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The 11 Greatest Unanswered Questions of Physics

Posted by timothy on from the sound-of-falling-tree-in-empty-forest dept.

Adn writes: "Discover magzine has a cover story on the "..11 Greatest Unanswered Questions of Physics" and why answering these might lead to a new age of science.... the full article can be found at The National Academy Site. Almost brings to mind Hilbert's 11 questions on Mathematics which if solved were supposed to usher in a new era of logic and formalism."

4 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. The questions by cd_Csc · · Score: 5, Informative
    In case you don't want to download and skim the 105 page PDF, the questions are:

    What is the dark matter?
    What are the masses of the neutrinos, and how have they shaped the evolution of the universe?
    Are there additional spacetime dimensions?
    What is the nature of dark energy?
    Are protons unstable?
    How did the universe begin?
    Did Einstein have the last word on gravity?
    How do cosmic accelerators work and what are they accelerating?
    Are there new states of matter at exceedingly high density and temperature?
    Is a new theory of matter and light needed at the highest energies?
    How were the elements from iron to uranium made?

    The PDF gives a detailed explanation for each of these if you're interested: http://www.nationalacademies.org/bpa/reports/cpu/q 2c-public_release_version.pdf

    1. Re:The questions by cobbaut · · Score: 2, Informative

      or one could link to the html version :

      http://www.nationalacademies.org/bpa/reports/cpu /i ndex.html

      pol :)

      --
      European Linux user, living in Antwerp
  2. hilbert's 10 questions by jnana · · Score: 4, Informative

    David Hilbert originally proposed 10 questions, not 11. The final list included 23 questions. See here for more details and the specific questions.

    1. Re:hilbert's 10 questions by jnana · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, Hilbert's questions were mathematical questions, as the user, adn, clearly stated. I was just correcting the number--10, or 23, not 11. True, there were, are, and always will be more than 23 unanswered questions, but those particular questions "were designed to serve as examples for the kinds of problems whose solutions would lead to the furthering of disciplines in mathematics," as it states on the linked page. They weren't meant to be exhaustive.