Greatest Unsolved Problems in Physics?

[W.H.]

Please formulate problems as specifically as possible.

If you know of any other resources on this topic (web sites, journals, etc.), please list those as well.

Thanks,

W.H.

 

[SpaceTiger]

Although not exactly the same question, many of the great unsolved problems are covered in this thread:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=72331

 

[Danger]

Although not exactly the same question, many of the great unsolved problems are covered in this thread:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=72331

There are also less important questions, which nevertheless involve classical physics. For instance, I would still love to have a definitive answer as to how they built the pyramids. I've seen everything theorized, from compound pulleys and ramps to a chemical that liquifies stone. (I won't mention the crackpot stuff like UFO's. )

 

[infidel]

This has been solved, according to the last spacebum in the cosmos...

Rimmer: "...like the pyramids. How did they move such massive pieces of stone without the aid of modern technology?"

Lister: "They had massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips."

 

[Danger]

Lister: "They had massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips."

It seems to me that your talents are wasted here. Come back down to GD and help us kill that thread.

 

[shyboy]

Here is the list proposed by a Nobel laureate V. Ginzubrg
Controlled nuclear fusion.
2. High-temperature and room-temperature superconductivity.
3. Metallic hydrogen. Other exotic substances.
4. Two-dimensional electron liquid sthe anomalous
Hall effect and other effectsd.
5. Some questions of solid-state physics sheterostructures
in semiconductors, quantum wells and dots,
metal-dielectric transitions, charge- and spindensity
waves, mesoscopicsd.
6. Second-order and related phase transitions. Some
examples of such transitions. Cooling sin particular,
laser coolingd to superlow temperatures. Bose-
Einstein condensation in gases.
7. Surface physics. Clusters.
8. Liquid crystals. Ferroelectrics. Ferrotoroics.
9. Fullerenes. Nanotubes.
10. The behavior of matter in superstrong magnetic
fields.
11. Nonlinear physics. Turbulence. Solitons. Chaos.
Strange attractors.
12. X-ray lasers, gamma-ray lasers, superhigh-power lasers.
13. Superheavy elements. Exotic nuclei.
14. Mass spectrum. Quarks and gluons. Quantum chromodynamics.
Quark-gluon plasma.
15. Unified theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions.
W± and Z0 bosons. Leptons.
16. Standard Model. Grand unification. Superunification.
Proton decay. Neutrino mass. Magnetic monopoles.
17. Fundamental length. Particle interaction at high and
superhigh energies. Colliders.
18. Nonconservation of CP invariance.
19. Nonlinear phenomena in vacuum and in superstrong
magnetic fields. Phase transitions in a vacuum.
20. Strings. M theory.
21. Experimental verification of the general theory of
relativity.
22. Gravitational waves and their detection.
23. The cosmological problem. Inflation. The L term
and “quintessence.” Relationship between cosmology
and high-energy physics.
24. Neutron stars and pulsars. Supernova stars.
25. Black holes. Cosmic stringss?d.
26. Quasars and galactic nuclei. Formation of galaxies.
27. The problem of dark matter shidden massd and its
detection.
28. The origin of superhigh-energy cosmic rays.
29. Gamma-ray bursts. Hypernovae.
30. Neutrino physics and astronomy. Neutrino
oscillations.
V. L. Ginzburg
Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 981-998 (2004)
or

Vitalii L Ginzburg, "On some advances in physics and astronomy over the past three years ", Phys. Usp., 2002, 45 (2), 205-211.

 

[Danger]

There's always the 'Caramilk Secret'.


On a more serious note, I have an abiding interest in amorphous metals and viscosity-controlled liquids. It seems that there's still a lot to be learned there. (Maybe this is more of an engineering thing, though. I tend to think of everything in terms of physics, but it might not be appropriate for this forum.)

 

[Spastik_Relativity]

I don't want to sound like a conspiracist or anything liek that but id say one great unsolved mystery in physics is the hutchinson effect and the so called "antigravity".
Its contriversial and i myself am a skeptic but its an unsolved problem of physics

 

[Pengwuino]

Thats not really a "conspiracy" because it doesn't seem like anyones supressing information on it.

 

[ZapperZ]

Besides, they aren't "unsolved problem", because for them to be unsolved, the phenomena must have existed already. So far, these things are "imagined". We can't solve people's imaginary ghosts.

Zz.

 

[Danger]

We can't solve people's imaginary ghosts.

That brings to mind a phenomenon that has been cited as a possible explanation for 'hauntings'. I don't know the technical term, but I refer to it as 'sonic imprinting'. The idea is that sound waves are somehow trapped in physical matter, as some sort of resonance change. Under some circumstances, they are re-emitted in their original form. It's sort of like the workings of a mechanical phonograph, but apparently on the molecular or even atomic level. I'm not sure that it's even real, but it seems possible. Although I have no interest in parapsychology (other than as a debunker), it seems to me that this could have serious value to archaeology if it can be proven and understood.

 

[Crosson]

In my opinion, the biggest unsolved problem is the explanation of the 95% of the matter in the universe that is not baryonic. We know nothing at all about htis "dark matter".

 

[Chi Meson]

"What happens to all those pens, and socks?"