Science and Ultimate Reality
Cambridge University Press, 4/22/2004
EAN 9780521831130, ISBN10: 052183113X
Hardcover, 742 pages, 24.7 x 17.4 x 3.8 cm
This volume provides a fascinating snapshot of the future of physics, covering fundamental physics, at the frontiers of research. It comprises a wide variety of contributions from leading thinkers in the field, inspired by the pioneering work of John A. Wheeler. Quantum theory represents a unifying theme within the book, along with topics such as the nature of physical reality, the arrow of time, models of the universe, superstrings, gravitational radiation, quantum gravity and cosmic inflation. Attempts to formulate a final unification of physics are discussed, along with the existence of hidden dimensions of space, space-time singularities, hidden cosmic matter, and the strange world of quantum technology.
Foreword John A. Wheeler
Editor's preface John D. Barrow, Paul Davies and Charles Harper, Jr.
Preface Freeman J. Dyson
Part I. An Overview of the Contributions of John Archibald Wheeler
1. John Archibald Wheeler and the clash of ideas Paul C. W. Davies
Part II. An Historian's Tribute to John Archibald Wheeler and Scientific Speculation Through the Ages
2. The heritage of Heraclitus
John Archibald Wheeler and the itch to speculate Jaroslav Pelikan
Part III. Quantum Reality - Theory
3. Why is nature described by quantum theory? Lucien Hardy
4. Thought experiments in honor of John Wheeler Freeman J. Dyson
5. It from qubit David Deutsch
6. The wave function
it or bit? H. Dieter Zeh
7. Quantum Darwinism and envariance Wojciech H. Zurek
8. Using qubits to learn about it Juan Pablo Paz
9. Quantum gravity as an ordinary gauge theory Juan M. Maldacena
10. The Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics Bryce S. DeWitt
Part IV. Quantum Reality - Experiment
11. Why the quantum? It from bit? A participatory universe? Three far-reaching, visionary questions from John Archibald Wheeler and how they inspired a quantum experimentalist Anton Zeilinger
12. Speakable and unspeakable, past and future Aephraim M. Steinberg
13. Conceptual tensions between quantum mechanics and general relativity
are there experimental consequences? Raymond Y. Chiao
14. Breeding non-local Schrödinger cats
a thought experiment to explore the quantum classical boundary Serge Haroche
15. Quantum erasing the nature of reality - or, perhaps, the reality of nature? Paul G. Kwiat and Berthold-Georg Englert
16. Quantum feedback and the quantum-classical transition Hideo Mabuchi
17. What quantum computers may tell us about quantum mechanics Christopher R. Monroe
Part V. Big Questions in Cosmology
18. Cosmic inflation and the arrow of time Andreas Albrecht
19. Cosmology and immutability John D. Barrow
20. Quantum cosmology, inflation, and the anthropic principle Andrei Linde
21. Parallel universes Max Tegmark
22. Quantum theories of gravity
results and prospects Lee Smolin
23. A genuinely evolving universe Joao Magueijo
24. Planck-scale models of the universe Fotini G. Markopoulou
25. Implications of additional spatial dimensions to questions in cosmology Lisa Randall
Part VI. Emergence, Life, and Related Topics
26. Emergence
us from it Philip D. Clayton
27. True complexity and its associated ontology George F. R. Ellis
28. The three origins
cosmos, life and mind Marcelo Gleiser
29. Autonomous agents Stuart A. Kauffman
30. To see a world in a grain of sand Shou-Cheng Zhang
Appendix A. Science and ultimate reality program committees
Appendix B. Young researchers competition in honor of John Archibald Wheeler for physics graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and young faculty.
'Do not be put off by its length ... this is one of those rare volumes where quantity is matched by quality ... this is a remarkable volume.' Nature