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xi | |
Foreword |
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xvi | |
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Editors' preface |
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xviii | |
Preface: Freeman J. Dyson |
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xxi | |
Laureates' preface: Reflections from Four Physics Nobelists |
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xxiii | |
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Acknowledgments |
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xxxi | |
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Part I Illumination: The History and Future of Physical Science and Technology |
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1 A short history of light in the Western world |
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3 | (21) |
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24 | (15) |
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39 | (16) |
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4 The end of everything: Will AI replace humans? Will everything die when the universe freezes over? |
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55 | (20) |
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Part II Fundamental Physics and Quantum Mechanies |
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75 | (30) |
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6 New insights on time symmetry in quantum mechanies |
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105 | (47) |
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7 The major unknowns in particle physics and cosmology |
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152 | (19) |
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8 The major unknown in quantum mechanies: Is it the whole truth? |
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171 | (14) |
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9 Precision cosmology and the landscape |
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185 | (32) |
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10 Hairy black holes, phase transitions, and AdS/CFT |
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217 | (16) |
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Part III Astrophysics and Astronomy |
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11 The microwave background: a cosmic time machine |
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233 | (14) |
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12 Dark matter and dark energy |
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247 | (47) |
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13 New directions and intersections for observational cosmology: the case of dark energy |
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294 | (15) |
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14 Inward bound: high-resolution astronomy and the quest for black holes and extrasolar planets |
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309 | (17) |
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15 Searching for signatures of life beyond the solar system: astrophysical interferometry and the 150 km Exo-Earth Imager |
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326 | (22) |
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16 New directions for gravitational-wave physics via "Millikan oil drops" |
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348 | (34) |
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17 An "ultrasonic" image of the embryonic universe: CMB polarization tests of the inflationary paradigm |
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382 | (31) |
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Part IV New Approaches in Technology and Science |
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18 Visualizing complexity: development of 4D microscopy and diffraction for imaging in space and time |
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413 | (39) |
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19 Is life based on the laws of physics? |
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452 | (19) |
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471 | (25) |
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21 Emergence in condensed matter physics |
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496 | (17) |
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22 Achieving the highest spectral resolution over the widest spectral bandwidth: precision measurement meets ultrafast science |
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513 | (17) |
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23 Wireless nonradiative energy transfer |
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530 | (15) |
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Part V Consciousness and Free Will |
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24 The big picture: exploring questions on the boundaries of science-consciousness and free will |
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545 | (13) |
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25 Quantum entanglement: from fundamental questions to quantum communication and quantum computation and back |
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558 | (14) |
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26 Consciousness, body, and brain: the matter of the mind |
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572 | (12) |
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27 The relations: between quantum mechanics and higher brain functions: lessons from quantum computation and neurobiology |
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584 | (17) |
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28 Free will and the causal closure of physics |
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601 | (11) |
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29 Natural laws and the closure of physics |
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612 | (11) |
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30 Anti-Cartesianism and downward causation: reshaping the free-will debate |
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623 | (13) |
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31 Can we understand free will? |
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636 | (9) |
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Part VI Reflections on the Big Questions: Mind, Matter, Mathematics, and Ultimate Reality |
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32 The big picture: exploring questions on the boundaries of science - mind, matter, mathematics |
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645 | (17) |
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33 The mathematical universe |
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662 | (27) |
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34 Where do the laws of physics come from? |
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689 | (20) |
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35 Science, energy, ethics, and civilization |
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709 | (21) |
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36 Life of science, life of faith |
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730 | (21) |
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37 The science of light and the light of science: an appreciative theological reflection on the life and work of Charles Hard Townes |
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751 | (19) |
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38 Two quibbles about "ultimate" |
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770 | (6) |
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Index |
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776 | |