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In this small book, theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel
prize 1999), philosopher Emanuele Severino (Lincei Academician),
and theologian Piero Coda (Pontifical Lateran University) confront
one another on a topic that lies at the roots of quantum mechanics
and at the origin of Western thought: Determinism and Free Will.
"God does not play dice" said Einstein, a tenacious determinist.
Quantum Mechanics and its clash with General Relativity have
reanimated ancient dilemmas about chance and necessity: Is Nature
deterministic? Is Man free? The "free-will theorem" by Conway and
Kochen, and the deterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics
proposed by 't Hooft, revive such philosophical questions in modern
Physics. Is Becoming real? Is the Elementary Event a product of the
Case? The cyclopean clash between Heraclitus and Parmenides has
entered a new episode, as evidenced by the essays in this volume.
The 1996 NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) followed the
international tradi tion of the schools held in Cargese in 1976,
1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. Impressive progress in quantum field
theory had been made since the last school in 1991. Much of it is
connected with the interplay of quantum theory and the structure of
space time, including canonical gravity, black holes, string
theory, application of noncommutative differential geometry, and
quantum symmetries. In addition there had recently been important
advances in quantum field theory which exploited the
electromagnetic duality in certain supersymmetric gauge theories.
The school reviewed these developments. Lectures were included to
explain how the "monopole equations" of Seiberg and Witten can be
exploited. They were presented by E. Rabinovici, and supplemented
by an extra 2 hours of lectures by A. Bilal. Both the N = 1 and N =
2 supersymmetric Yang Mills theory and resulting equivalences
between field theories with different gauge group were discussed in
detail. There are several roads to quantum space time and a
unification of quantum theory and gravity. There is increasing
evidence that canonical gravity might be a consistent theory after
all when treated in. a nonperturbative fashion. H. Nicolai
presented a series of introductory lectures. He dealt in detail
with an integrable model which is obtained by dimensional reduction
in the presence of a symmetry."
Soon after the discovery of quantum mechanics, group theoretical
methods were used extensively in order to exploit rotational
symmetry and classify atomic spectra. And until recently it was
thought that symmetries in quantum mechanics should be groups. But
it is not so. There are more general algebras, equipped with
suitable structure, which admit a perfectly conventional
interpretation as a symmetry of a quantum mechanical system. In any
case, a "trivial representation" of the algebra is defined, and a
tensor product of representations. But in contrast with groups,
this tensor product needs to be neither commutative nor
associative. Quantum groups are special cases, in which
associativity is preserved. The exploitation of such "Quantum
Symmetries" was a central theme at the Ad vanced Study Institute.
Introductory lectures were presented to familiarize the
participants with the al gebras which can appear as symmetries and
with their properties. Some models of local field theories were
discussed in detail which have some such symmetries, in par ticular
conformal field theories and their perturbations. Lattice models
provide many examples of quantum theories with quantum symmetries.
They were also covered at the school. Finally, the symmetries which
are the cause of the solubility of inte grable models are also
quantum symmetries of this kind. Some such models and their
nonlocal conserved currents were discussed.
The 1996 NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) followed the
international tradi tion of the schools held in Cargese in 1976,
1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. Impressive progress in quantum field
theory had been made since the last school in 1991. Much of it is
connected with the interplay of quantum theory and the structure of
space time, including canonical gravity, black holes, string
theory, application of noncommutative differential geometry, and
quantum symmetries. In addition there had recently been important
advances in quantum field theory which exploited the
electromagnetic duality in certain supersymmetric gauge theories.
The school reviewed these developments. Lectures were included to
explain how the "monopole equations" of Seiberg and Witten can be
exploited. They were presented by E. Rabinovici, and supplemented
by an extra 2 hours of lectures by A. Bilal. Both the N = 1 and N =
2 supersymmetric Yang Mills theory and resulting equivalences
between field theories with different gauge group were discussed in
detail. There are several roads to quantum space time and a
unification of quantum theory and gravity. There is increasing
evidence that canonical gravity might be a consistent theory after
all when treated in. a nonperturbative fashion. H. Nicolai
presented a series of introductory lectures. He dealt in detail
with an integrable model which is obtained by dimensional reduction
in the presence of a symmetry."
With a Foreword by Steven WeinbergIn this richly illustrated book,
Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft and Theoretical Physicist Stefan
Vandoren describe the enormous diversity of natural phenomena that
take place at different time scales.In the tradition of the
bestseller Powers of Ten, the authors zoom in and out in time, each
step with a factor of ten. Starting from one second, time scales
are enlarged until processes are reached that take much longer than
the age of the universe. After the largest possible eternities, the
reader is treated to the shortest and fastest phenomena known. Then
the authors increase with powers of ten, until again the second is
reached at the end of the book.At each time scale, interesting
natural phenomena occur, spread over all scientific disciplines:
orbital and rotation periods of planets and stars, decay times of
elementary particles and atoms, biological rhythms and evolution
processes, but also the different geological time scales. remove
UNDER THE SPELL OF THE GAUGE PRINCIPLE - by G 't HooftThe
University of Bologna and its Academy of Sciences, in collaboration
with the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and the
Italian Physical Society, celebrated in 1998 the bicentenary of a
great pioneer in the field of electric phenomena - Luigi Galvani,
the father of macroelectricity. During these two centuries, the
physics of electric phenomena has given rise first to the Maxwell
equations, then to quantum electrodynamics, and finally to the
synthesis of all reproducible phenomena, the "Standard Model". A
cornerstone of the Standard Model is quantum chromodynamics (QCD),
which describes the interaction between quarks and gluons in the
innermost part of the structure of matter.The discovery of QCD will
be recalled in the future as one of the greatest achievements of
mankind. Many physicists, the world over, have contributed to its
creation on both the experimental and the theoretical front.
Professor Antonino Zichichi has played an important role in this
scientific venture, as documented by his works which are reproduced
in this invaluable volume.One of the founders of European physics,
Professor Victor F Weisskopf, contributes with his memories of the
time when QCD had many problems. This volume owes its existence to
a founding father of QCD, Professor Vladimir N Gribov, whose sudden
demise prevented him from directly contributing to its final
edition. Two world leaders in subnuclear theoretical physics,
Professors Gerardus 't Hooft and Gabriele Veneziano, illustrate the
significance of the contributions of Antonino Zichichi in QCD.
Few people studying Gauge Field Theory need to be convinced of the
importance of the work of 't Hooft. This volume contains a
selection of articles and review topics covering his well-known
studies on the renormalization of non-Abelian gauge theorems,
topological phenomena in gauge field theory and thoughts on the
role of black holes in quantum gravity. The chapters are tied
together by thoughtful commentaries which provide a background and
the illumination of hindsight - together they form a clear and
coherent picture of the physical and theoretical importance of
gauge theories and the gauge principle. This book is ideal for
students and researchers. Gerard 't Hooft is Professor of
Theoretical Physics at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
He has taught at Harvard, SLAC and Caltech prior to his present
position. Other distinguished honors include being awarded the
Dannie Heineman Prize, the Honorary Doctorate of Science from the
University of Chicago, Wolf Prize of the State of Israel, Pius XI
Medal (Vatican), and the Lorentz Medal (KNAW, Amsterdam).
From 1960 until 1990 theoretical physicists and experimentalists worked together to probe deeper and deeper into the basic structure of matter, moving closer to an understanding of the ultimate building blocks of the universe. Gerard 't Hooft was closely involved in many of the advances in modern theoretical physics that led to improved understanding of elementary particles, and this is a first-hand account of one of the most creative and exciting periods of discovery in the history of physics. Using language a layperson can understand, this narrative touches on many central topics and ideas, such as quarks and quantum physics; supergravity, superstrings and superconductivity; the Standard Model and grand unification; eleven-dimensional space time and black holes. This fascinating personal account of the past thirty years in one of the most dramatic areas in twentieth-century physics will be of interest to professional physicists and physics students, as well as the educated general reader with an interest in one of the most exciting scientific detective stories ever.
From 1960 until 1990 theoretical physicists and experimentalists worked together to probe deeper and deeper into the basic structure of matter, moving closer to an understanding of the ultimate building blocks of the universe. Gerard 't Hooft was closely involved in many of the advances in modern theoretical physics that led to improved understanding of elementary particles, and this is a first-hand account of one of the most creative and exciting periods of discovery in the history of physics. Using language a layperson can understand, this narrative touches on many central topics and ideas, such as quarks and quantum physics; supergravity, superstrings and superconductivity; the Standard Model and grand unification; eleven-dimensional space time and black holes. This fascinating personal account of the past thirty years in one of the most dramatic areas in twentieth-century physics will be of interest to professional physicists and physics students, as well as the educated general reader with an interest in one of the most exciting scientific detective stories ever.
Few people studying Gauge Field Theory need to be convinced of the
importance of the work of 't Hooft. This volume contains a
selection of articles and review topics covering his well-known
studies on the renormalization of non-Abelian gauge theorems,
topological phenomena in gauge field theory and thoughts on the
role of black holes in quantum gravity. The chapters are tied
together by thoughtful commentaries which provide a background and
the illumination of hindsight - together they form a clear and
coherent picture of the physical and theoretical importance of
gauge theories and the gauge principle. This book is ideal for
students and researchers. Gerard 't Hooft is Professor of
Theoretical Physics at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
He has taught at Harvard, SLAC and Caltech prior to his present
position. Other distinguished honors include being awarded the
Dannie Heineman Prize, the Honorary Doctorate of Science from the
University of Chicago, Wolf Prize of the State of Israel, Pius XI
Medal (Vatican), and the Lorentz Medal (KNAW, Amsterdam).
In this decade, the Transient Universe will be mapped out in great
detail by the emerging wide-field multiwavelength surveys, and
neutrino and gravitational-wave detectors, promising to probe the
astronomical and physical origin of the most extreme relativistic
sources. This volume introduces the physical processes relevant to
the source modeling of the Transient Universe. Ideal for graduate
students and researchers in astrophysics, this book gives a unified
treatment of relativistic flows associated with compact objects,
their dissipation and emission in electromagnetic, hadronic and
gravitational radiation. After introducing the source classes, the
authors set out various mechanisms for creating magnetohydodynamic
outflows in winds, jets and blast waves and their radiation
properties. They then go on to discuss properties of accretion
flows around rotating black holes and their gravitational wave
emission from wave instabilites with implications for the emerging
gravitational wave experiments. Graduate students and researchers
can gain an understanding of data analysis for gravitational-wave
data.
This book presents the deterministic view of quantum mechanics
developed by Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft. Dissatisfied with the
uncomfortable gaps in the way conventional quantum mechanics meshes
with the classical world, 't Hooft has revived the old hidden
variable ideas, but now in a much more systematic way than usual.
In this, quantum mechanics is viewed as a tool rather than a
theory. The author gives examples of models that are classical in
essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and
argues that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational
interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to
analysing a system that could be classical at its core. He shows
how this approach, even though it is based on hidden variables, can
be plausibly reconciled with Bell's theorem, and how the usual
objections voiced against the idea of 'superdeterminism' can be
overcome, at least in principle. This framework elegantly explains
- and automatically cures - the problems of the wave function
collapse and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an
"arrow of time" can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than
usual. As well as reviewing the author's earlier work in the field,
the book also contains many new observations and calculations. It
provides stimulating reading for all physicists working on the
foundations of quantum theory.
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