Scientists / Open questions

Freeman J. Dyson

Quantum electrodynamics; mathematical physics

17 questions

Quantitative attribution of internal-wave and tidal contributions to long-range ocean-acoustic multipath scintillation spectra (the Dyson-Munk-Zetler Eleuthera-Bermuda open questions)
Indefinite survival of life in an ever-expanding universe: the unresolved assumptions of Dyson's 'Time without end' scenario
Crank-type combinatorial interpretation of the spt-function congruences beyond moduli 5 and 7: the mod 13 case and higher prime moduli
Pseudovector-pseudoscalar meson-nucleon coupling equivalence in the presence of a charge-exchange external potential (Dyson, 1948)
Quantum-corrected stability of ordered binary Coulomb compounds and survival of light nuclei against pycnonuclear fusion in dense stellar matter (Dyson 1971)
Convergence, renormalization, and practical reliability of Tamm-Dancoff particle-number truncation in Hamiltonian quantum field theory (Dyson's 1953 vacuum-relative formulation and its descendants)
Dyson's 1958 conjecture on the Jost-Lehmann-Dyson representation for functions vanishing on an arbitrary open set
Realizability of Dyson's 1968 nuclear-pulse interstellar-transport performance regimes: debris coupling, ablation and shock-absorber survivability, fusion drivers, and radiation reliability
Feasibility of controlling atmospheric CO2 by large-scale biospheric fixation with durable storage of harvested biomass (Dyson, 1977)
Sharp decay criterion for finite-temperature spontaneous magnetization in the one-dimensional long-range Ising ferromagnet (Dyson's borderline problem)
Moments, tail asymptotics, and universality of the limit law for the shifted-circle lattice-point error term
Order vs. absence of order in the marginal regime of the one-dimensional long-range Ising ferromagnet, and the quantum Heisenberg analogue
Geometric origin of the quaternion determinant in circular-ensemble eigenvalue correlations (Dyson's desideratum)
Existence and summability of the renormalized perturbation series of four-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (the surviving core of Dyson's 1949 convergence question)
Search for artificial stellar sources of infrared radiation: detecting star-enclosing artificial structures (Dyson spheres) or bounding their prevalence in the Galaxy
Spontaneous magnetization and long-range order in the isotropic quantum Heisenberg ferromagnet at positive temperature ( $d \geq 3$ )
Unambiguous Oklo natural-reactor constraints on varying fundamental constants: separating $\alpha$ from hadronic parameters and controlling reactor systematics

Back to open problems

Quantitative attribution of internal-wave and tidal contributions to long-range ocean-acoustic multipath scintillation spectra (the Dyson-Munk-Zetler Eleuthera-Bermuda open questions)

Indefinite survival of life in an ever-expanding universe: the unresolved assumptions of Dyson's 'Time without end' scenario

Crank-type combinatorial interpretation of the spt-function congruences beyond moduli 5 and 7: the mod 13 case and higher prime moduli

Pseudovector-pseudoscalar meson-nucleon coupling equivalence in the presence of a charge-exchange external potential (Dyson, 1948)

Quantum-corrected stability of ordered binary Coulomb compounds and survival of light nuclei against pycnonuclear fusion in dense stellar matter (Dyson 1971)

Convergence, renormalization, and practical reliability of Tamm-Dancoff particle-number truncation in Hamiltonian quantum field theory (Dyson's 1953 vacuum-relative formulation and its descendants)

Dyson's 1958 conjecture on the Jost-Lehmann-Dyson representation for functions vanishing on an arbitrary open set

Realizability of Dyson's 1968 nuclear-pulse interstellar-transport performance regimes: debris coupling, ablation and shock-absorber survivability, fusion drivers, and radiation reliability

Feasibility of controlling atmospheric CO2 by large-scale biospheric fixation with durable storage of harvested biomass (Dyson, 1977)

Sharp decay criterion for finite-temperature spontaneous magnetization in the one-dimensional long-range Ising ferromagnet (Dyson's borderline problem)

Moments, tail asymptotics, and universality of the limit law for the shifted-circle lattice-point error term

Order vs. absence of order in the marginal regime of the one-dimensional long-range Ising ferromagnet, and the quantum Heisenberg analogue

Geometric origin of the quaternion determinant in circular-ensemble eigenvalue correlations (Dyson's desideratum)

Existence and summability of the renormalized perturbation series of four-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (the surviving core of Dyson's 1949 convergence question)

Search for artificial stellar sources of infrared radiation: detecting star-enclosing artificial structures (Dyson spheres) or bounding their prevalence in the Galaxy

Spontaneous magnetization and long-range order in the isotropic quantum Heisenberg ferromagnet at positive temperature (d≥3d \geq 3d≥3)

Unambiguous Oklo natural-reactor constraints on varying fundamental constants: separating α\alphaα from hadronic parameters and controlling reactor systematics

Spontaneous magnetization and long-range order in the isotropic quantum Heisenberg ferromagnet at positive temperature ( $d \geq 3$ )

Unambiguous Oklo natural-reactor constraints on varying fundamental constants: separating $\alpha$ from hadronic parameters and controlling reactor systematics