Related papers: Kenneth Geddes Wilson (1936-2013)
A strongly deterministic theory of physics is one that permits exactly one possible history of the universe. In the words of Penrose (1989), ''it is not just a matter of the future being determined by the past; the entire history of the…
A modification of general relativity is presented in which Newton's constant and the cosmological constant become a conjugate pair of dynamical variables.
The main purpose of this article is to provide a guide to theorems on global properties of solutions to the Einstein-Vlasov system. This system couples Einstein's equations to a kinetic matter model. Kinetic theory has been an important…
The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 was one of the most significant developments of science in the last half century. A simplified history has Peter Higgs positing it in the mid-1960s followed by a long wait while experimentalists…
In the post-Maxwellian era, sensing that the tide of discoveries in electromagnetim indicated a decline of the mechanical view, Einstein replaced Newton's three absolutes -- space, time and mass, with a single one, the velocity of light.…
Phillip L. Geissler made important contributions to the statistical mechanics of biological polymers, heterogeneous materials, and chemical dynamics in aqueous environments. He devised analytical and computational methods that revealed the…
This essay provides concise biographical information about eight physicists, astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists from the twentieth century. The portrayed scientists are Hermann Bondi (1919-2005), Charles L. Critchfield…
A new proof of the geodesic character of all motions of bodies that interact only gravitationally - and a detailed illustration of the real meaning of the linearized approximation of general relativity.
At this beginning of the 21st century, the situation of physics is not without analogy with that which prevailed a hundred years ago, with the outset of the double scientific revolution of relativity and quanta. On the one hand, recent…
In this work, a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with dust and a cosmological constant is quantized. By means of a canonical transformation, the classical Hamiltonian is reduced to that of either a harmonic oscillator or…
Laymen and sometimes even physicists think of natural sciences, in particular of theoretical and mathematical physics often as subjects, which unfold according to an intrinsic logical pattern, with the limitations being set only by the…
Realizing a gravitational wave (GW) astronomy in next years is a great challenge for the scientific community. By giving a significant amount of new information, GWs will be a cornerstone for a better understanding of gravitational physics.…
A specific form of the inertial law is presented by which we can have some deeper insight into the essence of mass and inertia. In this modified theory, there is no need to keep the concept of absolute space and Newton's third law as…
Using the general, model independent form of the effective Hamiltonian, the general expressions of the longitudinal, normal and transversal polarization asymmetries for (l^-) and (l^+) and combinations of them for the exclusive (B -> K l^+…
Recollections by the author about how his interactions with John Wheeler influenced his career in physics.
In the past years, variable speed of light (VSL) theories have been of growing interest but also a subject of controversial discussion. They have been accused both for tautologies and for violating special relativity, and concerns have been…
This is a lecture on the ethics and role of science in promoting rational and objective thinking in society. It was delivered by Prof. Shyamal Sengupta of Kolkata, India. Prof. Sengupta, who passed away recently, has inspired generations of…
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.
Every quantum physical system can be considered the ''shadow'' of a special kind of classical system. The system proposed here is classical mainly because each observable function has a well precise value on each state of the system: an…
Karl Stein was one of the pillars of the German school of several complex variables. In this article his scientific contributions are outlined in historical perspective.