Stephan L. Mintz – författare

The annual conferences on energy, which were begun in 1977, continued to 1992 and resumed again in 1994. The theme of the 1994 conference was "Global Energy Demand in Transition: The New Role ofElectricity. " Global energy production, distribution, and utilization is in astate of transition toward an increased and more diversified use of electricity, which is the safest, most versatile, and cleanest form of secondary energy. Electricity is easy to generate, transmit, and distribute, making its use practically universal. These facts make it urgent to explore the technological prospects and long term availability of environmentally benign energy sources for generating electricity. It is expected that the conference will be useful to the governments in formulating their energy policies and to the public utilities for their long term planning. The conference has: 1) assessed the increase and diversification in the use of electricity; 2) assessed the technological prospects for clean energy sources that still require more research and development, i. e. solar, hydrogen, nuclear (fission and fusion), etc. ; 3) assessed the roles of non-market factors and possible improved decision processes on energy and environmental issues; 4) made concrete recommendations regarding research and development policies and regulations to expedite the transition to a dependable, safer, and benign electricity-based energy complex; 5) studied the cost impact: price, environment, safety, and international security; 6) provided an analysis of an expected transition from the fossil fuel transportation to electrical transportation (e. g.

The International Conference, Orbis Scientiae 1996, focused on the topics: The Neutrino Mass, Light Cone Quantization, Monopole Condensation, Dark Matter, and Gravitational Waves which we have adopted as the title of these proceedings. Was there any exciting news at the conference? Maybe, it depends on who answers the question. There was an almost unanimous agreement on the overall success of the conference as was evidenced by the fact that in the after-dinner remarks by one of us (BNK) the suggestion of organizing the conference on a biannual basis was presented but not accepted: the participants wanted the continuation of the tradition to convene annually. We shall, of course, comply. The expected observation of gravitational waves will constitute the most exciting vindication of Einstein's general relativity. This subject is attracting the attention of the experimentalists and theorists alike. We hope that by the first decade of the third millennium or earlier, gravitational waves will be detected, opening the way for a search for gravitons somewhere in the universe, presumably through the observations in the CMBR. The theoretical basis of the graviton search will take us to quantum gravity and eventually to the modification of general relativity to include the Planck scale behavior of gravity -at energies 19 of the order of 10 Ge V.

Developed from the Global Foundation's International Conference on Environment and Nuclear Energy, held in October 1997, this volume examines the impact of nuclear energy on regional and global environmental issues under a variety of scenarios. These include competition in deregulated energy environments, constraints levied upon use of fossil energy, and possible expansion of nuclear power into energy sectors beyond the generation of electricity, process heat, and fuels production. It also assesses the overall role of nuclear energy in meeting future energy needs arising from growing world populations and economic development.

Sponsored by the Global Foundation, Inc., these papers are derived from the International Conference on Orbis Scientae II. Topics covered include gravitational mass, neutrino mass, particle masses, cosmological masses, susy masses, and big bang creation of mass.

This conference proceedings explores issues surrounding the replacement of existing nuclear power plants when they reach the end of their useful life. Topics covered include: Nuclear competitiveness regarding politics and power plant evolution; social acceptance regarding communication, information, waste, and safety proliferation; and durability regarding resources and effects on the environment.

Held December 16-919, 1999, this proceedings is derived from the Global Foundation Inc.'s Orbis Scientiae 1999. Topics include: cosmological parameters, unifying elementary particle physics, cosmology, superstrings, and black holes.

“International Energy Forum 1999” was held in Washington D.C. during November 5-6, 1999 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Once again the main topic was Nuclear Energy. Various papers presented contained pros and cons of Nuclear Energy for generating electricity. We were aiming to clarify the often discussed subject matter of the virtues of Nuclear Energy with regard to Global Warming as compared to using fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. The latter is also currently the only way to operate our means of transportation like automobiles, planes etc. Therefore emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases constitutes the main source of Global Warming, which is absent in the case of Nuclear Energy. These arguments are often put forward to promote the use of Nuclear Energy. However not all is well with the Nuclear Energy. There are the questions of the waste problem so far unsolved, safety of Nuclear Reactors is not guaranteed to the extent that they are inherently safe. If we aim to construct inherently safe reactors, then the economics of a Nuclear Reactor makes it unacceptable.

This volume, proceedings of a symposium on global warming and energy policy, explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. In regards to the former, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in CO2 concentrations. However, the relationship between global temperature and CO2 is unclear. It is known, though, that water vapour is a more important greenhouse gas than CO2 and that the concentrations of water vapour vary widely in time and space. It is generally believed that as temperature increases so does the water vapor, leading to further temperature increases. Some scientists agree with this model, and some disagree with it.This volume (a) outlines the situation of predicting temperature rise, (b) outlines the present situation on the effect of temperature on economic activity, (c) discusses what steps can be taken to clarify this situation, and (d) discusses what society might do while waiting for these steps to produce results. In regards to the effect of combustion products on health, the situation in this case is less global, although many parts of the world are affected. Depending on epidemiological study alone, it is hard to be sure about a risk caused by a substance unless it at least doubles the frequency of an outcome which occurs naturally. The scientific uncertainties, therefore, remain almost as large as those for global warming.

This volume, the proceedings of the Coral Gables Conference, held December 12-16, 2000, contains developments in the theory of gravitation, and discusses, in particular, the fact that gravity, like electrodynamics, is both attractive and repulsive. This property of gravitation enables us: to explain the observed expansion of the universe, and, at the same time, its increasing acceleration; and to clarify the reasons for the expansion of the universe, together with competing forces of repulsive quintessence and the gravitational force of ordinary matter. Furthermore, given very strong gravitational forces of black holes, particles reach high energies and copiously emit gamma rays as well as neutrinos. The fact that these gamma rays burst at cosmic regions does imply that gravity can be a source of electromagnetism. We have thus obtained an experimental fact that the two long-range forces of gravity and electricity are unified. The conference also had discussions on neutrino masses, the cosmological constant, and violation of the Lorentz invariance.

Sponsored by the Global Foundation, Inc., these proceedings are derived from the International Conference on Orbis Scientiae II. Topics covered include: gravitational mass, neutrino mass, particle masses, cosmological masses, susy masses, and big bang creation of mass.

Justbefore the preliminary programof Orbis Scientiae 1998 went to press the news in physics was suddenly dominated by the discovery that neutrinos are, after all, massive particles. This was predicted by some physicists including Dr. Behram Kusunoglu, who had apaper published on this subject in 1976 in the Physical Review. Massive neutrinos do not necessarily simplify the physics of elementary particles but they do give elementary particle physics a new direction. If the dark matter content ofthe universe turns out to consist ofneutrinos, the fact that they are massive should make an impact on cosmology. Some of the papers in this volume have attempted to provide answers to these questions. We have a long way to go before we find the real reasons for nature’s creation of neutrinos. Another neutrino-related event was the passing of their discoverer, Fredrick Reines: The trustees of the Global Foundation, members of the Orbis Scientiae 1998, dedicate this conference to Fredrick Reines of the University of California at Irvine. The late Professor Reines was a loyal and active member of these series of conferences on the frontiers of physics and cosmology since 1964. He also sewed as one of the trustees of the Global Foundation for the past three years. Professor Reines discovered the most elusive particle, the neutrino, in 1954. We are proud to say that we recognized the importance of this discovery by awarding him the J.

“International Energy Forum 1999” was held in Washington D.C. during November 5-6, 1999 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Once again the main topic was Nuclear Energy. Various papers presented contained pros and cons of Nuclear Energy for generating electricity. We were aiming to clarify the often discussed subject matter of the virtues of Nuclear Energy with regard to Global Warming as compared to using fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. The latter is also currently the only way to operate our means of transportation like automobiles, planes etc. Therefore emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases constitutes the main source of Global Warming, which is absent in the case of Nuclear Energy. These arguments are often put forward to promote the use of Nuclear Energy. However not all is well with the Nuclear Energy. There are the questions of the waste problem so far unsolved, safety of Nuclear Reactors is not guaranteed to the extent that they are inherently safe. If we aim to construct inherently safe reactors, then the economics of a Nuclear Reactor makes it unacceptable.

th The 29 International Conference was held as the first one of the millennium at its Fort Lauderdale venue. These conferences began, with High Energy Physics being the main topic, by introducing gradually cosmology into its programs. These proceedings of the 2000 conference reflect the variety of topics and ideas discussed. Our future conferences will be designed somewhat akin to the early Coral Gables Conferences where we shall seek some convergence of ideas. For this reason various committees have been formed from among the participating physicists. The committees and their memberships are listed in these proceedings. We further decided for the first time to include some graduate student participants in our future meetings for which also a committee has already been established. The topics will demonstrate a more activist structure of the Coral Gables Conferences, for example the duality of the gravitational forces and expansion of the universe will be discussed from this point of view since it conveys a convergence to the ideas of quintessence versus the ordinary theory, which are considered as the cause of the expansion of the universe. We further wish to announce that the future conferences will assume a collective organization where several committees as listed in these proceedings will have their input into the conference. We have now introduced new topics and ideas, which referred especially to the attractive and repulsive nature of the gravitational force. These proceedings of the conference contain a variety of topics and ideas.

The 1995 conference was organized around two closely related themes and focused on the two pivotal aspects of energy, that is, economics and politics, both of which are decisive in providing long-term national and international strategies for the next century. Originally the program was going to include the participants from the new oil powers in Central Asia and Caucasus, newly independent from the former U.S.S.R. However, probably both economics and politics prevented their participation. Global energy projections, technological changes such as nuclear power and the fuel geopolitics of the coming century will be the basis for political and strategic planning. Based on the scenarios of likely global economic and population growth and of new energy technologies, what are foreseeable scenarios for the geopolitics of energy a half century ahead? What fresh worldwide systems should we start now? The political problems with profound economic impact could include, for example, the significance of the continuing worldwide growth of nuclear power, with such issues as the use of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and Plutonium obtained from the dismantling of U.S. and former U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons; the urgency of nonproliferation; the disposal of civilian and military nuclear waste; and, nuclear power alternatives. In spite of U.S. reluctance, the increasing role of nuclear power is becoming apparent in several countries, and its potential has become an important political factor today.

Sponsored by the Global Foundation, Inc., these proceedings are derived from the International Conference on Orbis Scientiae II. Topics covered include: gravitational mass, neutrino mass, particle masses, cosmological masses, susy masses, and big bang creation of mass.

Held December 16-919, 1999, this proceedings is derived from the Global Foundation Inc.'s Orbis Scientiae 1999. Topics include: cosmological parameters, unifying elementary particle physics, cosmology, superstrings, and black holes.

“International Energy Forum 1999” was held in Washington D.C. during November 5-6, 1999 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Once again the main topic was Nuclear Energy. Various papers presented contained pros and cons of Nuclear Energy for generating electricity. We were aiming to clarify the often discussed subject matter of the virtues of Nuclear Energy with regard to Global Warming as compared to using fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. The latter is also currently the only way to operate our means of transportation like automobiles, planes etc. Therefore emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases constitutes the main source of Global Warming, which is absent in the case of Nuclear Energy. These arguments are often put forward to promote the use of Nuclear Energy. However not all is well with the Nuclear Energy. There are the questions of the waste problem so far unsolved, safety of Nuclear Reactors is not guaranteed to the extent that they are inherently safe. If we aim to construct inherently safe reactors, then the economics of a Nuclear Reactor makes it unacceptable.

This volume contains the greater part of the papers submitted to the Information Processing in Biology portion of the 1983 Orbis Scientiae, then dedicated to the eightieth year of Professor P.A.M. Dirac. Before the volume could be published, Professor Dirac passed away on October 20, 1984, thereby changing the dedica­ tion of this volume, and its companion, on High Energy Physics, to his everlasting memory. The last Orbis Scientiae (as it was often in the past) was shared by two frontier fields - in this case by High Energy Physics and Information Processing in Biology, demonstrating the universality of scientific principles and goals. The interaction amongst scientists of diverse interests can only enhance the fruitfulness of their efforts. The editors take pride in the modest contribution of Orbis Scientiae towards this goal. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the typing of these proceedings by Regelio Rodriguez and Helga Billings, and the customary excellent supervision by the latter. The efficient preparation and organiza­ tion of the conference was due largely to the skill and dedication of Linda Scott. As in the past, Orbis Scientiae 1983 received nominal support from the United States Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.

This volume contains the greater part of the papers submitted to the Information Processing in Biology portion of the 1983 Orbis Scientiae, then dedicated to the eightieth year of Professor P.A.M. Dirac. Before the volume could be published, Professor Dirac passed away on October 20, 1984, thereby changing the dedica­ tion of this volume, and its companion, on High Energy Physics, to his everlasting memory. The last Orbis Scientiae (as it was often in the past) was shared by two frontier fields - in this case by High Energy Physics and Information Processing in Biology, demonstrating the universality of scientific principles and goals. The interaction amongst scientists of diverse interests can only enhance the fruitfulness of their efforts. The editors take pride in the modest contribution of Orbis Scientiae towards this goal. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the typing of these proceedings by Regelio Rodriguez and Helga Billings, and the customary excellent supervision by the latter. The efficient preparation and organiza­ tion of the conference was due largely to the skill and dedication of Linda Scott. As in the past, Orbis Scientiae 1983 received nominal support from the United States Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.

This volume contains the papers presented during the Energy Session of the first Orbis Scientiae of the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. With this first Orbis, which met January 7- 11, 1974, the Center for Theoretical Studies has inaugurated a new series of annual gather- ings devoted to the natural sciences and to problems on the "interface" of science and society. This volume contains, in addition, a contribution by Behram Kursunoglu on the "Energy Black Hole", which was not actually presented during the Orbis. The content of the talks present~d ranged over a wide variety of topics in the fields of future energy needs and resources. Special thanks are due to Mrs. Helga Billings, Miss Sara Lesser, and Mrs. Jacquelyn Zagursky for the typing of the manuscript and for their efficient and cheerful attention to the details of the conference. THE EDITORS v CONTENTS OPENING REMARKS Edwa. fLd Te. . t. te. fL...1 FUTURE ENERGY FROM FOSSIL FUELS GaILY H...Lg g~Yz. . 6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 7 * * * * * SOLAR ENERGY, ITS CONVERSION AND UTILIZATION EfL. . [c. h A. F a. fLb e. fL. * * * * * . . * . . * * * * .

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.

The twenty-second Coral Gables conference "UNIFIED SYMMETRY: In the Small and In the Large" continued with the efforts to unify the small and the large. The information gathered with the Huble telescope has in part, in the absence of the SCC , provided a basis for the physicists to unify cosmology and elementary particle physics. The congressional cancellation of the biggest experimental project on the frontiers of physics should not be regarded as an insurmountable obstacle to progress in theoretical physics. The physicists' rise to prominence was mostly reached through their creation of the nuclear era. The post cold war era has somewhat reduced the political, military, and, in part, the social role of the physicist. Some in the administration and the Congress would like physicists to focus on the directly utilitarian aspects of science. Thus, some people do not realize that this regimentation of science would inhibit the creativity. The contributions of solid state physics research to the advancement of technology is the result of physics freely pursued independently of its applications. Modern Physics beginning with Newton's theory of gravity has enabled us to create the space age, to contribute to various technologies, and to impact on our technological modus vivendi.

The Twenty-third Coral Gables conference on Unified Symmetry in the Small and in the Large was convened February 2-5, 1995. The shift of the traditional conference time from the last part of January was caused by the 1995 Superbowl's choice of our preferred date for their game. The conference was dedicated to reminiscences of Julian Schwinger. The death of Eugene P. Wigner in the early part of January 1995 was observed with a deep sorrow during the conference. At about that time the news of Asim Barut's death made 1995 an inauspicious year for physicists. In the meantime physics at the frontiers marched on as it did before. There were no path-breaking discoveries, but hope and persistence were still there. In 1964 (the first Coral Gables conference) if we had asked a physicist to give us a sincere opinion on what is "hot" in physics we would have expected him or her to point out the narrow area of their own research. The answer to this question in 1995 is still the same as it would have been in 1964. The mind set is a human quality and even in physics the physicist can respond like a religious believer.

This conference proceedings explores issues surrounding the replacement of existing nuclear power plants when they reach the end of their useful life. Topics covered include: Nuclear competitiveness regarding politics and power plant evolution; social acceptance regarding communication, information, waste, and safety proliferation; and durability regarding resources and effects on the environment.

The 25'" Coral Gables Conference was the culmination of the series that was begun in 1964. The conferences evolved under the titles that in~lude: Symmetry Principles at High Energy; Fundamental Interactions; Orbis Scientiae; and, occasionally, Unified Symmetry in the Small and in the Large. There was a pause after the 2()1h meeting in 1983 which was dedicated to P. A. M. Dirac. The conferences were resumed in 1993. Some of the reminiscences involved the absence of great minds who attended these meetings in the past and who were no longer with us. The list includes, just to name a few: Julian Schwinger, Robert Oppenheimer, Lars Onsager, Robert Hofstater, Abdus Salam, Richard Feynman, Stanislov Ulam, P. A. M. Dirac, Lord C. P. Snow, Eugene P. Wigner, Vladimir K. Zworykin, and Dixie Lee Ray. Most of these people were among the architects of modern physics and had participated in many of the early Coral Gables Conferences. We miss them. These conferences have contributed to the progress in high energy physics and cosmology. This year, again, papers were presented on familiar topics, such as neutrino masses, age and total mass of the universe, on the nature of dark matter, and on supersymmetry. The latter has now become a perennial issue. Like the weather, we all talk about it, but, so far cannot do anything to affect it. Another favorite subject was so-called monopoles, which theoretically participate in phenomena like condensation, confinement of electric charge, confinement of monopoles themselves, etc.

The 1996 Conference focused on topics of environmentally attractive technologies for electricity production-renewables, natural gas, and nuclear energy. Recent technology developments were addressed which include creation of more efficient photovoltaic convert­ ers for electricity generation; the current and future role of natural gas in meeting global de­ mand for electric power generation; and the status of nuclear energy, its various applications, and the prospects for its future. The Conference agenda, in light of its global economic im­ pact, included comparative discussions of all the above alternative energy sources. The re­ gional choice of energy sources and their impact on the global economy and environment was reviewed. In addition to the above subjects, but strongly connected with the theme of global en­ ergy needs and security, the Conference program contained one session on new needs and di­ rections in higher education: new curricula to cover fundamental global issues on energy, resources, and environment.

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.