Are These The Top 11 Unsolved Problems in Economics?

One List of Unsolved Economics Problems

By Mike Moffatt
Ads:

Economics

Definition of Economics

Macroeconomics

World Economic Report

Economy

Ads
Infiniti Researchwww.infiniti-research.comMarket and Competitive Intelligence
To Help Your Business Succeed!
Online Tradingwww.plus500.be/frTrade CFDs on Bitcoins with Plus500 Your
capital is at risk.
Casius.be: Vind uw vakmancasius.bePlaats gratis uw opdracht. Ontvang
offertes van vakmensen in uw regio!
Top Related Searches
Assassination Of Archduke Ferdinand
Craig Newmark
What Caused The Industrial Revolution
Ecomomics
Anonymous Authors
Objective Answer
Ads

Rencontre Femmes Matureswww.rencontres-cougars.netRencontrez des

femmes mres. Premier site de rencontre cougar.
Huishoudboekje 2.0afaspersonal.nlHet Huishoudboekje is terug Gratis &
Online. Best getest!
Through Craig Newmark I stumbled upon a list on Wikipedia of Unsolved
Problems in Ecomomics. Like a lot of the material on Wikipedia, there are no
citations or indication of where the material comes from, who the authors are and
what qualifications do they have.
That being said, I do find the idea of such a list fascinating and I applaud these
anonymous authors for giving it their best effort. I would love to see a survey of,
say, the AEA asking members for their lists of top unsolved economics questions.
To say a question is "unsolved" implies that the question potentially has a
solution, in the same way 2x + 4 = 8 has a solution. The difficulty is, most of the
questions on this list are so vague that they cannot possibly have a solution. As
such, the list, in my opinion, is a poor one.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Unsolved problems in economics)
This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems, puzzles, or questions in
neoclassical economics. Some of these are theoretical in origin and some of them
concern the inability of orthodox economic theory to explain an empirical
observation.
Contents
[hide]

1 Behavioral economics

2 Financial economics

3 International economics

4 References

5 Further reading

Behavioral economics[edit]
Main article: Behavioral economics

Revealed preference: Does Revealed Preference theory truly reveal

consumer preference when the consumer is able to afford all of the
available options? For example, if a consumer is confronted with three

goods and they can afford to purchase all three (A, B, and C) and they
choose to first purchase A, then C, and then B - does this suggest that the
consumer preference for the goods is A > C > B? The debate rests on the
fact that since the consumer can afford all three goods and does not need
to make a preferential decision, does the order of consumption reflect any
preference?[1]

Ttonnement: The act of ttonnement plays a key role in the formulation

of general equilibrium theory. The claim is that if an initial contract does
not lead to an equilibrium, they are ended and new contracts are
formulated. If the initial contract is not called off, it will likely lead to a
different price system, depending on the degree of error in the original
process. The question is whether successive re-contracting continues with
the parties forgetting the previously planned positions taken or whether
the parties engage in a form of ttonnement to achieve optimality? [1] See
Also: Hill climbing and Walrasian auction

Unified Models of Human Biases: Neoclassical economics has

concentrated on the development of models that reflect an idealized
economic agent, sometimes referred to as Homo economicus, as a way of
studying economics. In the period spanning the 1970s to the 1990s,
research began to emerge that suggested that people were subject to
cognitive biases such as the framing effect, loss aversion, the gambler's
fallacy, confirmation bias, and many others. Further, these effects could
produce anomalies such asherd behavior or momentum
investing inconsistent with economic models that did not incorporate
human psychological limitations.[2] While some models have begun to
includebounded rationality and risk aversion, such as Prospect Theory,
there still remains to be seen a unified model that can make useful
predictions that incorporates the entirety of cognitive biases and rational
limitations in most humans.[3] Further, there even exists debate as to
whether it is necessary to incorporate such psychological limitations into
economic models. While some economists insist they are necessary to fully
appreciate the complexity of the market, others still contend that a model
that incorporates human biases is either unrealistic or question its
usefulness arguing that a model that doesn't approximate agents as being
perfectly rational, with the possibility of minimal exceptions, is unlikely to
be successful.[3][4]

Financial economics[edit]
Main article: Financial economics

Equity premium puzzle: The Equity premium puzzle is thought to be one

of the most important outstanding questions in neoclassical economics. [5] It
is founded on the basis that over the last one hundred years or so the
average real return to stocks in the US has been substantially higher than
that of bonds. The puzzle lies in the explaining the causes behind this

equity premium. While there are a number of different theories regarding

the puzzle, there still exists no definitive agreement on its cause. [6]

Dividend puzzle: The Dividend puzzle is the empirically observed

phenomena that companies that pay dividends tend to be rewarded
by investors with higher valuations. At present, there is no explanation
widely accepted by economists.[7][8][9] The Modigliani-Miller
theorem suggests that the puzzle can (only) be explained by some
combination of taxes, bankruptcy costs, market inefficiency (including that
due to investor psychology), and asymmetric information.

Improved BlackScholes and Binomial Options Pricing models: The

BlackScholes model and the more general binomial options pricing
models are a collection of equations that seek to model and
price equity and call options. While the models are widely used, they have
many significant limitations.[10] Chief among them are the model's inability
to account for historical market movements [11] and their frequent
overpricing of options, with the overpricing increasing with the time to
maturity.[12] The development of a model that can properly account for the
pricing of call options on an asset with stochastic volatility is considered an
open problem in financial economics.[12]

International economics[edit]
Main article: International economics

Home bias in trade puzzle: The home bias in trade puzzle is an

empirical observation that even when factors such as economic size of
trading partners and the distance between them are considered, trade
between regions within a given country is substantially greater than trade
between regions in different countries, even when there are no substantial
legal barriers. There is currently no framework to explain this observation.
[13][14]

Equity home bias puzzle: This puzzle concerns the observation that
individuals and institutions in many countries only hold modest amounts of
foreign equity, despite the ability for vast diversification of their portfolios
in the global economy.[13] While some explanations do exist, such as that
local individuals and firms have greater access to information about local
firms and economic conditions, these explanations are not accepted by the
majority of economists and have been mostly refuted. [15]

Backus-Kehoe-Kydland puzzle: The Backus-Kehoe-Kydland consumption

correlation puzzle is the empirical observation that consumption is much
less correlated across countries than output.[13] Standard economic theory
suggests that country-specific output risks should be collective and
domestic consumption growth should not depend strongly on countryspecific income shocks. Thus, we should not see the observation that

consumption is much less correlated across countries than output; and yet
we do.[16][17]

Feldstein-Horioka puzzle: The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle originates from

an article in the 1980s that found that among OECD countries, averages of
long-term national savings rates are highly correlated with similar
averages of domestic investment rates. Standard economic theory
suggests that in relatively open international financial markets, the savings
of any country would flow to countries with the most productive
investment opportunities; hence, saving rates and domestic investment
rates would be uncorrelated, contrary to the empirical evidence suggested
by Martin Feldstein and Charles Horioka. While numerous articles regarding
the puzzle have been published, none of the explanations put forth have
adequate empirical support.[13]

PPP Puzzle: The PPP puzzle, considered one of the two real exchange rate
puzzles, concerns the observation that real exchange rates are both
more volatile and more persistent than most models would suggest. The
only clear way to understand this volatility would be to assign substantial
roles to monetary and financial shocks. However, if shocks play such a
large role the challenge becomes finding what source, if one even exists,
of nominal rigidity that could be so persistent to explain the long-term
prolonged nature of real exchange rate deviations. [13]

The Exchange Rate Disconnect Puzzle: The exchange rate disconnect

puzzle, also one of the so-called real exchange rate puzzles, concerns the
weak short-term feedback link between exchange rates and the rest of the
economy. In most economies, the exchange rate is the most important
relative price, so it is surprising, and thus far unexplained entirely, that the
correlations are not stronger.[13]

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Oskar Morgenstern (1972). "Thirteen critical points
in contemporary economic theory". Journal of Economic
Literature 10: 11631189. JSTOR 2721542.
2. Jump up^ "Foundations of Behavioral and Experimental Economics:
Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith" (Press release). The Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences. 17 December 2002.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Machina, Mark (1987). "Choice under Uncertainty:
Problems Solved and Unsolved". Journal of Economic
Perspectives 1 (1): 121154.
4. Jump up^ Krugman, Paul (2 September 2009), "How Did
Economists Get It So Wrong?", The New York Times
5. Jump up^ "Has Barro solved the equity premium puzzle?". New
Economist weblog. 2005-09-29.

6. Jump up^ Narayana R. Kocherlakota (March 1996). "The Equity

Premium: Its Still a Puzzle" (PDF). Journal of Economic Literature 34:
4271.
7. Jump up^ Borges, Maria Rosa (July 2008), Is The Dividend Puzzle
Solved ?
8. Jump up^ Prast, Henriette (March 2004), Investor psychology: a
behavioral explanation of six finance puzzles
9. Jump up^ Bernheim, B. Douglas (1991). "Tax Policy and the
Dividend Puzzle". RAND Journal of Economics 22 (4): 455476.
10.Jump
up^ http://www.wilmott.com/blogs/paul/index.cfm/2008/4/29/Scienc
e-in-Finance-IX-In-defence-of-Black-Scholes-and-Merton
11.Jump up^ Baggett, L. Scott; Thompson, James; Williams, Edward;
Wojciechowski, William (October 2006). "Nobels for
nonsense". Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 29 (1): 318.
12.^ Jump up to:a b Hull, John; White, Alan (June 1987). "The Pricing of
Options on Assets with Stochastic Volatilities". Journal of
Finance 42 (2): 281300.
13.^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Obstfeld, Maurice; Rogoff, Kenneth (2000),
"The Six Major Puzzles in International Macroeconomics: Is There a
Common Cause?", in Bernanke, Ben; Rogoff, Kenneth, NBER
Macroeconomics Annual 2000 15, The MIT Press, pp. 339
390, ISBN 0-262-02503-5
14.Jump up^ Edmond, Chris, "316-632 International Monetary
Economics",
15.Jump up^ Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn; Veldkamp, Laura (July 2005).
"Information Immobility and the Home Bias Puzzle". NYU Working
Paper. FIN-04-026. ssrn 1294476.
16.Jump up^ Backus, David K.; Kehoe, Patrick J.; Kydland, Finn
E. (1992), "International Real Business Cycles", Journal of Political
Economy 100: 745775, doi:10.1086/261838
17.Jump up^ Backus, David K.; Kehoe, Patrick J.; Kydland, Finn E.
(1995), "International Business Cycles: Theory and Evidence", in
Cooley, Tom, Frontiers of Business Cycle Research, Princeton
University Press, ISBN 0-691-04323-X
Further reading[edit]

Oskar Morgenstern (1972). "Thirteen critical points in contemporary

economic theory". Journal of Economic Literature 10: 1163
1189. JSTOR 2721542.

Alessandro Innocenti (1995). "Oskar Morgenstern and the Heterodox

Potentialities of the Application of Game Theory to Economics". Journal of
the History of Economic Thought (Cambridge University Press) 17: 205
227. doi:10.1017/S1053837200002601.

Bernstein, Steven; Ned Lebow, Richard; Gross Stein, Janice; Weber,

Steven (2000). "God Gave Physics the Easy Problems:". European Journal
of International Relations 6(1): 43
76. doi:10.1177/1354066100006001003.

Peter J. Boettke (Winter 1998). "Formalism and contemporary economics: A

reply to Hausman, Heilbroner, and Mayer". Critical Review 12 (1&2): 173
186.doi:10.1080/08913819808443492.

DeLong, J. Bradford; Konstantin Magin (2009). "The U.S. Equity Return

Premium: Past, Present, and Future". Journal of Economic
Perspectives (American Economic Association) 23 (1): 193
208. doi:10.1257/jep.23.1.193.

List of unsolved problems in philosophy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)
Philosophy

Plato Kant Nietzsche

Philosophers

Aestheticians

Epistemologists

Ethicists

Logicians

Metaphysicians

Social and political philosophers

Traditions

Analytic

Continental

Eastern

Islamic

Platonic

Scholastic

Periods

Ancient

Medieval

Modern

Contemporary

Literature

Aesthetics

Epistemology

Ethics

Logic

Metaphysics

Political philosophy

Branches

Aesthetics

Epistemology

Ethics

Logic

Metaphysics

Political philosophy

Social philosophy

Lists

Index

Outline

Years

Problems

Publications

Theories

Glossary

Philosophers

Philosophy portal

This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems in philosophy. Clearly,

unsolved philosophical problems exist in the lay sense (e.g. "What is the meaning
of life?", "Where did we come from?", "What is reality?", etc.). However,
professional philosophers generally accord serious philosophical problems
specific names or questions, which indicate a particular method of attack or line
of reasoning. As a result, broad and untenable topics become manageable. It
would therefore be beyond the scope of this article to categorize "life" (and
similar vague categories) as an unsolved philosophical problem.
Contents
[hide]

1 Aesthetics
o

1.1 Essentialism

1.2 Art objects

2 Epistemology
o

2.1 Gettier problem

2.2 Infinite regression

2.3 Molyneux problem

2.4 Mnchhausen trilemma

2.5 Qualia

3 Ethics
o

4 Philosophy of language
o

4.1 Moore's disbelief

5 Philosophy of mathematics
o

3.1 Moral luck

5.1 Mathematical objects

6 Metaphysics
o

6.1 Sorites paradox

6.2 Counterfactuals

6.3 Material implication

7 Philosophy of mind
o

7.1 Mind-body problem

7.2 Cognition and AI

7.3 Hard problem of consciousness

8 Philosophy of science
o

8.1 Problem of induction

8.2 Demarcation problem

8.3 Realism

9 See also

10 References

Aesthetics[edit]
Essentialism[edit]

Epistemology[edit]
Epistemological problems are concerned with the nature, scope and limitations of
knowledge. Epistemology may also be described as the study of knowledge.
Gettier problem[edit]
Main article: Gettier problem
Plato suggests, in his Theaetetus, Meno, and other dialogues, that "knowledge"
may be defined as justified true belief. For over two millennia, this definition of
knowledge has been reinforced and accepted by subsequent philosophers, who
accepted justifiability, truth, and belief as the necessary and sufficient conditions
for information to earn the special designation of being "knowledge."
In 1963, however, Edmund Gettier published an article in the
periodical Analysis entitled "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", offering
instances of justified true belief that do not conform to the generally understood
meaning of "knowledge." Gettier's examples hinged on instances
of epistemic luck: cases where a person appears to have sound evidence for a
proposition, and that proposition is in fact true, but the apparent evidence is not
causally related to the proposition's truth.
In response to Gettier's article, numerous philosophers have offered modified
criteria for "knowledge." There is no general consensus to adopt any of the
modified definitions yet proposed.
Infinite regression[edit]
Overlooking for a moment the complications posed by Gettier problems,
philosophy has essentially continued to operate on the principle that knowledge
is justified true belief. The obvious question that this definition entails is how one
can know whether one's justification is sound. One must therefore provide a
justification for the justification. That justification itself requires justification, and
the questioning continues interminably. The conclusion is that no one can truly
have knowledge of anything, since it is, due to this infinite regression, impossible
to satisfy the justification element. In practice, this has caused little concern to
philosophers, since the line between a reasonably exhaustive investigation and
superfluous investigation is usually clear, while others argue
for coherentist systems and others still[who?] view an infinite regress as
unproblematic due to recent work byPeter D. Klein .[citation needed] Nevertheless, the
question remains theoretically interesting.
Mnchhausen trilemma[edit]
Ethics[edit]
Philosophy of language[edit]
Mathematical objects[edit]

Main article: Mathematical structure

What are numbers, sets, groups, points, etc.? Are they real objects or are they
simply relationships that necessarily exist in all structures? Although many
disparate views exist regarding what a mathematical object is, the discussion
may be roughly partitioned into two opposing schools of thought: platonism,
which asserts that mathematical objects are real, and formalism, which asserts
that mathematical objects are merely formal constructions. This dispute may be
better understood when considering specific examples, such as the "continuum
hypothesis". The continuum hypothesis has been proven independent of the ZF
axioms of set theory, so according to that system, the proposition can neither be
proven true nor proven false. A formalist would therefore say that the continuum
hypothesis is neither true nor false, unless you further refine the context of the
question. A platonist, however, would assert that there either does or does not
exist a transfinite set with a cardinality less than the continuum but greater than
any countable set.[citation needed] So, regardless of whether it has
been proven unprovable, the platonist would argue that an answer nonetheless
does exist.

List of unsolved problems in mathematics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain
unclear because it has insufficient inline citations.Please help
to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May
2008)
This article lists some unsolved problems in mathematics. See individual
articles for details and sources.
Contents
[hide]

1 Millennium Prize Problems

2 Other still-unsolved problems

o

2.1 Additive number theory

2.2 Algebra

2.3 Algebraic geometry

2.4 Algebraic number theory

2.5 Analysis

2.6 Combinatorics

2.7 Discrete geometry

2.8 Dynamical system

2.9 Graph theory

2.10 Group theory

2.11 Model theory

2.12 Number theory (general)

2.13 Number theory (prime numbers)

2.14 Partial differential equations

2.15 Ramsey theory

2.16 Set theory

2.17 Other

3 Problems solved recently

4 See also

5 References

5.1 Books discussing unsolved problems

5.2 Books discussing recently solved problems

6 External links

Millennium Prize Problems[edit]

Of the seven Millennium Prize Problems set by the Clay Mathematics Institute, six
have yet to be solved:

P versus NP

Hodge conjecture

Riemann hypothesis

YangMills existence and mass gap

NavierStokes existence and smoothness

Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.

The seventh problem, the Poincar conjecture, has been solved. The smooth fourdimensional Poincar conjecture is still unsolved. That is, can a four-dimensional
topological sphere have two or more inequivalent smooth structures?

Other still-unsolved problems[edit]

Additive number theory[edit]

Beal's conjecture

Goldbach's conjecture (Proof claimed for weak version in 2013)

The values of g(k) and G(k) in Waring's problem

Collatz conjecture (3n + 1 conjecture)

Lander, Parkin, and Selfridge conjecture

Diophantine quintuples

Gilbreath's conjecture

Erds conjecture on arithmetic progressions

ErdsTurn conjecture on additive bases

Pollock octahedral numbers conjecture

Algebra[edit]

Hilbert's sixteenth problem

Hadamard conjecture

Existence of perfect cuboids

Algebraic geometry[edit]

AndrOort conjecture

Bass conjecture

Deligne conjecture

Frberg conjecture

Fujita conjecture

Hartshorne conjectures

Jacobian conjecture

Manin conjecture

Nakai conjecture

Resolution of singularities in characteristic p

Standard conjectures on algebraic cycles

Section conjecture

Virasoro conjecture

Witten conjecture

Zariski multiplicity conjecture

Algebraic number theory[edit]

Are there infinitely many real quadratic number fields with unique
factorization?

BrumerStark conjecture

Characterize all algebraic number fields that have some power basis.

Analysis[edit]

The Jacobian conjecture

Schanuel's conjecture

Lehmer's conjecture

Pompeiu problem

Are (the EulerMascheroni constant), + e, e, e, /e, e, 2, ,

e2, ln , 2e, ee, Catalan's constant or Khinchin's
constant rational, algebraic irrational, ortranscendental? What is
the irrationality measure of each of these numbers?[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The Khabibullins conjecture on integral inequalities

Combinatorics[edit]

Number of magic squares (sequence A006052 in OEIS)

Finding a formula for the probability that two elements chosen at random
generate the symmetric group

Frankl's union-closed sets conjecture: for any family of sets closed under
sums there exists an element (of the underlying space) belonging to half or
more of the sets

The Lonely runner conjecture: if

runners with pairwise distinct
speeds run round a track of unit length, will every runner be "lonely" (that
is, be at least a distance

from each other runner) at some time?

Singmaster's conjecture: is there a finite upper bound on the multiplicities

of the entries greater than 1 in Pascal's triangle?

The 1/32/3 conjecture: does every finite partially ordered set contain two
elements x and y such that the probability that x appears before y in a
random linear extension is between 1/3 and 2/3?

Discrete geometry[edit]

Solving the Happy Ending problem for arbitrary

Finding matching upper and lower bounds for K-sets and halving lines

The Hadwiger conjecture on covering n-dimensional convex bodies with at

most 2n smaller copies

Dynamical system[edit]

Furstenberg conjecture Is every invariant and ergodic measure for

the

action on the circle either Lebesgue or atomic?

Margulis conjecture Measure classification for diagonalizable actions in

higher-rank groups

MLC conjecture - Is the Mandelbrot set locally connected ?

Graph theory[edit]

Barnette's conjecture that every cubic bipartite three-connected planar

graph has a Hamiltonian cycle

The ErdsGyrfs conjecture on cycles with power-of-two lengths in cubic

graphs

The ErdsHajnal conjecture on finding large homogeneous sets in graphs

with a forbidden induced subgraph

The Hadwiger conjecture relating coloring to clique minors

The ErdsFaberLovsz conjecture on coloring unions of cliques

The total coloring conjecture

The list coloring conjecture

The RingelKotzig conjecture on graceful labeling of trees

The HadwigerNelson problem on the chromatic number of unit distance

graphs

Deriving a closed-form expression for the percolation threshold values,

especially
(square site)

Tutte's conjectures that every bridgeless graph has a nowhere-zero 5flow and every bridgeless graph without the Petersen graph as a minor has
a nowhere-zero 4-flow

The Reconstruction conjecture and New digraph reconstruction

conjecture concerning whether or not a graph is recognizable by the vertex
deleted subgraphs.

The cycle double cover conjecture that every bridgeless graph has a family
of cycles that includes each edge twice.

Does a Moore graph with girth 5 and degree 57 exist?

Conway's thrackle conjecture

Group theory[edit]

Is every finitely presented periodic group finite?

The inverse Galois problem: is every finite group the Galois group of a
Galois extension of the rationals?

For which positive integers m, n is the free Burnside group B(m,n) finite? In
particular, is B(2, 5) finite?

Is every group surjunctive?

Model theory[edit]

Vaught's conjecture

The Cherlin-Zilber conjecture: A simple group whose first-order theory

is stable in
field.

is a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed

The Main Gap conjecture, e.g. for uncountable first order theories,
for AECs, and for

-saturated models of a countable theory.[9]

Determine the structure of Keisler's order[10][11]

The stable field conjecture: every infinite field with a stable first-order
theory is separably closed.

Is the theory of the field of Laurent series over

polynomials over ?

(BMTO) Is the Borel monadic theory of the real order decidable? (MTWO) Is
the monadic theory of well-ordering consistently decidable? [12]

The Stable Forking Conjecture for simple theories [13]

For which number fields does Hilbert's tenth problem hold?

Assume K is the class of models of a countable first order theory omitting

decidable? of the field of

countably many types. If K has a model of cardinality

model of cardinality continuum?[14]

does it have a

Is there a logic satisfying the interpolation theorem which is compact? [15]

If the class of atomic models of a complete first order theory

is categorical in the

, is it categorical in every cardinal? [16][17]

Is every infinite, minimal field of characteristic zero algebraically closed?

(minimal = no proper elementary substructure)

Kueker's conjecture[18]

Does there exist an o-minimal first order theory with a trans-exponential

(rapid growth) function?

Lachlan's decision problem

Does a finitely presented homogeneous structure for a finite relational

language have finitely many reducts?

Do the Henson graphs have the finite model property? (e.g. triangle-free
graphs)

The universality problem for C-free graphs: For which finite sets C of
graphs does the class of C-free countable graphs have a universal member
under strong embeddings?[19]

The universality spectrum problem: Is there a first-order theory whose

universality spectrum is minimum?[20]

Number theory (general)[edit]

abc conjecture (Proof claimed in 2012, currently under review.)

ErdsStraus conjecture

Do any odd perfect numbers exist?

Are there infinitely many perfect numbers?

Do quasiperfect numbers exist?

Do any odd weird numbers exist?

Do any Lychrel numbers exist?

Is 10 a solitary number?

Do any Taxicab(5, 2, n) exist for n>1?

Brocard's problem: existence of integers, n,m, such that n!+1=m2 other

than n=4,5,7

Distribution and upper bound of mimic numbers

Littlewood conjecture

Congruent number problem (a corollary to Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer

conjecture, per Tunnell's theorem)

Lehmer's totient problem: if (n) divides n 1, must n be prime?

Are there infinitely many amicable numbers?

Are there any pairs of relatively prime amicable numbers?

Number theory (prime numbers)[edit]

Catalan's Mersenne conjecture

Twin prime conjecture

The Gaussian moat problem: is it possible to find an infinite sequence of

distinct Gaussian prime numbers such that the difference between
consecutive numbers in the sequence is bounded?

Are there infinitely many prime quadruplets?

Are there infinitely many Mersenne primes (LenstraPomeranceWagstaff

conjecture); equivalently, infinitely many even perfect numbers?

Are there infinitely many Wagstaff primes?

Are there infinitely many Sophie Germain primes?

Are there infinitely many regular primes, and if so is their relative

density

Are there infinitely many Cullen primes?

Are there infinitely many Woodall primes?

Are there infinitely many palindromic primes in base 10?

Are there infinitely many Fibonacci primes?

Are all Mersenne numbers of prime index square-free?

Are there infinitely many Wieferich primes?

Are there for every a 2 infinitely many primes p such that a p 1 1

(mod p2)?[21]

Can a prime p satisfy 2p 1 1 (mod p2) and 3p 1 1 (mod p2)

simultaneously?[22]

Are there infinitely many Wilson primes?

Are there infinitely many Wolstenholme primes?

Are there any WallSunSun primes?

Is every Fermat number 22n + 1 composite for

Are all Fermat numbers square-free?

Is 78,557 the lowest Sierpiski number?

Is 509,203 the lowest Riesel number?

Fortune's conjecture (that no Fortunate number is composite)

Polignac's conjecture

Landau's problems

Does every prime number appear in the EuclidMullin sequence?

Does the converse of Wolstenholme's theorem hold for all natural

numbers?

ElliottHalberstam conjecture

Partial differential equations[edit]

Regularity of solutions of VlasovMaxwell equations

Regularity of solutions of Euler equations

Ramsey theory[edit]

The values of the Ramsey numbers, particularly

The values of the Van der Waerden numbers

Set theory[edit]

The problem of finding the ultimate core model, one that contains all large
cardinals.

If is a strong limit cardinal, then 2 < 1 (see Singular cardinals

hypothesis). The best bound, 4, was obtained by Shelah using his pcf
theory.

Woodin's -hypothesis.

Does the consistency of the existence of a strongly compact cardinal imply

the consistent existence of a supercompact cardinal?

(Woodin) Does the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis below a strongly

compact cardinal imply the Generalized Continuum
Hypothesis everywhere?

Does there exist a Jonsson algebra on ?

Without assuming the axiom of choice, can a nontrivial elementary

embedding VV exist?

Is it consistent that
Malliaris and Shelah,

? (This problem was solved in a 2012 preprint by

[23]

who showed that

is a theorem of ZFC.)

Does the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis entail

every singular cardinal ?

for

Other[edit]

Invariant subspace problem

Problems in Latin squares

Problems in loop theory and quasigroup theory

Dixmier conjecture

BaumConnes conjecture

Generalized star height problem

Assorted sphere packing problems, e.g. the densest irregular hypersphere

packings

Closed curve problem: Find (explicit) necessary and sufficient conditions

that determine when, given two periodic functions with the same period,
the integral curve is closed.[24]

Toeplitz' conjecture (open since 1911)

See also: List of conjectures

Problems solved recently[edit]

Gromov's problem on distortion of knots (John Pardon, 2011)

Circular law (Terence Tao and Van H. Vu, 2010)

Hirsch conjecture (Francisco Santos Leal, 2010[25])

Serre's modularity conjecture (Chandrashekhar Khare and Jean-Pierre

Wintenberger, 2008[26])

Heterogeneous tiling conjecture (squaring the plane) (Frederick V. Henle

and James M. Henle, 2007)

Road coloring conjecture (Avraham Trahtman, 2007)

The Angel problem (Various independent proofs, 2006)

The LanglandsShelstad fundamental lemma (Ng Bo Chu and Grard

Laumon, 2004)

StanleyWilf conjecture (Gbor Tardos and Adam Marcus, 2004)

GreenTao theorem (Ben J. Green and Terence Tao, 2004)

CameronErds conjecture (Ben J. Green, 2003, Alexander Sapozhenko,

2003, conjectured by Paul Erds)[27]

Strong perfect graph conjecture (Maria Chudnovsky, Neil Robertson, Paul

Seymour and Robin Thomas, 2002)

Poincar conjecture (Grigori Perelman, 2002)

Catalan's conjecture (Preda Mihilescu, 2002)

Kato's conjecture (Auscher, Hofmann, Lacey, McIntosh, and Tchamitchian,

2001)

The Langlands correspondence for function fields (Laurent Lafforgue, 1999)

TaniyamaShimura conjecture (Wiles, Breuil, Conrad, Diamond, and Taylor,

1999)

Kepler conjecture (Thomas Hales, 1998)

Milnor conjecture (Vladimir Voevodsky, 1996)

Fermat's Last Theorem (Andrew Wiles and Richard Taylor, 1995)

Bieberbach conjecture (Louis de Branges, 1985)

Princess and monster game (Shmuel Gal, 1979)

Four color theorem (Appel and Haken, 1977)

See also[edit]

Hilbert's problems

List of conjectures

List of statements undecidable in ZFC

Millennium prize problems

Smale's problems

Timeline of mathematics

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "Pi", MathWorld.

2. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "e", MathWorld.

3. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "Khinchin's Constant", MathWorld.
4. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "Irrational Number", MathWorld.
5. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "Transcendental Number", MathWorld.
6. Jump up^ Weisstein, Eric W., "Irrationality Measure", MathWorld.
7. Jump up^ An introduction to irrationality and transcendence
methods
8. Jump up^ Some unsolved problems in number theory
9. Jump up^ Shelah S, Classification Theory, North-Holland, 1990
10.Jump up^ Keisler, HJ, Ultraproducts which are not saturated. J.
Symb Logic 32 (1967) 2346.
11.Jump up^ Malliaris M, Shelah S, "A dividing line in simple unstable
theories." http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.2140
12.Jump up^ Gurevich, Yuri, "Monadic Second-Order Theories," in J.
Barwise, S. Feferman, eds., Model-Theoretic Logics (New York:
Springer-Verlag, 1985), 479-506.
13.Jump up^ Peretz, Assaf, Geometry of forking in simple theories. J.
Symbolic Logic Volume 71, Issue 1 (2006), 347-359.
14.Jump up^ Shelah, Saharon (1999). "Borel sets with large
squares". Fundamenta Mathematicae 159 (1): 150. arXiv:9802134.
15.Jump up^ Makowsky J, Compactness, embeddings and
definability, in Model-Theoretic Logics, eds Barwise and Feferman,
Springer 1985 pps. 645-715.
16.Jump up^ Baldwin, John T. (July 24, 2009). Categoricity. American
Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0821848937. Retrieved February
20, 2014.
17.Jump up^ Shelah, Saharon. Introduction to classification theory for
abstract elementary classes.
18.Jump up^ Hrushovski, Ehud, Kueker's conjecture for stable
theories. Journal of Symbolic Logic Vol. 54, No. 1 (Mar., 1989), pp.
207-220.
19.Jump up^ Cherlin, G.; Shelah, S. (May 2007). "Universal graphs
with a forbidden subtree". Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series
B 97 (3): 293333. arXiv:0512218.

20.Jump up^ Damonja, Mirna, Club guessing and the universal

models. On PCF, ed. M. Foreman, (Banff, Alberta, 2004).
21.Jump up^ Ribenboim, P. (2006). Die Welt der Primzahlen (in
German) (2 ed.). Springer. pp. 242243. doi:10.1007/978-3-64218079-8. ISBN 978-3-642-18078-1.
22.Jump up^ Dobson, J. B. (June 2012) [2011], On Lerch's formula for
the Fermat quotient, p. 15, arXiv:1103.3907
23.Jump up^ Malliaris, M.; Shelah, S. (2012), Cofinality spectrum
theorems in model theory, set theory and general
topology, arXiv:1208.5424
24.Jump up^ Barros, Manuel (1997), "General Helices and a Theorem
of Lancret", American Mathematical Society 125: 1503
1509, JSTOR 2162098.
25.Jump up^ Franciscos Santos (2012). "A counterexample to the
Hirsch conjecture". Annals of Mathematics (Princeton University and
Institute for Advanced Study) 176 (1): 383
412.doi:10.4007/annals.2012.176.1.7.
26.Jump up^ Khare, Chandrashekhar; Wintenberger, Jean-Pierre
(2009), "Serres modularity conjecture (I)", Inventiones
Mathematicae 178 (3): 485504, doi:10.1007/s00222-009-02057 and Khare, Chandrashekhar; Wintenberger, Jean-Pierre (2009),
"Serres modularity conjecture (II)", Inventiones
Mathematicae 178 (3): 505586, doi:10.1007/s00222-009-0206-6.
27.Jump up^ Green, Ben (2004), "The CameronErds
conjecture", The Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society 36 (6):
769778, arXiv:math.NT/0304058, do
i:10.1112/S0024609304003650,MR 2083752.

Weisstein, Eric W., "Unsolved problems", MathWorld.

Waldschmidt, Michel (2004). "Open Diophantine Problems". Moscow

Mathematical Journal 4 (1): 245305. ISSN 1609-3321. Zbl 1066.11030.

Books discussing unsolved problems[edit]

Fan Chung; Ron Graham (1999). Erdos on Graphs: His Legacy of Unsolved
Problems. AK Peters. ISBN 1-56881-111-X.

Hallard T. Croft; Kenneth J. Falconer; Richard K. Guy (1994). Unsolved

Problems in Geometry. Springer. ISBN 0-387-97506-3.

Richard K. Guy (2004). Unsolved Problems in Number Theory.

Springer. ISBN 0-387-20860-7.

Victor Klee; Stan Wagon (1996). Old and New Unsolved Problems in Plane
Geometry and Number Theory. The Mathematical Association of
America. ISBN 0-88385-315-9.

Marcus Du Sautoy (2003). The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the
Greatest Mystery in Mathematics. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-093558-8.

John Derbyshire (2003). Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the

Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0309-08549-7.

Keith Devlin (2006). The Millennium Problems The Seven Greatest

Unsolved* Mathematical Puzzles Of Our Time. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 978-07607-8659-8.

Vincent D. Blondel, Alexandre Megrestski (2004). Unsolved problems in

mathematical systems and control theory. Princeton University
Press. ISBN 0-691-11748-9.

Books discussing recently solved problems[edit]

Simon Singh (2002). Fermat's Last Theorem. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-84115791-0.

Donal O'Shea (2007). The Poincar Conjecture. Penguin. ISBN 978-184614-012-9.

George G. Szpiro (2003). Kepler's Conjecture. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-08601-0.

Mark Ronan (2006). Symmetry and the Monster. Oxford. ISBN 0-19280722-6.

External links[edit]

Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, Logic and Cryptography

Clay Institute Millennium Prize

List of links to unsolved problems in mathematics, prizes and research.

Open Problem Garden The collection of open problems in mathematics

build on the principle of user editable ("wiki") site

AIM Problem Lists

Unsolved Problem of the Week Archive. MathPro Press.

The Open Problems Project (TOPP), discrete and computational geometry

problems

List of unsolved problems in physics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: List of unsolved problems

Some of the major unsolved problems in physics are theoretical, meaning that
existing theories seem incapable of explaining a certain
observed phenomenon or experimental result. The others are experimental,
meaning that there is a difficulty in creating an experiment to test a proposed
theory or investigate a phenomenon in greater detail.
Contents
[hide]

1 Unsolved problems by subfield

o

1.1 Cosmology, and general relativity

1.2 Quantum gravity

1.3 High energy physics/particle physics

1.4 Astronomy and astrophysics

1.5 Nuclear physics

1.6 Atomic, molecular and optical physics

1.7 Condensed matter physics

1.8 Biophysics

1.9 Other problems

2 Problems solved in recent decades

3 References

4 External links

Unsolved problems by subfield[edit]

The following is a list of unsolved problems grouped into broad area of physics. [1]
Cosmology, and general relativity[edit]
Cosmic inflation
Is the theory of cosmic inflation correct, and if so, what are the details of this
epoch? What is the hypothetical inflaton field giving rise to inflation? If inflation
happened at one point, is it self-sustaining through inflation of quantummechanical fluctuations, and thus ongoing in some extremely distant place? [2]
Horizon problem

Why is the distant universe so homogeneous, when the Big Bang theory seems to
predict larger measurable anisotropies of the night sky than those observed?
Cosmologicalinflation is generally accepted as the solution, but are other possible
explanations such as a variable speed of light more appropriate?[3]
Electroweak Horizon Problem
Why aren't there obvious large-scale discontinuities in the electroweak vacuum, if
distant parts of the observable universe were causally separate when
the electroweak epochended? Standard cosmological inflation models have
inflation cease well before electroweak symmetry breaking occurs, so it is not at
all clear how inflation could prevent such discontinuities. [4]
Future of the universe
Is the universe heading towards a Big Freeze, a Big Rip, a Big Crunch or a Big
Bounce? Or is it part of an infinitely recurring cyclic model?
Gravitational wave
Can gravitational waves be directly detected? [5][6]
Baryon asymmetry
Why is there far more matter than antimatter in the observable universe?
Cosmological constant problem
Why does the zero-point energy of the vacuum not cause a large cosmological
constant? What cancels it out?

Estimated distribution of dark matter and dark energy in the universe

Dark matter

What is the identity of dark matter?[3] Is it a particle? Is it the

lightest superpartner (LSP)? Do the phenomena attributed to dark matter point
not to some form of matter but actually to an extension of gravity? The results
obtained by the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment that took place in
2013 at Sanford Underground Research Facility place a lower bound on the LSP
mass; at this point light supersymmetric particles that are the main candidate for
dark matter in the lower mass sector are excluded with 90% confidence. [7]

The log-log plot of dark energy density

and material density
factor . The two straight lines intersect at current epoch. [8]

vs. scale

Dark energy
What is the cause of the observed accelerated expansion (de Sitter phase) of the
Universe? Why is the energy density of the dark energy component of the same
magnitude as the density of matter at present when the two evolve quite
differently over time; could it be simply that we are observing at exactly the right
time? Is dark energy a pure cosmological constant, or are models
ofquintessence such as phantom energy applicable?
Ecliptic alignment of CMB anisotropy
Some large features of the microwave sky, at distances of over 13 billion light
years, appear to be aligned with both the motion and orientation of the Solar
System. Is this due to systematic errors in processing, contamination of results by
local effects, or an unexplained violation of the Copernican principle?
Shape of the Universe
What is the 3-manifold of comoving space, i.e., of a comoving spatial section of
the Universe, informally called the "shape" of the Universe? Neither the curvature
nor the topology is presently known, though the curvature is known to be "close"
to zero on observable scales. The cosmic inflation hypothesis suggests that the

shape of the Universe may be unmeasurable, but since 2003, Jean-Pierre

Luminet et al. and other groups have suggested that the shape of the Universe
may be the Poincar dodecahedral space. Is the shape unmeasurable; the
Poincar space; or another 3-manifold?
Quantum gravity[edit]
Vacuum catastrophe
Why does the predicted mass of the quantum vacuum have little effect on the
expansion of the universe?
Quantum gravity
Can quantum mechanics and general relativity be realized as a fully consistent
theory (perhaps as a quantum field theory)?[9] Is spacetime fundamentally
continuous or discrete? Would a consistent theory involve a force mediated by a
hypothetical graviton, or be a product of a discrete structure of spacetime itself
(as in loop quantum gravity)? Are there deviations from the predictions of general
relativity at very small or very large scales or in other extreme circumstances
that flow from a quantum gravity theory?
Black holes, black hole information paradox, and black hole radiation
Do black holes produce thermal radiation, as expected on theoretical grounds?
Does this radiation contain information about their inner structure, as suggested
by Gauge-gravity duality, or not, as implied by Hawking's original calculation? If
not, and black holes can evaporate away, what happens to the information stored
in them (quantum mechanics does not provide for the destruction of
information)? Or does the radiation stop at some point leaving black hole
remnants? Is there another way to probe their internal structure somehow, if such
a structure even exists?
Extra dimensions
Does nature have more than four spacetime dimensions? If so, what is their size?
Are dimensions a fundamental property of the universe or an emergent result of
other physical laws? Can we experimentally observe evidence of higher spatial
dimensions?
The cosmic censorship hypothesis and the chronology protection
conjecture
Can singularities not hidden behind an event horizon, known as "naked
singularities", arise from realistic initial conditions, or is it possible to prove some
version of the "cosmic censorship hypothesis" of Roger Penrose which proposes
that this is impossible?[10] Similarly, will the closed timelike curves which arise in
some solutions to the equations of general relativity (and which imply the
possibility of backwards time travel) be ruled out by a theory of quantum
gravity which unites general relativity with quantum mechanics, as suggested by
the "chronology protection conjecture" of Stephen Hawking?

Locality
Are there non-local phenomena in quantum physics? If they exist, are non-local
phenomena limited to the entanglement revealed in the violations of the Bell
Inequalities, or can information and conserved quantities also move in a non-local
way? Under what circumstances are non-local phenomena observed? What does
the existence or absence of non-local phenomena imply about the fundamental
structure of spacetime? How does this relate to quantum entanglement? How
does this elucidate the proper interpretation of the fundamental nature of
quantum physics?
High energy physics/particle physics[edit]
See also: Beyond the Standard Model

A simulation of how a detection of the Higgs particle would appear in

the CMS detector at CERN
Higgs mechanism
Are the branching ratios of the Higgs Boson consistent with the standard model?
Is there only one type of Higgs Boson?
Hierarchy problem
Why is gravity such a weak force? It becomes strong for particles only at
the Planck scale, around 1019 GeV, much above the electroweak scale (100 GeV,
the energy scale dominating physics at low energies). Why are these scales so
different from each other? What prevents quantities at the electroweak scale,
such as the Higgs boson mass, from getting quantum corrections on the order of
the Planck scale? Is the solution supersymmetry, extra dimensions, or
just anthropic fine-tuning?
Magnetic monopoles
Did particles that carry "magnetic charge" exist in some past, higher energy
epoch? If so, do any remain today? (Paul Dirac showed the existence of some
types of magnetic monopoles would explain charge quantization.)[11]

Proton decay and spin crisis

Is the proton fundamentally stable? Or does it decay with a finite lifetime as
predicted by some extensions to the standard model? [12] How do the quarks and
gluons carry the spin of protons?[13]
Supersymmetry
Is spacetime supersymmetry realized at TeV scale? If so, what is the mechanism
of supersymmetry breaking? Does supersymmetry stabilize the electroweak
scale, preventing high quantum corrections? Does the lightest supersymmetric
particle (LSP) comprise dark matter?
Generations of matter
Why are there three generations of quarks and leptons? Is there a theory that can
explain the masses of particular quarks and leptons in particular generations
from first principles (a theory of Yukawa couplings)?
Electroweak symmetry breaking
What is the mechanism responsible for breaking the electroweak gauge
symmetry, giving mass to the W and Z bosons? Is it the simple Higgs
mechanism of the Standard Model,[14] or does nature make use of strong
dynamics in breaking electroweak symmetry, as proposed by Technicolor?
Neutrino mass
What is the mass of neutrinos, whether they follow Dirac or Majorana statistics?
Is mass hierarchy normal or inverted? Is the CP violating phase 0? [15][16][17]
Asymptotic confinement
Why has there never been measured a free quark or gluon, but only objects that
are built out of them, like mesons and baryons? How does this phenomenon
emerge fromQCD?
Strong CP problem and axions
Why is the strong nuclear interaction invariant to parity and charge conjugation?
Is PecceiQuinn theory the solution to this problem?
Anomalous magnetic dipole moment
Why is the experimentally measured value of the muon's anomalous magnetic
dipole moment ("muon g-2") significantly different from the theoretically
predicted value of that physical constant? [18]
Proton Size Puzzle
What is the true charge radius of the proton?
Astronomy and astrophysics[edit]

Relativistic jet. The environment around theAGN where the relativistic plasma is
collimated into jets which escape along the pole of thesupermassive black hole
Accretion disc jets
Why do the accretion discs surrounding certain astronomical objects, such as the
nuclei of active galaxies, emit relativistic jetsalong their polar axes?[19] Why are
there quasi-periodic oscillations in many accretion discs?[20] Why does the period
of these oscillations scale as the inverse of the mass of the central object? [21] Why
are there sometimes overtones, and why do these appear at different frequency
ratios in different objects?[22]
Coronal heating problem
Why is the Sun's Corona (atmosphere layer) so much hotter than the Sun's
surface? Why is the magnetic reconnection effect many orders of magnitude
faster than predicted by standard models?
Diffuse interstellar bands
What is responsible for the numerous interstellar absorption lines detected in
astronomical spectra? Are they molecular in origin, and if so which molecules are
responsible for them? How do they form?
Gamma ray bursts
How do these short-duration high-intensity bursts originate? [14]
Supermassive black holes
What is the origin of the M-sigma relation between supermassive black hole mass
and galaxy velocity dispersion?[23] How did the most distant quasars grow their
supermassive black holes up to 10^9 solar masses so early in the history of the
Universe?
Observational anomalies

Rotation curve of a typical spiral galaxy: predicted (A) and observed (B). Can the
discrepancy between the curves be attributed to dark matter?
Kuiper Cliff
Why does the number of objects in the Solar System's Kuiper belt fall off rapidly
and unexpectedly beyond a radius of 50 astronomic units?
Flyby anomaly
Why is the observed energy of satellites flying by Earth sometimes different by a
minute amount from the value predicted by theory?
Galaxy rotation problem
Is dark matter responsible for differences in observed and theoretical speed of
stars revolving around the center of galaxies, or is it something else?
Supernovae
What is the exact mechanism by which an implosion of a dying star becomes an
explosion?
Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray
[3]

Why is it that some cosmic rays appear to possess energies that are impossibly
high (the so-called OMG particle), given that there are no sufficiently energetic
cosmic ray sources near the Earth? Why is it that (apparently) some cosmic rays
emitted by distant sources have energies above the GreisenZatsepinKuzmin
limit?[3][14]
Rotation rate of Saturn
Why does the magnetosphere of Saturn exhibit a (slowly changing) periodicity
close to that at which the planet's clouds rotate? What is the true rotation rate of
Saturn's deep interior?[24]
Origin of magnetar magnetic field
What is the origin of magnetar magnetic field?
Space roar

Why is space roar six times louder than expected? What is the source of space
roar?
Age-metallicity relation in the Galactic disk
Is there a universal age-metallicity relation in the Galactic disks? A sample of 229
nearby thick disk stars has been used to investigate the existence of an agemetallicity relation (AMR) in the Galactic thickdisk. The results indicate that that
there is indeed an age-metallicity relation present in the thick disk. [25][26]
Nuclear physics[edit]

The "island of stability" in the proton vs. neutron number plot for heavy nuclei
Quantum chromodynamics
What are the phases of strongly interacting matter, and what roles do they play
in the cosmos? What is the internal landscape of thenucleons? What does QCD
predict for the properties of strongly interacting matter? What governs the
transition of quarks and gluonsinto pions and nucleons? What is the role
of gluons and gluon self-interactions in nucleons and nuclei? What determines the
key features of QCD, and what is their relation to the nature
of gravity and spacetime? Do glueballs exist? Do gluons acquire mass
dynamically despite having a zero rest mass, within hadrons? Does QCD truly
lack CP-violations?
Nuclei and Nuclear astrophysics
What is the nature of the nuclear force that
binds protons and neutrons into stable nuclei and rare isotopes? What is the
origin of simple patterns[which?] in complex nuclei? What is the nature of exotic
excitations in nuclei at the frontiers of stability and their role in stellar processes?
What is the nature ofneutron stars and dense nuclear matter? What is the origin
of the elements in the cosmos? What are the nuclear reactions that
drive stars and stellar explosions?
Atomic, molecular and optical physics[edit]
Hydrogen atom
What is the solution to the Schrdinger equation for the hydrogen atom in
arbitrary electric and magnetic fields?[27]

Helium atom
The helium atom is the simplest three-body problem in quantum mechanics;
while approximations to a solution to the Schrdinger equation for He exist,
[28]
can an exact solution be found?[29]
Muonic hydrogen
Is the radius of muonic hydrogen inconsistent with the radius of ordinary
hydrogen?
Condensed matter physics[edit]

A sample of a cupratesuperconductor (specifically BSCCO). The mechanism for

superconductivity of these materials is unknown.
High-temperature superconductors
What is the mechanism that causes certain materials to
exhibit superconductivity at temperatures much higher than around 25 kelvin? Is
it possible to make a material that is a superconductor at room temperature? [14]
Amorphous solids
What is the nature of the glass transition between a fluid or regular solid and a
glassy phase? What are the physical processes giving rise to the general
properties of glasses and the glass transition? [30][31]
Cryogenic electron emission
Why does the electron emission in the absence of light increase as the
temperature of a photomultiplier is decreased?[32][33]
Sonoluminescence
What causes the emission of short bursts of light from imploding bubbles in a
liquid when excited by sound?[34][dated info]
Turbulence
Is it possible to make a theoretical model to describe the statistics of a turbulent
flow (in particular, its internal structures)? [14] Also, under what conditions
do smooth solutions to the NavierStokes equations exist? This problem is also

listed as one of the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics. Alfvnic

turbulence in the solar wind and the turbulence in solar flares, coronal mass
ejections, and magnetospheric substorms are major unsolved problems in space
plasma physics.[35]
Topological order
Is topological order stable at non-zero temperature? Equivalently, is it possible to
have three-dimensional self-correcting quantum memory?[36]
Fractional Hall effect
What mechanism explains the existence of the
state in the
fractional quantum Hall effect? Does it describe quasiparticles with non-Abelian
fractional statistics?[37]
BoseEinstein condensation
How do we rigorously prove the existence of BoseEinstein condensates for
general interacting systems?[38]
Liquid crystals
Can the nematic to smectic (A) phase transition in liquid crystal states be
characterized as a universal phase transition?[39][40]
Semiconductor nanocrystals
What is the cause of the nonparabolicity of the energy-size dependence for the
lowest optical absorption transition of quantum dots?[41]
Electronic band structure
Why can band gaps not accurately be calculated?
Biophysics[edit]
Stochasticity and robustness to noise in gene expression
How do genes govern our body, withstanding different external pressures and
internal stochasticity? Certain models exist for genetic processes, but we are far
from understanding the whole picture, in particular in development where gene
expression must be tightly regulated.
Quantitative study of the immune system
What are the quantitative properties of immune responses? What are the basic
building blocks of immune system networks? What roles are played by
stochasticity?
Homochirality

What is the origin of the preponderance of specific enantiomers in biochemical

systems?
Other problems[edit]
Entropy (arrow of time)
Why did the universe have such low entropy in the past, resulting in the
distinction between past and future and the second law of thermodynamics?
[14]
Why are CP violationsobserved in certain weak force decays, but not
elsewhere? Are CP violations somehow a product of the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, or are they a separate arrow of time? Are there exceptions to
the principle of causality? Is there a single possible past? Is the present moment
physically distinct from the past and future or is it merely an emergent property
of consciousness? Why does time have a direction?
Quantum mechanics in the correspondence limit (sometimes
called Quantum chaos)
Is there a preferred interpretation of quantum mechanics? How does the quantum
description of reality, which includes elements such as the superposition of states
andwavefunction collapse or quantum decoherence, give rise to the reality we
perceive? Another way of stating this is the Measurement problem what
constitutes a "measurement" which causes the wave function to collapse into a
definite state?
Theory of everything ("Grand Unification Theory")
Is there a theory which explains the values of all fundamental physical constants?
[14]
Is the theory string theory? Is there a theory which explains why the gauge
groups of thestandard model are as they are, why observed space-time has 3
spatial dimensions and 1 dimension of time, and why all laws of physics are as
they are? Do "fundamental physical constants" vary over time? Are any of the
particles in the standard model of particle physics actually composite particles
too tightly bound to observe as such at current experimental energies? Are there
fundamental particles that have not yet been observed and if so which ones are
they and what are their properties? Are there unobserved fundamental forces
implied by a theory that explains other unsolved problems in physics?
YangMills theory
Given an arbitrary compact gauge group, does a non-trivial quantum YangMills
theory with a finite mass gap exist? This problem is also listed as one of
the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics.
Physical information
Are there physical phenomena, such as wave function collapse or black holes,
which irrevocably destroy information about their prior states? How is quantum
informationstored as a state of a quantum system?

Quantum Computation
Is David Deutsch's notion of a universal quantum computer sufficient
to efficiently simulate an arbitrary physical system?[42]
Dimensionless physical constant
At the present time, the values of the dimensionless physical constants cannot be
calculated; they are determined only by physical measurement. [43] What is the
minimum number of dimensionless physical constants from which all other
dimensionless physical constants can be derived? Are dimensionful physical
constants necessary at all?
Problems solved in recent decades[edit]
Ball lightning (2014)
In January 2014, scientists from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China,
published the results of recordings made in July 2012 of the optical spectrum of
what was thought to be natural ball lightning made during the study of ordinary
cloudground lightning on China's Qinghai Plateau.[44][45] At a distance of 900 m
(3,000 ft), a total of 1.64 seconds of digital video of the ball lightning and its
spectrum was made, from the formation of the ball lightning after the ordinary
lightning struck the ground, up to the optical decay of the phenomenon. It is now
believed that ball lightning is vaporized silicon in the soil that then rapidly
oxidizes in the atmosphere.[45]
Hipparcos anomaly (2012)
The actual distance to the Pleiades - the High Precision Parallax Collecting
Satellite (Hipparcos) measured the parallax of the Pleiades and determined a
distance of 385 light years. This was significantly different from other
measurements made by means of actual to apparent brightness measurement
or absolute magnitude. The anomaly was due to a systematic bias in the
Hipparcos data when it comes to star clusters; the Hipparcos results for clusters
are consistently closer than they should be. [46][not in citation given]
Pioneer anomaly (2012)
This
section's factual
accuracy
is disputed. (Janu
ary 2014)
There was a deviation in the predicted accelerations of the Pioneer spacecraft as
they left the Solar System.[3][14] It is believed that this is a result of previously
unaccounted-for thermal recoil force.[47][48]
Long-duration gamma ray bursts (2003)

Long-duration bursts are associated with the deaths of massive stars in a specific
kind of supernova-like event commonly referred to as a collapsar. However, there
are also long-duration GRBs that show evidence against an associated supernova,
such as the Swift event GRB 060614.
Solar neutrino problem (2002)
Solved by a new understanding of neutrino physics, requiring a modification of
the Standard Model of particle physicsspecifically, neutrino oscillation.
Age Crisis (1990s)
The estimated age of the universe was around 3 to 8 billion years younger than
estimates of the ages of the oldest stars in our galaxy. Better estimates for the
distances to the stars, and the recognition of the accelerating expansion of the
universe, reconciled the age estimates.
Quasars (1980s)
The nature of quasars was not understood for decades. [49] They are now accepted
as a type of active galaxy where the enormous energy output results from matter
falling into a massive black hole in the center of the galaxy.[50]
References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Ginzburg, Vitaly L. (2001). The physics of a lifetime :
reflections on the problems and personalities of 20th century
physics. Berlin: Springer. pp. 3200. ISBN 9783540675341.
2. Jump up^ Podolsky, Dmitry. "Top ten open problems in physics".
NEQNET. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved
24 January 2013.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Brooks, Michael (March 19, 2005). "13 Things
That Do Not Make Sense".New Scientist. Issue 2491. Retrieved
March 7, 2011.
4. Jump up^ R. Penrose (2007). The Road to Reality. Vintage
books. ISBN 0-679-77631-1.
5. Jump up^ National Research Council (1986). Gravitation,
Cosmology, and Cosmic-Ray Physics. Washington, D. C.: National
Academies Press. ISBN 0-309-03579-1.
6. Jump up^ Paulson, Tom (May 27, 2002). "Catching a cosmic wave
of gravity". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
7. Jump up^ LUX Collaboration; Akerib, D. S.; Araujo, H. M.; Bai, X.;
Bailey, A. J.; Balajthy, J.; Bedikian, S.; Bernard, E. et al. (2013). "First
results from the LUX dark matter experiment at the Sanford
Underground Research Facility". arXiv:1310.8214 [astro-ph.CO].

8. Jump up^ Steinardt, Paul (1997). "Cosmological Challenges For the

21st Century". In Val Fitch et al. Critical problems in physics:
proceedings of a conference celebrating the 250th anniversary of
Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University
Press. pp. 138140. ISBN 978-0-691-05784-2
9. Jump up^ Alan Sokal (July 22, 1996). "Don't Pull the String Yet on
Superstring Theory". New York Times
10.Jump up^ Joshi, Pankaj S. (January 2009). "Do Naked Singularities
Break the Rules of Physics?". Scientific American
11.Jump up^ Dirac, Paul, "Quantised Singularities in the
Electromagnetic Field". Proceedings of the Royal Society A 133, 60
(1931).
12.Jump up^ Li, Tianjun; Dimitri V. Nanopoulos, Joel W. Walker (2011).
"Elements of F-ast Proton Decay". Nuclear Physics B 846: 43
99. arXiv:1003.2570.doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2010.12.014.
13.Jump up^ Hansson, Johan (2010). "The "Proton Spin Crisis" a
Quantum Query". Progress in Physics 3. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
14.^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Baez, John C. (March 2006). "Open
Questions in Physics". Usenet Physics FAQ. University of California,
Riverside: Department of Mathematics. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
15.Jump up^ "India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)". Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
16.Jump up^ Smarandache, Vic; Florentin Smarandache
(2007). "Thirty Unsolved Problems in the Physics of Elementary
Particles". Progress in Physics 4.Bibcode:2009APS..HAW.KD010C.
17.Jump up^ Nakamura, K; et al. (Particle Data Group) (2010). "2011
Review of Particle Physics".J. Phys. G 37 (7A):
075021. Bibcode:2010JPhG...37g5021N. doi:10.1088/09543899/37/7A/075021.
18.Jump up^ Thomas Blum; Achim Denig; Ivan Logashenko; Eduardo
de Rafael; Lee Roberts, B.; Thomas Teubner; Graziano Venanzoni
(2013). "The Muon (g-2) Theory Value: Present and
Future". arXiv:1311.2198 [hep-ph].
19.Jump up^ Laing, R. A.; Bridle, A. H. (2013). "Systematic properties
of decelerating relativistic jets in low-luminosity radio
galaxies". arXiv:1311.1015 [astro-ph.CO].
20.Jump up^ Strohmayer, Tod E.; Mushotzky, Richard F. (20 March
2003). "Discovery of X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillations from an

Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M82: Evidence against Beaming". The

Astrophysical Journal 586 (1): L61L64. doi:10.1086/374732.
21.Jump up^ Titarchuk, Lev; Fiorito, Ralph (10 September
2004). "Spectral Index and QuasiPeriodic Oscillation Frequency
Correlation in Black Hole Sources: Observational Evidence of Two
Phases and Phase Transition in Black Holes". The Astrophysical
Journal 612 (2): 988999. doi:10.1086/422573. Retrieved 25 January
2013.
22.Jump up^ Shoji Kato (2012). "An Attempt to Describe Frequency
Correlations among kHz QPOs and HBOs by Two-Armed Nearly
Vertical Oscillations". arXiv:1202.0121 [astro-ph.HE].
23.Jump up^ Ferrarese, Laura; Merritt, David (2000). "A Fundamental
Relation between Supermassive Black Holes and their Host
Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal 539: L9L12. arXiv:astroph/0006053. Bibcode:2000ApJ...539L...9F. doi:10.1086/312838
24.Jump up^ "Scientists Find That Saturn's Rotation Period is a Puzzle".
NASA. June 28, 2004. Retrieved 2007-03-22.
25.Jump up^ Bensby, T.; Feltzing, S.; Lundstrm, I. (July 2004). "A
possible age-metallicity relation in the Galactic thick
disk?". Astronomy and Astrophysics 421 (3): 969
976.doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20035957.
26.Jump up^ Gilmore, G.; Asiri, H.M. (00/2011). "Open Issues in the
Evolution of the Galactic Disks". Workshop on Gaia. Proceedings.
Granada, ed. Navarro et al. 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
27.Jump up^ Panel on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Physics
Survey Committee, Board on Physics and Astronomy, National
Research Council (1986). Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics.
National Academies Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780309594561.
28.Jump up^ Helium Atom, Approximate Methods, University of
Delaware, lecture notes for Physical Chemistry II, 22 April 2008
(accessed 17 September 2013)
29.Jump up^ McQuarrie, Donald A. (2008). Quantum chemistry (2nd
ed.). Sausalito, California: University Science Books. pp. 359
360. ISBN 9781891389504.
30.Jump up^ Kenneth Chang (July 29, 2008). "The Nature of Glass
Remains Anything but Clear".The New York Times
31.Jump up^ P.W. Anderson (1995). "Through the Glass
Lightly". Science 267 (5204):
1615.doi:10.1126/science.267.5204.1615-e. "The deepest and most

interesting unsolved problem in solid state theory is probably the

theory of the nature of glass and the glass transition."
32.Jump up^ Cryogenic electron emission phenomenon has no known
physics explanation. Physorg.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
33.Jump up^ Meyer, H. O. (1 March 2010). "Spontaneous electron
emission from a cold surface".EPL (Europhysics Letters) 89 (5):
58001. doi:10.1209/0295-5075/89/58001.
34.Jump up^ Proceedings of the Royal Society A (Royal Society) 453.
1997. "An unsolved problem in modern physics concerns the
phenomenon of sonoluminescence"
35.Jump up^ Goldstein, Melvyn L. (2001). "Major Unsolved Problems in
Space Plasma Physics".Astrophysics and Space Science 277 (1/2):
349369. Bibcod
e:2001Ap&SS.277..349G.doi:10.1023/A:1012264131485.
36.Jump up^ Yoshida, Beni (2011). "Feasibility of self-correcting
quantum memory and thermal stability of topological order". Annals
of Physics 326 (10):
2566. arXiv:1103.1885.Bibcode:2011AnPhy.326.2566Y. doi:10.1016/j
.aop.2011.06.001. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
37.Jump up^ Podolsky, Dmitry. "Quantum Hall effect. One open
question". NEQNET. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
38.Jump up^ Schlein, Benjamin. "Graduate Seminar on Partial
Differential Equations in the Sciences - Energy and Dynamics of
Boson Systems". Hausdorff Center for Mathematics. Retrieved 23
April 2012.
39.Jump up^ Mukherjee, Prabir K. (1998). "Landau Theory of NematicSmectic-A Transition in a Liquid Crystal Mixture". Molecular Crystals
& Liquid Crystals 312: 157164.doi:10.1080/10587259808042438.
Retrieved 28 April 2012.
40.Jump up^ A. Yethiraj, "Recent Experimental Developments at the
Nematic to Smectic-A Liquid Crystal Phase Transition", Thermotropic
Liquid Crystals: Recent Advances, ed. A. Ramamoorthy, Springer
2007, chapter 8.
41.Jump up^ Norris, David J. (2003). "The Problem Swept Under the
Rug". In Klimov, Victor.Electronic Structure in Semiconductors
Nanocrystals: Optical Experiment (inSemiconductor and Metal
Nanocrystals: Synthesis and Electronic and Optical Properties). CRC
Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780203913260.

42.Jump up^ Nielson, Michael; Chuang, Isaac (2004). Quantum

Computation and Quantum Information. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-0-521-63503-5.
43.Jump up^ "Alcohol constrains Physical Constant in the Early
Universe". Max-Planck-Institut fr Radioastronomie. December 2012.
Retrieved December 15, 2012.
44.Jump up^ Cen, Jianyong; Yuan, Ping; Xue, Simin (17 January
2014). "Observation of the Optical and Spectral Characteristics of
Ball Lightning". Physical Review Letters (American Physical
Society) 112 (35001). Retrieved 19 January 2014.
45.^ Jump up to:a b Ball, Philip (17 January 2014). "Focus: First
Spectrum of Ball Lightning". Focus(American Physical
Society). doi:10.1103/Physics.7.5. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
46.Jump up^ Charles Francis; Erik Anderson (2012). "XHIP-II: Clusters
and associations".arXiv:1203.4945 [astro-ph.GA].
47.Jump up^ Turyshev, S.; Toth, V.; Kinsella, G.; Lee, S. C.; Lok, S.; Ellis,
J. (2012). "Support for the Thermal Origin of the Pioneer
Anomaly". Physical Review Letters 108 (24):
241101.arXiv:1204.2507. Bibcode:2012PhRvL.108x1101T.doi:10.11
03/PhysRevLett.108.241101. PMID 23004253. edit
48.Jump up^ Overbye, Dennis (23 July 2012). "Mystery Tug on
Spacecraft Is Einsteins I Told You So". The New York Times.
Retrieved 24 January 2014.
49.Jump up^ "The MKI and the discovery of Quasars". Jodrell Bank
Observatory. Retrieved 2006-11-23.
50.Jump up^ Hubble Surveys the "Homes" of Quasars Hubblesite
News Archive, 1996-35
External links[edit]

What don't we know? Science journal special project for its 125th
anniversary: top 25 questions and 100 more.

List of links to unsolved problems in physics, prizes and research.

Ideas Based On What Wed Like to Achieve

2004 SLAC Summer Institute: Nature's Greatest Puzzles

Dual Personality of Glass Explained at Last

What we do and don't know Review on current state of physics by Steven

Weinberg, Nov 2013

The crisis of big science Steven Weinberg, May 2012