Physics articles and research overview

¶ … New York Times related to physics.

A Collision Course for Physics (editorial) NYT. May 17, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/opinion/17thu4.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Physics

This article deals with the construction in Europe of a huge new particle accelerator. This event has created intense interest among physicists for a number or reasons, not least of which is that it may determine the future status of physics as a science. The article discusses the fact that, while there are no specific practical aims attached to the construction of the accelerator, it is hoped that it will provide new insight into fundamental constituents of the universe.

The new accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider, is being constructed in a 17?mile circular tunnel that is situated on the border area between Switzerland and France. The function of the accelerator will be to measure the results of proton collisions. This will be achieved by sophisticated detection devices.

The European accelerator was almost eclipsed by the intended construction of an even larger accelerator in the United States. However, this construction was terminated by the American Congress, due to budget constraints. The American device, the Superconducting Supercollider, was envisaged as having a fifty-four mile tunnel, compared to the present European accelerator, which is seventeen miles in length.

The knowledge that may be learned when the new accelerator begins operating have been described in detail by Dennis Overbye in Science Times. One of the central aims in this exercise is to establish direct evidence of the theorized and elusive Higgs Boson Particle. It is believed by physicists that this particle imparts or provides mass to other particles.

Other important intentions in constructing the accelerator will be to search for new forms of matter and for evidence of supersymmetry. Suprersymmetry is a concept that, "...unites all forces of nature into a unified theory" (a Collision Course for Physics, 2007). The unified theory is of course one of the great aims of modern physics, as it will provide an integrated view of matter and the universe, which might serve to explain a wide range of presently little understood aspects of the universe.

Other mysterious aspects of physics that the new accelerator could shed some light on are the evidence of new dimensions as well as smaller black holes. However, scientists also acknowledge that there is also the possibility that very little or no knowledge may be gleaned from the time-consuming and expensive construction of this device.

The article emphasizes the important point that if no real advances are made by the new accelerator, then this would be a serious problem for high-energy physics. This could result in the possible demise of the standing of physics and its reduction as a science that would make it secondary to biology. In other words, if the accelerator does not present some new findings that can further the science of physics, this would possibly result in the increase in the importance of genetics and of the mapping of the human genome.

Therefore, the article is at pains to illustrate how the construction of the new accelerator is one of the most significant events in the modern history of physics. As the article stresses, even if there are no practical outcomes, there is a lot riding on his project, "...including whether high-energy physics vaults to new levels or falls flat on its face..." (a Collision Course for Physics, 2007).

2. I.B.M. Researchers Advancing Computer Processing Ability by John Markoff. NYT. Published: August 31, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/technology/31ibm.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/PhysicsA

This article deals with various research claims relating to the possibility of large volumes of information stored on increasingly smaller areas. In particular, the article discusses the claim by researchers at I.B.M. laboratories that progress has been made in the endeavor to store information and computing at the level of individual atoms. The findings of research on this important issue have been made in two documents in the Journal of Science. The fundamental aspects that were investigated and reported on relate to magnetic behavior and nanotechnology. It is on this basis that the researchers are intending to develop electronic components, which will be significantly smaller than transistors and wires that are commonly used today..

The article summarizes the two papers briefly. The first paper deals with technique for reading and writing digital ones and zeroes onto a small group of atoms and even on individual atoms. The second paper describes the possibility of using a single molecule as a switch. This would therefore imitate at a much smaller level the way that contemporary transistors work.

Related to this is a statement by a Hewlett-Packard physicist, R. Stanley Williams, that his group has began the manufacture of prototypes of a silicon chip that "...combines both conventional microelectronics and molecular scale components" (Markoff, 2007). Furthermore, the statement also notes that the first of these hybrid devices is a circuit called a field programmable gate array, or F.P.G.A., using molecular-scale components as the configuration circuitry. It is also claimed that this approach will save considerable space in the design of computer chips.

Another example of this type of research made in the article is from a team of I.B.M. researchers at the company's Almaden Research Center in San Jose. This research is on controlling magnetic direction, which is an essential technology that is used in reading and writing digital information on magnetic storage disks. This also has applications beyond storage, and the researchers note the possibility that this technology has for quantum computing. Quantum computing is the next step in technology that would radically increase present computing speeds.

In another experiment, a second group of I.B.M. scientists in Zurich succeeded in placing two hydrogen atoms in an ultrathin insulating film and switching them back and forth between two states. This process created the equivalent of the ones and zeroes used in standard chips. They were also able link the switching process to other neighboring molecules. This process therefore holds the possibility of an integrated fabric of trillions of atom-size switches in the future

3. The Universe, Expanding Beyond All Understanding by Dennis Overbye. Published: June 5, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/science/space/05essa.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Physics

This article explores the concept of the expanding universe and the implications of dark matter. It is noted that as little as one-hundred years ago the universe was perceived by scientists as seemingly static and simple. This view was to change with the new theoretical concept of expanding galaxies, which followed the event of the "Big Bang."

The author notes an ironic paradox related to the theory of the expanding universe that may occur in the future. He states that if the universe keeps on expanding then in 100 billion years "...the only galaxies left visible in the sky will be the half-dozen or so bound together gravitationally into what is known as the Local Group, which is not expanding and in fact will probably merge into one starry ball" (Overbye, 2007). This will result in the ironic situation that if this occurs the scientist would not be able to see the universe expanding and will therefore assume a theory of the universe as static and fixed. The author also notes the negative implications of this view of scientific knowledge in terms of the wonder and mystery that is so important for scientific discovery.

A significant aspect of this article is the relationship that the author draws between the theory of the expanding universe and 'dark matter' or dark energy. This mysterious force was discovered in 1998 and is seen as the "main culprit" that is the cause of this expansion of the universe and the force that is pushing galaxies away from one another. This is also related to the repulsion force known as the cosmological constant.

In term of the theory of the expansion of the universe, this expansion will increase and, as the galaxies approach the sped of light, will in fact vanish from view. This" cloak of invisibility "will also prevent the afterglow of the Big Bang for being seen. The theory of dark energy taken to its local conclusion also indicates that eventually.".. In the far future, this runaway dark energy will suck all the energy and life out of the universe" (Overbye, 2007).

However, the article goes on to examine other theories of dark energy and the expansion of the universe. One of these theories is that dark energy is not needed to make us pessimistic about the future. This refers to the view of a paper written by George Ellis, a mathematician and astronomer at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, and Tony Rothman, a lecturer at Princeton. This paper shows how ordinary expansion would gradually carry away most galaxies out of site and would eventually result in our "cosmic ignorance."

The article concludes with some observations of a more philosophical nature. The author raises the important issue that we may be erroneously assuming that the universe is orderly and organized. There is also the real possibly that the universe is more chaotic than we might imagine. This also refers to the theory of the Big Band, which posits that, "...an extremely violent version of dark energy blew it up a fraction of a second after time began..." (Overbye, 2007). This would have the result of smoothing and stretching space and hiding other areas and galaxies from out sight.

4. Free Will: Now You Have it, Now You Don't by Dennis Overbye

Published: January 2, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/science/02free.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Physics

This article deals with the time-honored and complex debate about human free will and if free will is a construct of the imagination or an actual human reality. The author draws on sources and arguments from many disciplines to deal with this issue, including science and physics.

The argument against the idealistic and philosophical view of free will as an innate quality of human existence is that free will in fact is an illusion and that human life is in reality predetermined by physical as well as genetic and social aspects that we are often not even aware of. This more deterministic view has been prevalent in the sciences for many years.

As the author points out, the question of free will and the acceptance of the above view of free will is a prospect that plunges us into despair and nihilism at the thought that life has no real meaning, but is mainly a "knee-jerk" response to different stimulation and circumstances. Another even more alarming view that is posited by Mark Hallett, a researcher with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, is that free will is only a perception and that it does not exist in reality but only in the feeling that we have of freedom.

Other scientists also add to this gloomy view of free will and state that in every physical system that has been investigated it has been concluded that the driving force is entirely deterministic or random; which again indicates that free will is at best an illusion, which is only perceived as being real.

However, this view is countered to a certain extent by some modern physicists, who state that free will must exist, as it is a prerequisite for the creation of theories and the innovation of experimentation. The article notes that this view is particularly prevalent in the field of quantum mechanics. The author refers to the statement by Anton Zeilinger, a quantum physicist at the University of Vienna, who said that quantum randomness was "not a proof, just a hint, telling us we have free will" (Overbye, "Free Will," 2007),

However, the article also describes a variety of experiments that tended to show that conscious actions, and by implication free will, is problematized by the unconscious mind. Interestingly, the author notes that conscious will and actions are often seen as a "drag" on creative activity. The example is given of a writer who writes more creatively in a state of trance, rather than when he or she is conscious of the writing process.

This leads to other scientific views of free will that see this aspect as the part of the mind that censors and vetoes our actions and allows some to take place and not others. This is of course the moral aspect of free will and one scientist is cited as arguing that there is no real conflict between the material world and determinism and free will in this regard.

A it is precisely our immersion in causality and the material world that frees us. Evolution, history and culture, he explains, have endowed us with feedback systems that give us the unique ability to reflect and think things over and to imagine the future. Free will and determinism can co-exist

Overbye, "Free Will," 2007)

This view in turn leads to more complex theories that are aligned to modern quantum physics. The author turns to a discussion of levels of complexity in systems of physics and to non-dualistic views of what constitutes free will. This perspective also deals with the view that, " all is physics" and that what is referred to as free will is actually the outcome of various systems determining human life which offer certain choices and "futures."

While the article ends inconclusively, there is the suggestion that a more non-dualistic approach is needed in order to understand free will. There is also the suggestion gleaned from the work of physicists that a state can be reached in the understanding of systems where a new order of non-dualistic apperception can be attained. In other words, what is possibly being suggested in this article is that the prevalent dualistic mode of thought that is also evident in the sciences is not adequate to understand a concept such as free will and that another order of thought and complexity is needed to deal with the subject.

5. Using the 'Beauties of Physics' to Conquer Science Illiteracy by CLAUDIA DREIFUS. Published: July 17, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/science/17conv.html