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In 1997, contrary to the ruling paradigm which was that of a dark matter ?lled, decelerating universe, my work pointed to a dark energydriven- celerating universe with a small cosmological constant. Moreover, the many supposedly accidental Large Number relations in cosmology, including the mysterious Weinbergformula were now deduced from the theory. Obser- tionalcon?rmationforthisscenariocamein1998,whiledarkenergyitselfwas ?nally recon?rmed in 2003, thanks to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The 1997, and subsequent work was the consequence of mainly three cons- erations: dark energy or the well known Zero Point Field, fuzzy spacetime and ?uctuations. Indeed String Theory and Quantum Gravity approaches have had to discard the smooth spacetime of General Relativity and Qu- tum Field Theory, in a quest for a uni?ed description of these two pillars of twentieth century physics. This book is the result of some seventy ?ve papers published in international journals,andpartlyanearlierbook, TheChaoticUniverse:FromthePlanck to the Hubble Scale (Nova Science, New York, 2001), as also several lectures delivered in Universities and institutes in the United States, Canada and - rope. It describes how, in a simple and somewhat conventional framework, an underpinning of Planck scale oscillators in the ubiquitous Zero Point Field or dark energy leads to a uni?ed description of phenomena involving elementary particles and the cosmos. In particular, apart from the cosmology mentioned above, these considerations lead to a uni?ed description of all interactions, includinggravitation, thoughinanextended gauge ?eld treatment.
List of contents
The Unification Paradigm.- Standard Models of Physics and Cosmology.- Different Approaches: Quantum Superstrings and Quantum Gravity.- Other Approaches.- Fuzzy Spacetime and the Planck Scale.- The Universe of Fluctuations.- Quantum Geometry.- How Fundamental is Gravitation?.- The Elusive Mass Spectrum.- Experimental Effects.
About the author
B.G. Sidharth got his B.Sc. (Mathematics Honors), M.Sc. and PhD from Calcutta University. After working for several years in Quantum Scattering, Dr. Sidharth’s work entered on the fundamental problems facing Physics today. His 1997 papers, contrary to the ruling paradigm, predicted a dark energy driven accelerating Universe with a small cosmological constant. Remarkably, this was confirmed in 1998. His work deals with fuzzy spacetime and the unification of interactions and similar problems within this context. Besides a large number of research publications in international journals, Dr. Sidharth also authored and edited a number of books. In addition he has lectured widely in the United States, Canada, Europe and other places.
B.G. Sidharth is the founder-director of the B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, India, and its constituent, the International Institute for Applicable Mathematics and Information Sciences, Hyderabad, and Udine, Italy. He was associated with the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, for many years having been a Senior Associate. Dr. Sidharth is on the Editorial / Advisory boards of international journals, institutes and award committees. Last but not least he played host to many Nobel Laureates and other physicists of World importance.
Summary
Proposes solutions to the impasse and crisis facing fundamental physics and cosmology. This work describes a cosmological model based on fuzzy spacetime that has correctly predicted a dark-energy-driven acceleration of our expanding universe - with a small cosmological constant - at a time when the popular belief was quite the contrary.
