User Tools

Site Tools


open_problems

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revision Previous revision
Next revision
Previous revision
open_problems [2017/10/27 15:46]
jakobadmin created
open_problems [2019/02/08 09:24]
129.13.36.189
Line 1: Line 1:
 +{{indexmenu_n>​10}}
 +
 +~~NOTOC~~
 + 
 ====== Open Problems ====== ====== Open Problems ======
  
-<nspages open_problems -h1 -textPages="">​+<WRAP group> 
 +<WRAP half column>  
 +Our present understanding of nature is far from complete. 
 + 
 +Real problems are things related to **unexplained observed phenomena**,​ like dark matter or dark energy. 
 + 
 +In addition, there are things that we can describe but do not understand. These are not really problems but rather **[[http://​jakobschwichtenberg.com/​problems-vs-puzzles/​|puzzles]]**. Examples are the [[open_problems:​flavour_puzzle|still not understood masses and mixing angles]] of the elementary particles or also the [[open_problems:​hierarchy_puzzle|hierarchy puzzle]] and the question why strong interactions [[open_problems:​strong_cp_puzzle|do not violate]] [[advanced_notions:​cp_symmetry|CP symmetry]].  
 + 
 + 
 +</​WRAP>​ 
 +<WRAP half column><nspages open_problems -h1 -textPages="">​</​WRAP>​ 
 +</​WRAP>​ 
 + 
 +---- 
 + 
 +**The 5 Great Problems** 
 + 
 +  - __The problem of quantum gravity.__ This is the problem of combining general relativity and quantum theory into one theory. Such a theory would be able to describe all known interactions of nature.  
 +  - __The problem of quantum theories.__ This is the problem of understanding quantum such that it makes sense and solve its fundamental problems.  
 +  -  __The unification of the particles and forces.__ Still no theory exists that unifies all known particles and interactions into a single fundamental entity.  
 +  -  __Explain the constants of nature.__ The standard model of particle physics has 20+ free parameters that need to be inferred from experiments. It is an open problem to understand how these values are "​chosen"​ by nature. 
 +  - __Explain dark matter and dark energy.__ If they really exists, as suggested by experiments,​ we need to understand what they consists of. In addition, the constants of the standard model of cosmology need the be explained. ​  
 + 
 +For more information,​ see the chapter "The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics"​ in the book "Time Reborn"​ by Lee Smolin. 
 + 
 +===== Lists of Open Problems ===== 
 + 
 + 
 +  * [[https://​arxiv.org/​abs/​1804.08730|Life,​ the universe, and everything - 42 fundamental questions]] by Roland E. Allen, Suzy Lidström 
 +  * http://​math.ucr.edu/​home/​baez/​physics/​General/​open_questions.html 
 +  * https://​en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​List_of_unsolved_problems_in_physics 
 +  * Chiral Fermions, see https://​arxiv.org/​pdf/​hep-th/​0102028.pdf 
 + 
 +---- 
 + 
 +===== Quotes ===== 
 +  
 + 
 +<​blockquote>​The laws of physics seem to be composed out of five 
 +fundamental ingredients:​ 
 + 
 +  * 1 Identical particles. 
 +  * 2 Gauge interactions. 
 +  * 3 Fermi statistics. 
 +  * 4 Chiral fermions. 
 +  * 5 Gravity. 
 + 
 +The question is whether one can find a “deeper structure” 
 +that gives rise to all five of these phenomena. In 
 +addition to being consistent with our current understanding 
 +of the universe, such a structure would be quite 
 +appealing from a theoretical point of view: it would 
 +unify and explain the origin of these seemingly mysterious 
 +and disconnected phenomena. 
 +The U(/​1)xSU(2)xSU(3) Standard Model fails to 
 +provide such a complete story for even the first four 
 +phenomena. Although it describes identical particles,​ 
 +gauge interactions,​ Fermi statistics, and chiral fermions 
 +in a single theory, each of these components are introduced 
 +independently and by hand. For example, field 
 +theory is introduced to explain identical particles, vector 
 +gauge fields are introduced to describe gauge interactions 
 +Yang and Mills, 1954, and anticommuting fields 
 +are introduced to explain Fermi statistics. One 
 +wonders—where do these mysterious gauge symmetries 
 +and anticommuting fields come from? Why does nature 
 +choose such peculiar things as fermions and gauge 
 +bosons to describe itself?  
 + 
 +<​cite>​Colloquium:​ Photons and electrons as emergent phenomena Michael Levin and Xiao-Gang Wen https://​journals.aps.org/​rmp/​pdf/​10.1103/​RevModPhys.77.871</​cite></​blockquote>​ 
 + 
 +----
  
open_problems.txt · Last modified: 2019/02/08 09:24 by 129.13.36.189