Related papers: Fundamental Physical Constants: Looking from Diffe…
This review article is devoted to application of precision molecular spectroscopy to studies of the possible spatial and temporal variations of the fundamental constants. Both astrophysical observations and laboratory experiments are…
It is a fascinating subject to explore how well we can understand the processes of life on the basis of fundamental laws of physics. It is emphasised that viewing biological processes as manipulation of information extracts their essential…
A brief description of the main methods for determining the fine structure constant is given. It is shown that the exact value of the fine structure constant is important for the new International System of Units (SI) and for fundamental…
Magnetic fields are everywhere in the Universe and in our everyday life and many processes are affected by their presence, generating a rich phenomenology that depends also on other possible external agents. We review here some results,…
I contrast two possible attitudes towards a given branch of physics: as inferential (i.e., as concerned with an agent's ability to make predictions given finite information), and as dynamical (i.e., as concerned with the dynamical equations…
The quantization of gravity, and its unification with the other interactions, is one of the greatest challenges of theoretical physics. Current ideas suggest that the value of G might be related to the other fundamental constants of…
Quantum particles and classical particles are described in a common setting of classical statistical physics. The property of a particle being "classical" or "quantum" ceases to be a basic conceptual difference. The dynamics differs,…
This study proposes that all the known fundamental forces including gravity may be described by local gauge theories. Gravitational, electroweak, and strong interactions on length scales from 10^{-33} cm to 10^{28} cm are systematically…
This paper reviews connections between physics and computation, and explores their implications. The main topics are computational "hardness" of physical systems, computational status of fundamental theories, quantum computation, and the…
Information is everywhere in nature which is very uncertain and unpredictable. But information, in itself, is a very ambiguous term. In this cursory write-up, we attempt to understand the formal meaning of information by quantifying…
The passage of particles through matter is one of the principal ways to investigate nature. In this article, we would like to outline the most important stages in the development of the theory about the stopping power.
From classical mechanics to quantum field theory, the physical facts at one point in space are held to be independent of those at other points in space. I propose that we can usefully challenge this orthodoxy in order to explain otherwise…
We consider an application of precision frequency measurements to searches for possible time variations of the fundamental physical constants. Current laboratory constraints on variations of the fine structure constant alpha and other…
Even though quantum mechanics has existed for almost 100 years, questions concerning the foundation and interpretation of the theory still remain. These issues have gathered more attention in recent years, but does this mean that physicists…
Quantum sensing is a rapidly growing approach to probe fundamental physics and explore new phase space for possible new physics with precision and highly sensitive measurements in our quest to understand the deep structure of matter and its…
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…
Our collective views regarding the question "what is fundamental?" are continually evolving. These ontological shifts in what we regard as fundamental are largely driven by theoretical advances ("what can we calculate?"), and experimental…
Quantum physics and biology have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines, describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and living species on the other hand. Over the last decades the life sciences have succeeded in…
Although not as wide, and popular, as that of quantum mechanics, the investigation of fundamental aspects of statistical mechanics constitutes an important research field in the building of modern physics. Besides the interest for itself,…
Many physical theories beyond the Standard Model predict time variations of basic physics parameters. Direct measurement of the time variations of these parameters is very difficult or impossible to achieve. By contrast, measurements of…