By: David Gross (Editor), Marc Henneaux (Editor), Alexander Sevrin (Editor)

Hardcover

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Ever since 1911, the Solvay Conferences have shaped modern physics. The 23rd edition, chaired by 2004 Nobel Laureate David Gross, did not break with that tradition. It gathered most of the leading figures working on the central problem of reconciling Einstein's theory of gravity with quantum mechanics. These proceedings give a broad overview with unique insight into the most fundamental issues raised by this challenge for 21st century physics, by distinguished renowned scientists. The contributions cover: the status of quantum mechanics, spacetime singularities and breakdown of classical space and time, mathematical structures underlying the most promising attempts under current development, spacetime as an emergent concept, as well as cosmology and the cosmological constant puzzle. A historical overview of the Solvay conferences by historian of sciences Peter Galison opens the volume. In the Solvay tradition, the volume also includes the discussions among the participants -- many of which were quite lively and illustrate dramatically divergent points of view -- carefully edited and reproduced in full.

The International Solvay Institutes	p. v
23rd Solvay Conference on Physics	p. ix
Opening Session	p. xiii
History	p. 1
Rapporteur talk: Solvay Redivivus	p. 1
Three Miracles	p. 1
SOLVAY -1: Einstein-Lorentz, Einstein-Poincare	p. 6
Ignoramus, Ignorabimus at Solvays-5 and Solvay-6	p. 10
Solvay Redivivus	p. 15
Discussion	p. 19
Quantum Mechanics	p. 21
Rapporteur talk: Generalizing Quantum Mechanics	p. 21
Abstract	p. 21
Introduction	p. 22
Quantum Mechanics Today	p. 24
Spacetime and Quantum Theory	p. 26
The Quantum Mechanics of Closed Systems	p. 27
Quantum Theory in 3+1 Form	p. 30
Generalized Quantum Theory	p. 32
A Quantum Theory of Spacetime Geometry	p. 33
Beyond Spacetime	p. 35
Emergence/Excess Baggage	p. 35
Emergence of Signature	p. 38
Beyond Quantum Theory	p. 39
Conclusion	p. 40
Discussion	p. 44
Singularities	p. 51
Rapporteur talk: Singularities	p. 51
Introduction	p. 51
Singularity Theorems	p. 51
Cosmic Censorship	p. 53
Classical Boundary Conditions and Stability	p. 54
Boundary Conditions in Cosmology	p. 55
Higher dimensional resolutions	p. 59
Singularities at the end of Hawking Evaporation	p. 61
Maldacena's Conjecture	p. 61
Discussion	p. 64
Prepared Comments	p. 65
Gary Horowitz: Singularities in String Theory	p. 65
Discussion	p. 69
Prepared Comments	p. 70
Eva Silverstein: Singularities: Closed String Tachyons and Singularities	p. 70
Discussion	p. 77
Prepared Comments	p. 77
Thibault Damour: Cosmological Singularities and E[subscript 10]	p. 77
Discussion	p. 82
Prepared Comments	p. 83
Abhay Ashtekar: Singularities: quantum nature of the big bang in loop quantum gravity	p. 83
Discussion	p. 87
Mathematical Structures	p. 91
Rapporteur talk: Mathematical Structures	p. 91
Abstract	p. 91
Quantum Theory and Mathematics	p. 91
The quantum geometry of string theory	p. 97
Non-perturbative string theory and branes	p. 107
D-branes	p. 112
The Role of Mathematics	p. 116
Discussion	p. 119
Prepared Comments	p. 123
Renata Kallosh: Stabilization of moduli in string theory	p. 123
Dieter Lust: A short remark on flux and D-brane vacua and their statistics	p. 127
Michael Douglas: Mathematics and String Theory: Understanding the landscape	p. 132
Discussion	p. 140
Prepared Comments	p. 143
Nikita Nekrasov: On string theory applications in condensed matter physics	p. 143
Shing-Tung Yau: Mathematical Structures: Geometry of Six-Dimensional String	p. 147
Discussion	p. 151
Prepared Comments	p. 153
Hermann Nicolai: E[subscript 10] and K(E[subscript 10]): prospects and challenges	p. 153
Michael Atiyah: Beyond string theory?	p. 157
Discussion	p. 159
Emergent Spacetime	p. 163
Rapporteur talk: Emergent Spacetime	p. 163
Introduction	p. 163
Ambiguous space	p. 164
Non-standard theories without gravity	p. 168
Derived general covariance	p. 169
Examples of emergent space	p. 170
Emergent time	p. 175
Conclusions and speculations	p. 176
Discussion	p. 179
Prepared Comments	p. 182
Tom Banks: The Holographic Approach to Quantum Gravity	p. 182
Igor Klebanov: Confinement, Chiral Symmetry Breaking and String Theory	p. 191
Juan Maldacena: Comments on emergent space-time	p. 195
Alexander Polyakov: Beyond space-time	p. 199
Discussion	p. 204
Cosmology	p. 215
Rapporteur talk: The cosmological constant and the string landscape, by Joseph Polchinski	p. 216
The cosmological constant	p. 216
The string landscape	p. 225
Conclusions	p. 233
Discussion	p. 237
Prepared Comments	p. 242
Steven Weinberg	p. 242
Renata Kallosh: Inflationary models as a test of string theory	p. 246
Andrei Linde: Eternal inflation in stringy landscape and the anthropic principle	p. 250
Discussion	p. 255
Paul J. Steinhardt: A modest proposal for solving the cosmological constant problem	p. 258
Discussion	p. 264
Closing remarks	p. 269
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9789812569523
ISBN-10: 9812569529
Audience: Professional
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 292
Published: 1st September 2006
Dimensions (cm): 25.1 x 17.0  x 1.8
Weight (kg): 0.662