Approaches to fundamental physics

This book represents in the ? rst place the desire of the authors of the various contributions to enter a discussion about the research landscape of prese- day fundamental theoretical physics. It documents their attempt, out of their highly specialized scienti? c positions, to ? nd a way of communicating about methods, achievements, and promises of the di? erent approacheswhich shape the development of this ? eld. It is therefore also an attempt to bring out the connections between these approaches, and present them not as disjoint ventures but rather as facets of a common quest for understanding. Whether in competition to each other or in collaboration, the ‘many-fold ways’ of contemporary physics are characterized by a number of exciting ? ndings (and questions) which appear more and more interrelated. Moreover, in the historical development of science, the steadily arriving new empi- cal information partly supports, partly contradicts the existing theories, and partly brings forth unexpected results forcing a total reorientationupon us. If we are lucky, the beginning of this century may prove to be as grand as that of the last one. Itisnotaneasytaskinasituationsomuchinmovementandinwhich variousapproachesstriveforcompletion, topromoteaconstructiveinteraction between these and to achieve a level of mutual understanding on which such an interaction can be fruitful. Nearly all of the authors contributing to this book have been participating in a working group dedicated exactly to this task; this group met in many sessions over several years. This book is to a large extent the result of these discussions.