Frontiers of Physics (October 2012)
Special Editions

Cover; Frontiers of Physics; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Table of Contents; Frontiers of Physics; by Staff Editor; 3 Page(s)

Letter from the Editor; Frontiers of Physics; by Mariette DiChristina; 1 Page(s)

Strange Places
MARIETTE DICHRISTINA is editor in chief of Scientific American.

The Dawn of Physics beyond the Standard Model; Frontiers of Physics; by Gordon Kane; 8 Page(s)

The Standard Model of particle physics is at a pivotal moment in its history: it is both at the height of its success and on the verge of being surpassed
GORDON KANE, a particle theorist, is Victor Weisskopf Collegiate Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan and director emeritus of the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics. In 2012 he won the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society. Kane studies Higgs physics and the Standard Models supersymmetric extension, with a focus on relating theory and experiment and on the implications of supersymmetry for particle physics and cosmology.

The Search for Relativity Violations; Frontiers of Physics; by Alan Kostelecky; 10 Page(s)

To uncover evidence for an ultimate theory, scientists are looking for infractions of Einstein's once sacrosanct physical principal
ALAN KOSTELECKY is distinguished professor of theoretical physics at Indiana University Bloomington. His publications span a broad range of topics in particle physics, gravitation, string theory, mathematical physics and atomic physics. His research on Lorentz and CPT symmetry triggered the recent flood of interest in relativity violations and has led to many new experimental tests. GRAHAM P. COLLINS is a contributing editor for Scientific American.

Solving the Solar Neutrino Problem; Frontiers of Physics; by Arthur B. McDonald, Joshua R. Klein and David L. Wark; 10 Page(s)

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory has solved a 30-year-old mystery by showing that neutrinos from the sun change species en route to the earth
ARTHUR B. MCDONALD, JOSHUA R. KLEIN and DAVID L. WARK are members of the 130-strong Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) collaboration. McDonald, a native of Nova Scotia, has been director of the SNO Institute since its inception in 1989. He is also professor of physics at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He received the Royal Society of Canada's Henry Marshall Tory award in 2011. Klein earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1994 and began his work on SNO at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is now professor of physics. Wark has spent most of his career in the U.K., at the University of Oxford, the University of Sussex, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Imperial College London trying to explain the infield fly rule to cricket fans. He has worked on a number of neutrino experiments in addition to SNO.

The Mysteries of Mass; Frontiers of Physics; by Gordon Kane; 8 Page(s)

Physicists are hunting for an elusive particle that would reveal the presence of a new kind of field that permeates all of reality. Finding that Higgs field will give us a more complete understanding about how the universe works

The String Theory Landscape; Frontiers of Physics; by Raphael Bousso and Joseph Polchinski; 10 Page(s)

The theory of strings predicts that the universe might occupy one random "valley" out of a virtually infinite selection of valleys in a vast landscape of possibilities
RAPHAEL BOUSSO and JOSEPH POLCHINSKI's collaboration together began at a workshop on string duality in Santa Barbara. It grew out of the synergy between Bousso's background in quantum gravity and inflationary cosmology and Polchinski's background in string theory. Bousso is professor of theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research includes a general formulation of the holographic principle, which relates spacetime geometry to its information content. Polchinski is a professor at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His contributions to string theory include the seminal idea that branes constitute a significant feature of the theory.

The Future of String Theory: A Conversation with Brian Greene; Frontiers of Physics; by George Musser; 6 Page(s)

The physicist and best-selling author demystifies the ultimate theories of space and time, the nature of genius, multiple universes, and more
GEORGE MUSSER is a contributing editor for Scientific American and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory (Alpha Books, 2008).

Atoms of Space and Time; Frontiers of Physics; by Lee Smolin; 10 Page(s)

We perceive space and time to be continuous, but if the amazing theory of loop quantum gravity is correct, they actually come in discrete pieces
LEE SMOLIN is a researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, and adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo. He has a B.A. from Hampshire College and a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has been on the faculty of Yale, Syracuse and Pennsylvania State universities. In addition to his work on quantum gravity, he is interested in elementary particle physics, cosmology and the foundations of quantum theory. His 1997 book, The Life of the Cosmos (Oxford University Press), explored the philosophical implications of developments in contemporary physics and cosmology.

A Cosmic Conundrum; Frontiers of Physics; by Lawrence M. Krauss and Michael S. Turner; 8 Page(s)

A new incarnation of Einstein's cosmological constant may point the way beyond general relativity
LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS and MICHAEL S. TURNER were among the first cosmologists to argue that the universe is dominated by a cosmological term that is radically different from the one introduced and then repudiated by Einstein. Their 1995 prediction of cosmic acceleration was confirmed by astronomical observations three years later. Krauss, who is Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the department of physics and inaugural director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, has also written several popular books, including A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing, published in January 2012. Turner, who is Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, served as assistant director for mathematical and physical sciences at the National Science Foundation from 2003 to 2006.

Information in the Holographic Universe; Frontiers of Physics; by Jacob D. Bekenstein; 8 Page(s)

Theoretical results about black holes suggest that the universe could be like a gigantic hologram
JACOB D. BEKENSTEIN has contributed to the foundation of black hole thermodynamics and to other aspects of the connections between information and gravitation. He is Polak Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and a recipient of the Rothschild and the Israel prizes. Bekenstein dedicates this article to John Archibald Wheeler (his Ph.D. supervisor 40 years ago). Wheeler belongs to the third generation of Ludwig Boltzmann's students: Wheeler's Ph.D. adviser, Karl Herzfeld, was a student of Boltzmann's student Friedrich Hasenöhrl.

That Mysterious Flow; Frontiers of Physics; by Paul Davies; 6 Page(s)

From the fixed past to the tangible present to the undecided future, it feels as though time flows inexorably on. But that is an illusion
PAUL DAVIES is a physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University. He is one of the most prolific writers of popular-level books in physics. His scientific research interests include black holes, quantum field theory, the origin of the universe, the nature of consciousness and the origin of life.