Modern theoretical physics is indivisible. Ideas flow freely and fruitfully across traditional boundaries separating materials physics, fundamental physics and cosmology. How did this state of affairs come to be? What are its outstanding results? Is there more to come? Frank Wilczek discusses the synergy between the different fields of physics.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$99.00 per year
only $8.25 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Wilczek, F. Why are there analogies between condensed matter and particle theory? Phys. Today 51, 11 (1998).
Thouless, D. J. et al. Quantized hall conductance in a two-dimensional periodic potential. Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 405 (1982).
Hasan, M. Z. & Kane, C. L. Colloquium: topological insulators. Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 3045 (2010).
Leinaas, J. M. & Myrheim, J. On the theory of identical particles. Nuovo Cimento B 37, 1–23 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wilczek, F. The evolving unity of physics. Nat Rev Phys 1, 5–7 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-018-0007-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-018-0007-1