Matter is severely…
High-energy cosmic neutrinos can reveal new fundamental particles and interactions, probing energy and distance scales far exceeding those accessible in the laboratory. This white paper describes the outstanding particle physics questions…
High energy physics aims to understand the fundamental laws of particles and their interactions at both the largest and smallest scales of the universe. This typically means probing very high energies or large distances or using…
I review the theoretical motivation for varying fundamental couplings and discuss how these measurements can be used to constrain a number of fundamental physics scenarios that would otherwise be inacessible to experiment. As a case study I…
The recent discovery of "dark energy" has challenged Einstein's general theory of relativity as a complete model for our macroscopic universe. From a theoretical view, the challenge is even stronger: general relativity clearly does not…
Rising to Mach, the problem of establishing the unity of the physical essence of the Universe on all space-time scales of its evolution is, apparently, one of the main problems in contemporary epistemology. The issues are primarily related…
We outline a dynamical dark energy scenario whose signatures may be simultaneously tested by astronomical observations and laboratory experiments. The dark energy is a field with slightly sub-gravitational couplings to matter, a logarithmic…
Associated with the cosmic acceleration are the old and new cosmological constant problems, recently put into the more general context of the dark energy problem. In broad terms, the old problem is related to an unexpected order of…
Space-based experiments today can uniquely address important questions related to the fundamental laws of Nature. In particular, high-accuracy physics experiments in space can test relativistic gravity and probe the physics beyond the…
Laboratory experiments provide a valuable complement to explore the fundamental physics of space plasmas without the limitations inherent to spacecraft measurements. Specifically, experiments overcome the restriction that spacecraft…
This paper makes the simple observation that a fundamental length, or cutoff, in the context of Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology implies very different things than for a static universe. It is argued that it is…
Among the known particles, the neutron takes a special position, as it provides experimental access to all four fundamental forces and a wide range of hypothetical interactions. Despite being unstable, free neutrons live long enough to be…
Current constraints on the dark energy equation of state parameter, $w$, are expected to be improved by more than one order of magnitude in the next decade. If $|w-1| \gsim 0.01$ around the present time, but the dark energy dynamics is…
We consider some of the epistemic benefits of exploring "theory space" in the context of modifications of general relativity with intended applications in cosmology. We show how studying modifications of general relativity can help in…
The mysterious `dark energy' needed to explain the current observations, poses a serious confrontation between fundamental physics and cosmology. The present crisis may be an outcome of the (so far untested) prediction of the general theory…