The Quantum Structure of Space and Time: Proceedings of the 23rd Solvay Conference on Physics Brussels, Belgium 1-3 December 2005

295 Pages·2007·16.338 MB·English

by  Ed. David Gross et.al

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Proceedings of the 23rd Solvay Conference on Physics
-
Brussels, Belgium 1 3 December 2005
The
Quantum
Structure
Space
of
and
Time
EDITORS
DAVID GROSS
Kavli Institute. University of California. Santa Barbara. USA
MARC HENNEAUX
Universite Libre de Bruxelles & International Solvay Institutes. Belgium
ALEXANDER SEVRIN
Vrije Universiteit Brussel & International Solvay Institutes. Belgium
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World Scientific
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British Library Cataloguing-in-PublicationD ata
A catalogue record for this hook is available from the British Library.
THE QUANTUM STRUCTURE OF SPACE AND TIME
Proceedings of the 23rd Solvay Conference on Physics
Copyright 0 2007 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereoi may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
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ISBN 981-256-952-9
ISBN 981-256-953-7 (phk)
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The International Solvay Institutes
Board of Directors
Members
Mr. Jacques Solvay
President
Prof. Franz Bingen
Vice-president and Emeritus-Professor at the VUB
Baron Daniel Janssen
President of the Board of Directors of Solvay S.A.
Prof. Franklin Lambert
Deputy Director and Professor at the VUB
Prof. Renk Lefever
Professor at the ULB
Prof. Grkgoire Nicolis
Professor at the ULB
Mr Jean-Marie Piret
Attorney General of the Supreme Court of Appeal and
Honorary Principal Private Secretary to the King
Prof. Jean-Louis Vanherweghem
President of the Administrative Board of the ULB
Prof. Irina Veretennicoff
Professor at the VUB
Honorary Member
Baron Andre Jaumotte
Honorary Rector and Honorary President of the ULB
Vi The Quantum Structure of Space and Time
Guest Members
Prof. Albert Goldbeter
Professor at the ULB and Scientific Secretary of the Committee for Chemistry
Mr Pascal De Wit
Adviser Solvay S.A.
Prof. Niceas Schamp
Secretary of the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts
Prof. Alexandre Sevrin
Professor at the VUB and Scientific Secretary of the Committee for Physics
Direct or
Prof. Marc Henneaux
Professor at the ULB
The International Solvay Institutes vii
Solvay Scientific Committee for Physics
Professor Herbert Walther (chair)
Max-Planck Institut (Munich, Germany)
Professor Tito Arecchi
Universith di Firenze and INOA (Firenze, Italy)
Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell
University of Bath (Bath, UK)
Professor Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
Ecole Normale SupBrieure (Paris, fiance)
Professor Ludwig Faddeev
V.A Steklov Mathematical Institute (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Professor David Gross
Kavli Institute (Santa Barbara, USA)
Professor Gerard 't Hooft
Spinoza Instituut (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Professor Klaus von Klitzing
Max-Planck-Institut (Stuttgart, Germany)
Professor Pierre Ramond
University of Florida (Gainesville, USA)
Professor Alexandre Sevrin (Scientific Secretary)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium)
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23rd Solvay Conference on Physics
Hotel MQtropole (Brussels), 1-3 December 2005
The Quantum Structure of Space and
Time
Chair: Professor David Gross
The 23rd Solvay Conference on Physics took place in Brussels from December
1 through December 3, 2005 according to the tradition initiated by Lorentz at the
1st Solvay Conference on Physics in 1911 (“Premier Conseil de Physique Solvay”).
It was followed on December 4 by a public event co-organized with the European
Commission, during which R. Dijkgraaf and B. Greene delivered public lectures and
a panel of scientists (T. Damour, R. Dijkgraaf, B. Greene, D. Gross, G. ’t Hooft, L.
Randall, G. Veneziano) answered questions from the audience.
The Solvay Conferences have always benefitted from the support and encourage-
ment of the Royal Family. His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium attended
the first session on December 1 and met some of the participants.
The organization of the 23rd Solvay Conference has been made possible thanks
to the generous support of the Solvay Family, the Solvay Company, the Belgian
National Lottery, the “Universitb Libre de Bruxelles”, the “Vrije Universeit Brus-
sel”, the “Communautk franCaise de Belgique”, the David and Alice Van Buuren
Foundation and the H6tel Mbtropole.
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