Is There Unification in the 21st Century?

Abstract

In the last 100 years, the most important equations in physics are Maxwell's equations for electrodynamics, Einstein's equation for gravity, Dirac's equation for the electron and Yang-Mills equation for elementary particles. Do these equations follow a common principle and come from a single theory? Despite intensive efforts to unify gravity and the particle interactions in the last 30 years, the goal is still to be achieved. Recent theories have not answered any question in physics. We examine the issues involved in this long quest to understand the ultimate nature of spacetime and matter.Comment: Lecture delievered in Conference in Honor of Murray Gell-Mann's 80th Birthday. February 24 - 26, 2010. Nanyang Executive Centre, Singapore. 10 page