Modern Physics

‘Reality’ in modern physics

The Copenhagen interpretation According to modern physics, the world is made up from small bits of energy, called ‘quanta’. Each object in the world is a quantum system, made up of individual quanta acting together. In effect, this is like saying that the world and its objects are made up of interacting particles, except that quanta are not quite particles. The trouble is that quanta sometimes ...

Reviews of Modern Physics

* Thesis submitted to Princeton University March 1, 1957 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. An earlier draft dated January, 1956 was circulated to several physicists whose comments were helpful. Professor Niels Bohr, Dr. H.J.Groenewald, Dr. Aage Peterson, Dr. A.Stern, and Professor L.Rosenfeld are free of any responsibility, but they are warmly thanked for the usef...

Wolfgang Pauli and Modern Physics

In this written version of a pre-dinner-speech at the workshop “The Nature of Gravity” at ISSI I illustrate Pauli’s science primarily with material that has not formally been published by him, but was communicated in detailed letters to eminent colleagues and friends.

The Role of Symmetry in Modern Physics

Perhaps the most impressive intellectual achievement in the history of mankind, the Standard Model of particle physics is the triumph of modern physics. Indeed, it is able to explain almost all physical phenomena that we have ever encountered with astonishing accuracy. The Standard Model is technically classified as a quantum field theory (QFT) a mathematical framework that quantizes the classi...

Time in Madhyamika Buddhism and Modern Physics