Fundamentals

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Fundamentals Page 21

by Frank Wilczek


  and time reversal, 189

  unified field theory, 122–24, 166

  See also dark energy; dark matter; general relativity; gravitons

  Gross, David, 112–13

  Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), 60

  Guth, Alan, 156

  gyros, 74–75

  hadrons, 112, 118, 190

  heat death (of the universe), 165

  Heisenberg, Werner, 100, 210, 211

  helium, 135, 155

  Hertz, Heinrich, 98–99

  Higgs, Peter, 173–74

  Higgs condensate, 123, 173–75

  Higgs particle (Higgs boson), 57, 175–78, 234–35, 236

  Hipparcos space mission, 24, 26

  Hodgkin, Dorothy Crowfoot, 34

  holes, 87–88

  hot-air balloons, 213–14

  Hubble, Edwin, 28–29, 145–46, 148, 153

  human activities and purposes

  energy needs and supplies for, 126–30, 140–41, 165–66

  future of, 137–41

  historical productivity growth, 3

  human behavior, predicting, 215, 217–18

  human biology

  atoms in the human body, 14–15, 131

  complexity of brain processes, 129, 134–35, 138

  DNA sequences, 131–32

  energy consumption, 126–27

  environmental conditions required for life, 137

  and human knowledge, 205

  lifespan, 60

  sensory perception, 129, 169, 170–71, 205

  vision, xiv–xv, xvii, 24, 34–35, 53, 170–71, 205

  See also human cognition

  human cognition

  vs. artificial intelligence, 54, 204, 220–22

  biology of, 53, 58, 129, 134–35, 225–26

  complexity of, 134–35, 138

  infants’ cognitive development, xv–xvi, 1–2, 226

  potential of, 205, 225–26

  self-perception, xvii–xviii, 185–86, 225–27

  and time, 52–54, 58–60

  human development, xv–xvi, 1–2, 34–35, 46, 66, 226

  human mind

  complementarity as mind expanding, 206–7, 218–19

  mind/matter relationship, 64, 69, 187, 225–27

  See also human cognition

  human origins and history, 3, 50, 52

  Hume, David, 219

  humility/self-respect complementarity, 221–22

  Huygens, Christian, 55

  Hyades star cluster, 26

  hydrogen, 135, 136, 155

  imagination, 58, 207, 218–19, 224

  imaging techniques, 31–37, 56

  induction, law of, 95–96, 97

  inertia and inertial mass, 35, 74, 115, 198, 231, 232

  infant development, xv–xvi, 1–2, 34–35, 46, 66, 226

  inflation concept, 156–57, 162, 189

  information flows and processing, 52–54, 137

  digital information processing, 54, 58, 138–39

  for Higgs particle detection, 176–77

  human cognition, 52–54, 58–60, 129, 134–35, 138, 185–86

  quantum computing, 89–90, 139, 165–66, 185

  supercomputers, 120, 176, 204, 220, 221

  See also dynamic complexity

  infrared radiation, 98, 171

  instability/disequilibrium

  gravitational instability, 149–51, 156, 161–62, 164, 189

  See also provisional stability

  intelligence, 206

  See also artificial intelligence; human cognition; knowledge

  interaction, observation or measurement as, 210–11

  interactions, vs. forces, 104

  See also fundamental forces; specific forces

  interpretive ladders, 33, 34, 37

  jets, 238–40

  Kepler, Johannes, xiii, 7, 8, 146–47, 196

  Keynes, John Maynard, 41

  Kierkegaard, Søren, 207

  K mesons, 190

  knowledge, xiii, 204–5

  See also artificial intelligence; human cognition; scientific knowledge and understanding

  Kobayashi, Makoto, 191

  Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 176

  Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) observations, 58–59, 179–82

  Lasker, Emanuel, 204

  Laughlin, Robert, 89

  laws. See fundamental laws; specific laws

  learning. See human cognition; knowledge; perception

  Leavitt, Henrietta, 27

  Leinaas, Jon Magne, 89

  Lemaître, Georges, 29

  leptons, 191

  Le Verrier, Urbain, 194–95

  Lewis, Gilbert, 82

  LHC (Large Hadron Collider), 176

  light, 82

  bending of (gravitational lensing), 196–97

  as electromagnetic disturbance, 98, 100

  light-quanta hypothesis, 82–83, 99, 100–101, 107

  light speed, 23, 30–31, 179, 182, 200

  and microscopy, 31, 32

  star brightness and cosmic distance measurements, 25–27

  visible to humans, 170–71

  See also photons

  light-years, 23–24, 25, 27, 30–31

  LIGO observations, 58–59, 179–82

  Linde, Andrei, 157

  locality, 63–64, 65, 66–67, 68–69, 96, 102, 191

  “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The” (Eliot), 53–54

  lunar cycles, 44, 45

  Magellanic Clouds, 27

  magnetic force and field, 80, 81, 95–98, 99–100

  See also electromagnetic force and field

  magnetic monopoles, 166

  Making of the Atomic Bomb, The (Rhodes), 110

  mantis shrimps, 171

  Marsden, Ernest, 35–37, 56

  Maskawa, Toshihide, 191

  mass

  of atomic nuclei, 36, 78–79

  and energy, 85, 113–14, 232

  as fundamental property, 73, 74, 77, 231–32

  and gravity, 115, 117, 231

  and inertia, 231

  origins of, 113–14

  provided by dark matter and dark energy, 197, 199

  of specific particle types, 78, 79, 84–85, 86, 231–32, 235, 236–37

  and superconductivity, 88

  See also dark energy; dark matter; matter

  material abundance, xiv, 21–22, 38, 149–51, 156, 161–62

  future of, 137–41

  material complexity. See complexity

  material science, future of, 90–92, 120–21

  mathematics

  combinatorial explosion, 131–32

  and complementarity, 209

  for expression of basic laws and forces, 64, 93–94, 104–5, 120

  Maxwell’s equations, 97–98, 99–100, 178, 189, 234

  of quantum theory, 100, 108, 121, 209, 211

  Ramsey theory, 41

  See also Euclidean geometry

  Mather, John, 162

  matter

  general principles governing behavior of, 63–72

  humans as, 226–27

  identifying the building blocks of, 62–63

  microscopy techniques for investigating, 31–37

  mind/matter relationship, 64, 69, 187, 225–27

  ordinary matter defined, 78

  origins of, 152

  primary properties of, 72–77, 86, 231–34

  space as, 39, 40, 90

  space-time as, 40, 57, 178

  See also atoms; dark energy; dark matter; elementary particles; fields; mass; mate
rial abundance

  Matthew effect, 161

  Maxwell, James Clerk, xiii, 52, 95, 96–99, 105, 178, 189, 234

  measurements

  of cosmic distances, 23–28, 30–31, 198–99

  physical influence of measurement/observation, 210–11

  position/velocity measurement complementarity, 208–13, 214

  and time, 20

  of time, 45, 47–52, 55–57

  See also distances and distance measurement

  memory, 58, 60, 89–90

  Mercury, 194–95, 196

  metamaterials, 90

  microscopy, 31–37, 56

  microwaves/microwave radiation, 98, 154

  cosmic microwave background, 154–55, 157, 162, 163, 200–201

  Milky Way, size of, 27

  Millikan, Robert, 83

  mind, human. See human cognition; human mind

  molecules and molecular processes, 131–34

  momentum, 212, 238–39

  angular momenta, 74–76

  See also position/velocity measurement complementarity

  moons, 22

  morality, and scientific understanding, 227–28

  motion, 66–67, 115–16

  galactic motion and the universe’s expansion, 28–31, 145–46, 149–50, 153–54, 165

  human, 129

  position/velocity measurement complementarity, 208–13, 214

  of satellites, 18

  of space, 40

  See also acceleration; inertia and inertial mass; planetary motion and arrangements; velocity

  Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 52

  multiverse, 38–39

  muons, 237

  music, 46, 108, 147, 209, 216–17

  Myrheim, Jan, 89

  mysteries, 187–205

  axions, 122, 159, 166, 201–2

  the dark matter problem, 193–97

  the future of mystery itself, 203–5

  how they end, 203

  time reversal, 148–49, 188–92, 203

  See also dark energy; dark matter

  Neptune, 194, 196

  neurons, xiv, 53, 54, 134–35, 221

  neutrinos, 118, 151, 157–58, 235–36

  neutrons, 62, 79

  neutron decay, 118–19, 135

  neutron stars, 180, 182

  Newton, Isaac, xiii, 7–8, 9, 18, 66–67

  Newtonian mechanics. See classical mechanics

  Nobel Prizes, 113, 162, 180

  nuclear chemistry, 59

  See also atomic nuclei

  nuclear energy, 120, 141, 235

  nuclear burning in stars, 113, 135–36, 163, 165, 166, 235

  nuclear physics, 110

  See also atomic nuclei

  nuclear weapons, 141, 235

  Odd John (Stapledon), 222

  Omar Khayyam, 173

  “On the Shortness of Life” (Seneca), 43–44

  parallax, 24, 27

  particle accelerators, 57, 175–76, 190, 191, 234–35, 236

  Particle Data Group website, 238

  particles, 67

  and fields, 99, 100–102

  scattering experiments, 35–37, 56, 110–11

  See also elementary particles; quasiparticles; specific particle types

  Pascal, Blaise, 14, 15, 43

  Pascual-Leone, Alvaro, xvii–xviii

  Paul, Saint, 168

  Pauli, Wolfgang, 235–36

  Peccei, Roberto, 192, 201

  Penzias, Arno, 154

  perception

  human self-perception, xviii, 185–86, 225–27

  human vision, xiv–xv, xvii, 24, 34–35, 53, 170–71, 205

  and physical properties, 72–74

  sensory perception in humans and animals, 129, 169–71, 205

  perception, expanded, xv–xviii, 168–86

  future potential for, 182–86

  gravitational wave discovery/detection, 178–82

  Higgs particle discovery/detection, 172–78

  technologies for, 4, 171, 179

  phantom hand illusion, 183

  photography, digital, 138

  photon field, 106

  See also electromagnetic force and field

  photons, 62

  behavior and properties of, 78, 83, 84, 85, 88, 232

  and the big bang, 152, 154–55, 163

  early work predicting existence of, 82–83, 99, 100–101

  interchangeability as evidence of fields, 101–2

  photon pairs as product of Higgs particle decays, 177

  See also spectra and spectroscopy

  Picasso, Pablo, 217

  Pierce, John R., 9, 223

  Planck, Max, 82, 99, 107

  Planck length, 40

  Planck’s constant and the Planck-Einstein relation, 100–101, 107, 108

  planetary motion and arrangements, 5–8, 24, 44, 45, 146–47, 193–97

  planets

  formation and ages of, 52

  mass of, 22

  See also planetary motion; specific planets

  planned discovery, 172

  plate tectonics, 113, 235

  Plato, 168–69, 219

  plenty. See energy abundance; material abundance; spatial abundance; time

  Politzer, David, 113

  Pöllänen, Minna, 216–17

  polyphonic music, 216–17

  position/velocity measurement complementarity, 208–13, 214

  precision, of basic laws, 64, 65

  Principia (Newton), 94

  properties of matter

  emergent properties, 214–15

  fundamental properties, 72–77, 86, 231–34

  protons, 62

  behavior and properties of, 79, 83, 84, 85, 110

  as products of neutron decay, 118, 119

  proton decay, 123, 166

  proton interiors, 110–13, 114

  in the solar nuclear burning process, 135–36, 163

  provisional stability, 131, 132–34

  psychology and psychological processes

  human self-perception, xvii–xviii, 185–86, 225–27

  humility/self-respect complementarity, 221–22

  psychological models of human behavior, 215, 217–18

  and time, 58–60

  See also human cognition

  Ptolemy’s synthesis, 6–7

  QCD (quantum chromodynamics), 103, 123, 203, 234

  basics of, 109–14

  and dynamic complexity, 136

  jets, 238–40

  supercomputers for QCD calculations, 204, 220–21

  unified field theory, 122–24, 166

  QED (quantum electrodynamics), 100, 103, 119–20, 234

  basics of, 105–9

  and dynamic complexity, 136

  unified field theory, 122–24, 166

  quanta, xvii, 74–75, 87, 201

  See also elementary particles; specific particle types

  quantum chromodynamics. See QCD

  quantum computing, 89–90, 139, 165–66, 185

  quantum conditions, 100, 108, 121

  quantum electrodynamics. See QED

  quantum perception, 184–85

  quantum theory and mechanics, 184, 191

  and angular momenta, 74–76

  emergence of quantum theory, 108, 207–8

  features/properties of, xvii, 74–75, 184–85

  mathematics of, 100, 108, 121, 209, 211

  quantum complementarity, 208–13

  quantum fields and Peccei-Quinn theory, 99–102, 121, 192, 201

  quantum perception/self-perception, 184–86r />
  and subatomic distance measurements, 39–40

  wave functions and complexity, 167

  quarks, 62, 121, 151

  behavior and properties of, 75, 78, 83–85, 112–13, 114, 238–40

  bonus particles, 191, 236–37

  discovery/detection of, 111–12

  jets as avatars of, 238–40

  and QCD, 112–13, 204

  and weak force processes, 118, 119

  quasiparticles, 87–88, 89–90

  Quinn, Helen, 192

  Rabi, I. I., 236

  radiation, 98, 99, 171

  afterglows of the big bang, 152, 154–55, 157–59, 163, 200, 202

  cosmic background radiation, 152, 154–55, 157, 162, 163, 200–201

  Radical Conservatism, 4–5, 8, 21, 105, 224–26

  radioactivity, 103–4, 113

  radioactive dating, 47–51, 154

  Ramsey, Frank, 41–43

  redshifts, 28–29, 153, 154, 198

  reference frames, 17

  relativity, 191

  See also general relativity; gravity; special relativity

  religion, xiii, 219, 224

  reptiles, 171

  Rhodes, Richard, 110

  robotics, 183–84

  Rogers-Ramachandran, Diane, 183

  Rogers-Ramachandran, Vilayanur, 183

  Rutherford, Ernest, 35–37

  satellites. See GPS

  scanning microscopy, 35

  Schrieffer, J. Robert, 89

  Schubert, Franz, 52

  science fiction, 43, 59, 70, 222

  scientific knowledge and understanding, xii, xiii, 119–22, 223–28

  Core concept, 121–25

  potential dangers of, 139–41

  scientific method and discovery, 4–5, 19–20

  and complementarity, 210–11, 215–16, 217–19

  and the four basic principles, 64–66, 68–69

  interpretive ladders, 33, 34, 37

  physical influence of observation/measurement, 210–11

  Scientific Revolution, 4–9, 65

  seasonal cycles, 45

  self-perception, xvii–xviii, 185–86, 225–27

  self-reproduction, 91–92

  self-respect/humility complementarity, 221–22

  Seneca, 43–44

  sensory perception. See perception

  simplicity, 64, 73, 226

  complexity within, 160, 166–67, 189

  size and scale

  of the cosmos, 13–14, 23–28

  and the human perspective, 42–43

  See also distances and distance measurement; measurements

  smart materials, 90–91

  Smoot, George, 162

  Socrates, 168–69

  solar energy, 127–28, 135–36, 163

  capture and use of, 90, 140

  and dynamic complexity, 127–28, 133–34, 135–36, 163

 

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