TITLE

I N T RO D U C T I O N

OF

SPECIAL SECTION

EINSTEINS LEGACY

SPECIAL SECTION

A Passion for Physics

he World Year of Physics in 2005 celebrates the publication of Einsteins papers in Annalen der Physik that, 100 years ago, heralded the era of modern physics. Part of Einsteins legacy is that quantum mechanics and relativity forced us to accept notions of space and time, and of matter and energy, that do not square with our everyday experience. Given Einsteins passion for the deepest questions in physics, we highlight some of those challenges in this special issue. Of Einsteins many contributions, the work that has most gripped the public imagination boils down to a single word: relativity. Today physicists are still wrestling with the implications of this mathematically straightforward but surreal-sounding theory. Some hope to find subtle flaws in a key component of the special theory of relativityflaws that, as Cho explains in his News story (p. 866), could lead physics into realms even stranger than the ones that Einstein pioneered. In another News feature (p. 869), Seife and Lawler describe how NASAs new emphasis on exploration is affecting satellites designed to test whether the later general theory of relativity accurately describes spacetime. Despite being one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, Einstein was dismayed by its probabilistic nature. Leggett (p. 871) explores the current status CONTENTS of the theory and discusses the controversy that still remains. Dunningham et al. (p. 872) look at two different categories: the fragile but useful and the robust NEWS but essentially useless. These two 866 Special Relativity Reconsidered types of entanglement can perhaps Doubly Special, Twice as explain the transition from the quantum Controversial to the classical worlds. Aharonov and Zubairy (p. 875) discuss some of the 869 Were So Sorry, Uncle Albert stranger aspects of time in quantum mechanics, especially the delayed VIEWPOINTS & REVIEWS choice quantum eraser of Scully and Drhl, in which the erasing of 871 The Quantum Measurement Problem which path information in two-slit A. J. Leggett experiments can restore interference patterns, even if that information 872 From Pedigree Cats to comes after the fact. Fluffy-Bunnies 879 After the development of general J. Dunningham et al. relativity, Einstein spent many years 875 Time and the Quantum: Erasing attempting to unify the fundamental forces of the day: gravity and electrothe Past and Impacting the Future magnetism. Bennett (p. 879) discusses some of the current tests of Einsteins Y. Aharonov and M. S. Zubairy theories of relativity, including gravitational redshifts, gravitational waves, 879 Astrophysical Observations: and the Lense-Thirring effect. He also discusses the role of dark energy and Lensing and Eclipsing Einsteins dark matter and the questions of the origin and ultimate fate of the universe. Theories Guth and Kaiser (p. 884) overview inflationary cosmology, which helps C. L. Bennett bridge particle physics and gravitation, and they outline the experimental tests 884 Inflationary Cosmology: Exploring of inflations mark on the present universe. They also discuss the theoretical the Universe from the Smallest to efforts to use superstring theory to understand inflation and to determine the the Largest Scales vacuum energy of the universe. In Books et al., Wilczek (p. 852) reviews Penroses A. H. Guth and D. I. Kaiser comprehensive perspective on our understanding of the physical behavior of the universe and the mathematical theory that underlies it. Einsteins legacy includes the physicists who continue to take up his mantle. See also related Next Wave material on Sciences Next Wave (www.nextwave.org) profiles some European physicists as p. 809 and Book Review on p. 852. well as Canadas Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
ROBERT COONTZ, IAN OSBORNE, AND PHIL SZUROMI

PAG E

CREDIT: BENNETT ET AL.

www.sciencemag.org

SCIENCE

VOL 307

11 FEBRUARY 2005

865

Published by AAAS