New Horizons In Fundamental Physics

This volume presents the state-of-the-art in selected topics across modern nuclear physics, covering fields of central importance to research and illustrating their connection to many different areas of physics. It describes recent progress in the study of superheavy and exotic nuclei, which is pushing our knowledge to ever heavier elements and neutron-richer isotopes. Extending nuclear physics to systems that are many times denser than even the core of an atomic nucleus, one enters the realm of the physics of neutron stars and possibly quark stars, a topic that is intensively investigated with many ground-based and outer-space research missions as well as numerous theoretical works. By colliding two nuclei at very high ultra-relativistic energies one can create a fireball of extremely hot matter, reminiscent of the universe very shortly after the big bang, leading to a phase of melted hadrons and free quarks and gluons, the so-called quark-gluon plasma. These studies tie up with effects of crucial importance in other fields. During the collision of heavy ions, electric fields of extreme strength are produced, potentially destabilizing the vacuum of the atomic physics system, subsequently leading to the decay of the vacuum state and the emission of positrons. In neutron stars the ultra-dense matter might support extremely high magnetic fields, far beyond anything that can be produced in the laboratory, significantly affecting the stellar properties. At very high densities general relativity predicts the stellar collapse to a black hole. However, a number of current theoretical activities, modifying Einstein’s theory, point to possible alternative scenarios, where this collapse might be avoided. These and related topics are addressed in this book in a series of highly readable chapters. In addition, the book includes fundamental analyses of the practicalities involved in transiting to an electricity supply mainly based on renewable energies, investigating this scenario less from an engineering and more from a physics point of view. While the topics comprise a large scope of activities, the contributions also show an extensive overlap in the methodology and in the analytical and numerical tools involved in tackling these diverse research fields that are the forefront of modern science.

Every 10 years the National Research Council releases a survey of astronomy and astrophysics outlining priorities for the coming decade. The most recent survey, titled New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, provides overall priorities and recommendations for the field as a whole based on a broad and comprehensive examination of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context. Panel Reportsâ€"New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics is a collection of reports, each of which addresses a key sub-area of the field, prepared by specialists in that subarea, and each of which played an important role in setting overall priorities for the field. The collection, published in a single volume, includes the reports of the following panels: Cosmology and Fundamental Physics Galaxies Across Cosmic Time The Galactic Neighborhood Stars and Stellar Evolution Planetary Systems and Star Formation Electromagnetic Observations from Space Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation Radio, Millimeter, and Submillimeter Astronomy from the Ground The Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics synthesized these reports in the preparation of its prioritized recommendations for the field as a whole. These reports provide additional depth and detail in each of their respective areas. Taken together, they form an essential companion volume to New Worlds, New Horizons: A Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The book of panel reports will be useful to managers of programs of research in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over the agencies supporting this research, the scientific community, and the public.

Written by 13 contributors from different regions of the World, this book is a collection of papers written by researchers who have been working toward defining new concepts in the sciences for years. Among the new approaches, new views have been developed based on the emerging mathematical principles, the observation of possible relationships between physical processes, and ideas inspired by firsthand experience penetrating elusive realms. In the frame of the new explanatory theoretic models, matter and energy may be different characteristics of a physical system and "equivalence" between matter and energy becomes not so obvious. Quantum Mechanics was developed based on the assumption that electron mass is constant. Variable electron mass automatically rules out the entirety of quantum mechanics. Electron mass can change during chemical and biological processes and then other characteristics modify correspondingly. It is accepted that the Special Theory of Relativity (STR) does not contradict quantum mechanics, but in reality, the opposite is true. Even for a non-rocket scientist, this contradiction becomes evident with the simplest analysis of energy mass and energy equivalence formula. In simple words, the formula assumes that if energy is quantized, mass must be quantized too. How do atomic particles know how much mass to convert into energy and keep the same proportion in the conversion? Maybe one proton or one neutron converts more mass than his neighbor does! If protons and neutrons can be fragmented and divided using the MeV energy order, then why do we need CERN or other large nuclear facilities?Contributors of this volume:* George Shpenkov. Institute of Mathematics & Physics, UTA, Bydgoszcz, Poland.* Leonid Kreidik. Minsk, Belarus.* Volodymyr Krasnoholovets. Senior Research Scientist, Department of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Kyiv, Ukraine. * Victor Christianto. Malang Institute of Agriculture (IPM), Indonesia.* Florentin Smarandache. Chair of Mathematics and Sciences, University of New Mexico, New Mexico, USA. Gallup, New Mexico 87301, USA. * Robert Neil Boyd. Consulting physicist for Princeton Biotechnology Corporation, Dept. Information Physics Research.* Adrian Klein. Cognitive neuropsychology, PhD Metaphysical sciences, Parapsychological Association, ECAO, ISPE, IQN, AAPS, AAAS. Affiliation: ECAO Aff., Israel.* Akira Kanda. Professor of Mathematics and Logic. Omega Mathematical Institute. * Mihai Prunescu. University of Bucharest. * Renata Wong. Nanjing University, China.* Arnold Gorgels. Mathematical Physics, Institute in Potsdam, Member DPG, Germany* Ying-Qiu Gu. School of Mathematical Science, Fudan University, China.

Our understanding of the universe has been revolutionized by observations of the cosmic microwave background, the large-scale structure of the universe, and distant supernovae. These studies have shown that we are living in a strange universe: 96% of the present day energy density of the universe is dominated by so-called dark matter and dark energy. But we still do not know what dark matter and dark energy actually are. This book presents lectures from the 186th Course in the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics entitled New Horizons for Observational Cosmology, held in Varenna, Italy, in July 2013. Topics covered at this school included: cosmic microwave background anisotropies; galaxy clustering; weak lensing; dark energy; dark matter; inflation; modified gravity; neutrino physics; reionization; galaxy formation; and first stars. The anticipated release of Planck data at the end of 2014 will provide a more complete view of temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background, and the reporting of other important results is also expected soon. These new data will undoubtedly address fundamental questions about the universe. This book prepares the ground for future work which may answer some of these exciting questions.

Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.

Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.

The Wolfram Physics Project is a bold effort to find the fundamental theory of physics. It combines new ideas with the latest research in physics, mathematics and computation in the push to achieve this ultimate goal of science. Written with Stephen Wolfram's characteristic expository flair, this book provides a unique opportunity to learn about a historic initiative in science right as it is happening. A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics includes an accessible introduction to the project as well as core technical exposition and rich, never-before-seen visualizations.

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (NWNH), the report of the 2010 decadal survey of astronomy and astrophysics, put forward a vision for a decade of transformative exploration at the frontiers of astrophysics. This vision included mapping the first stars and galaxies as they emerge from the collapse of dark matter and cold clumps of hydrogen, finding new worlds in a startlingly diverse population of extrasolar planets, and exploiting the vastness and extreme conditions of the universe to reveal new information about the fundamental laws of nature. NWNH outlined a compelling program for understanding the cosmic order and for opening new fields of inquiry through the discovery areas of gravitational waves, time-domain astronomy, and habitable planets. Many of these discoveries are likely to be enabled by cyber-discovery and the power of mathematics, physics, and imagination. To help realize this vision, NWNH recommended a suite of innovative and powerful facilities, along with balanced, strong support for the scientific community engaged in theory, data analysis, technology development, and measurements with existing and new instrumentation. Already in the first half of the decade, scientists and teams of scientists working with these cutting-edge instruments and with new capabilities in data collection and analysis have made spectacular discoveries that advance the NWNH vision. New Worlds, New Horizons: A Midterm Assessment reviews the responses of NASA's Astrophysics program, NSF's Astronomy program, and DOE's Cosmic Frontiers program to NWNH. This report describes the most significant scientific discoveries, technical advances, and relevant programmatic changes in astronomy and astrophysics over the years since the publication of the decadal survey, and assesses how well the Agencies' programs address the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in the 2010 decadal survey.