From Concept to Reality to Vision ∗
Frank A. Wilczek · 2008
I take a brief look at three frontiers of high-energy physics, illustrating how important parts of our current thinking evolved from earlier explorations at preceding frontiers. Elucidating the basic nature of the strong interaction was a vast enterprise to which many gifted scientists devoted their best efforts and made wonderful contributions. While the subject is far from finished – the dramatic developments I’ll be discussing this afternoon [1] bring that home! – I think it is clear that the foundations are secure. QCD, as the basic theory, is here to stay. It is a marvelous theory, which cleanly embodies mathematical ideas of great depth and beauty. Above all QCD demonstrates, in a unique way, the power of relativistic quantum field theory to produce an amazing wealth of phenomena (asymptotic freedom, jets, confinement, mass generation, resonance spectroscopy, chiral symmetry breaking, anomaly dynamics,...) in harmony with the observed facts of Nature. David Gross has just described for you the whirlwind of events and discoveries that led us to propose this theory for the strong interaction, reinforced with concrete reasons to believe in it (and no other!), and packaged with proposals for critical, quantitative experimental