Related papers: A.P. Balachandran: Living in Physics
Einstein is considered by many as the father of quantum physics in some sense. Yet there is an unshakable view that he was wrong on quantum physics. Although it may be a subject of considerable debate, the core of his allegedly wrong…
Quantum field theory has formed the conceptual framework of most of physics for more than sixty years. It incorporates a complete revision of our conception of the nature of matter and existence itself. Yet it is rarely taught, or even…
We review the life and remarkable contributions to Physics of Gregor Wentzel.
Abner Shimony was an exceptional human being and a remarkably lucid and penetrating thinker whose work centered on some of the most significant physical and philosophical questions of his era at their nexus. He approached these questions…
The essay is devoted to the personality of the prominent theorist D.V. Volkov and his pioneer works in quantum field theory and elementary particle physics.
This paper traces the seminal roles that physicists and mathematicians have played in the conceptual development of the biological sciences in the past, and especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.
A recent essay [1] reminds us of how richly Boltzmann deserves to be admiringly commemorated for the originality of his ideas on the occasion of his 150th birthday. Without any doubt, the scientific community owes Boltzmann a great debt of…
Ya.B. Zeldovich was a pre-eminent Soviet physicist whose seminal contributions spanned many fields ranging from physical chemistry to nuclear and particle physics, and finally astrophysics and cosmology. March 8, 2014 marks Zeldovich's…
I present my encounter with John Bell at CERN, our collaboration and joint work in particle physics. I also will recall our quantum debates and give my personal view on Bell's fundamental work on quantum theory, in particular, on…
This article reflects on the life and mathematical contributions of Pierre Cartier, a distinguished figure in 20th- and 21st-century mathematics. As a key member of the Bourbaki collective, Cartier played a pivotal role in the formalization…
After a Preface written by the Editors, there follow twelve papers submitted by theoretical physicists from Asia, Europe and the USA.
Carlo Cercignani was known all over the world for his works on the Boltzmann equation and on kinetic theory. There was however another aspect of his scientific life, which is not much known. Namely, his interest for the foundations of…
The contributions of Emmy Noether to particle physics fall into two categories. One is given under the rubric of Noether's theorem, and the other may be described as her important contributions to modern mathematics. These are discussed…
Detlef D\"urr (1951-2021) was a theoretical and mathematical physicist who worked particularly on the foundations of quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, and statistical mechanics. This piece is a rather personal look back at him and his…
Freeman J. Dyson, a brilliant theoretical physicist and a gifted mathematician, passed away on 28 February 2020 at the age of 96. A vignette of his outstanding contributions to physical sciences, ranging from the subject of quantum…
Here I indulge in wide-ranging speculations on the shape of physics, and technology closely related to physics, over the next one hundred years. Themes include the many faces of unification, the re-imagining of quantum theory, and new forms…
Quantum field theory offers physicists a tremendously wide range of application; it is both a language with which a vast variety of physical processes can be discussed and also it provides a model for fundamental physics, the so-called…
Quantum mechanics, one of the most successful theories in the history of science, was created to account for physical systems not describable by classical physics. Though it is consistent with all experiments conducted thus far, many of its…
We briefly review the scientific contributions of the late Prof. Ru-Keng Su in his academic life. In the area of intermediate and high-energy nuclear physics, Su explored various topics in high-energy nuclear physics and particle physics,…
Quantum complementarity is a fundamental feature of quantum systems and has captivated the physics research community for nearly a century, with significant advancements emerging in recent decades. This review traces the historical…