When Past Becomes Future: Physics in the 21st Century

In recent years, although physics has not experienced the sort of revolutions that took place during the first quarter of the twentieth century, the seeds planted at that time are still bearing fruit and continue to engender new developments. This article looks at some of them, beginning with the discovery of the Higgs boson and gravitational radiation. A deeper look reveals the additional need to address other discoveries where physics reveals its unity with astrophysics and cosmology. These include dark matter, black holes, and multiple universes. String theory and supersymmetry are also considered, as is quantum entanglement and its uses in the area of secure communications (quantum cryptography). The article concludes with a look at the presence and importance of physics in a scientifically interdisciplinary world.

By José Manuel Sanchez Ron in Towards a New Enlightenment? A Transcendent Decade.