Related papers: Introduction to Collection "Physics in a Mad World…
In this contribution to the volume in memoriam of Michel Henon, we thought appropriate to look at his early scientific work devoted to the dynamics of large assemblies of interacting masses. He predicted in his PhD thesis that, in such a…
In this lecture, we give a first introduction to neutron stars, based on fundamental physical principles. After outlining their outstanding macroscopic properties, as obtained from observations, we infer the extreme conditions of matter in…
Without a doubt many problems in physics arise as a consequence of our philosophical conception of the world. In this contribution however we endeavor to alleviate this scenario by putting forward a philosophical approach under which some…
Before the establishment of the hot Big Bang scenario as the modern paradigm of cosmology, it faced several early competitors : the so-called stationary cosmological models. There were truly plural and independent approaches incorporating…
In 1935, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen (EPR) published a thought experiment that is entirely correct, has been demonstrated in real experiments, and is now the most famous in quantum physics. Their pioneering work…
The unified theory of physics unifies various phenomena in our observable universe and other universes. The unified theory is based on the zero-energy universe and the space-object structures. Different universes in different developmental…
In his Theory of Light and Colours, presented to the Royal Society in November 1801, Thomas Young defended a mechanical explanation of the coloured fringes observed outside of the shadow of an opaque object-the so-called 'colours by…
Neutron stars are some of the densest manifestations of massive objects in the universe. They are ideal astrophysical laboratories for testing theories of dense matter physics and provide connections among nuclear physics, particle physics…
The first and most compelling evidence of the universe's expansion was, and continues to be, the observed redshift of spectra from distant objects. This paper plays "devil's advocate" by providing an alternative explanation with elementary…
For 30 years, cyclical wind variability in OB stars has puzzled the astronomical community. Phenomenological models involving co-rotating bright spots provide a potential explanation for the observed variations, but the underlying physics…
Picture yourself in the wave zone of a gravitational scattering event of two massive, spinning compact bodies (black holes, neutron stars or stars). We show that this system of genuine astrophysical interest enjoys a hidden $\mathcal{N}=2$…
In 1936, Albert Einstein wrote a brief article where he suggested the possibility that a massive object acted as a lens, amplifying the brightness of a star. As time went by, this phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, has become a…
The unprecedented light curves of the Kepler space telescope document how the brightness of some stars pulsates at primary and secondary frequencies whose ratios are near the golden mean, the most irrational number. A nonlinear dynamical…
In the century since Einstein's anno mirabilis of 1905, our concept of the Universe has expanded from Kapteyn's flattened disk of stars only 10 kpc across to an observed horizon about 30 Gpc across that is only a tiny fraction of an…
Einstein was deeply puzzled by the success of natural science, and thought that we would never be able to explain it. He came to this conclusion on the ground that we cannot extract the basic laws of physics from experience using induction…
One of the most important philosophers in history, the German Friedrich Nietzsche, is almost ignored by physicists. This author who declared the death of God in the 19th century was a science enthusiast, especially in the second period of…
Oppenheimer and Snyder found in 1939 that gravitational collapse in vacuum produces a "frozen star", i.e., the collapsing matter only asymptotically approaches the gravitational radius (event horizon) of the mass, but never crosses it…
During the epoch of reionisation the first galaxies were enshrouded in pristine neutral gas, with one of the brightest emission lines in star-forming galaxies, Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$), expected to remain undetected until the Universe…
We are experiencing a period of extreme intellectual effervescence in the area of cosmology. A huge volume of observational data in unprecedented quantity and quality and a more consistent theoretical framework propelled cosmology to an era…
Superfluids and superconductors are ordinary matter that show a very surprising behavior at low temperatures. As their temperature is reduced, materials of both kinds can abruptly fall into a state in which they will support a persistent,…