Conversations About Physics, Volume 1

Textual Note
Preface
Indiana Steinhardt
And the Quest for Quasicrystals
A conversation with Paul Steinhardt
	Introduction
	I. Introducing Quasicrystals
	II. Building Models
	III. Out of the Blue
	IV. Competing Explanations
	V. Looking to Nature
	VI. New Year’s Delight
	VII. Confronting the Impossible
	VIII. Tracking Khatyrkite
	IX. Kamchatka
	X. Passing It On
	Continuing the Conversation
Cryptoreality
A conversation with Artur Ekert
	Introduction
	I. Beginnings
	II. Cryptographic Essentials
	III. Public Key Cryptosystems
	IV. Harnessing Interference
	V. Quantum Sociology
	VI. Quantum Metaphysics
	VII. The Joy of Questioning
The Physics of Banjos
A conversation with David Politzer
	Introduction
	I. The Feynman Experience
	II. Love at First Sound
	III. The Holy Grail
	IV. The Ocarina Effect
	V. Hearing Pitch
	VI. Relative Strengths
	VII. Transient Growth
	VIII. The Working Physicist
	IX. The Journey Continues
The Problems of Physics, Reconsidered
A conversation with Tony Leggett
	Introduction
	I. Back to the Future
	II. The Very Small
	III. The Very Large
	IV. A Glassy Digression
	V. The Very Complex
	VI. Understanding
	VII. Different Regimes
	VIII. Schrödinger’s Cat
	IX. The Slings and Arrows of Time
	X. The Anthropic Principle
	XI. The Future of Physics
	Continuing the Conversation
The Power of Principles
Physics Revealed
A conversation with Nima Arkani-Hamed
	Introduction
	I. Physics Time Management
	II. The Problem with Popularization
	III. In Feynman’s Footsteps
	IV. Describing Reality
	V. A Timeless Community
	VI. Against Relativism
	VII. Strongly Constrained
	VIII. In Search of a Formula
	IX. A Principled Example
	X. Supersymmetry
	XI. Reacting Precipitously
	XII. Tangled Pillars
	XIII. The Pull of the Truth
	XIV. Choosing a Better Description
	XV. Beyond Space-Time