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Despite its amazing quantitative successes and contributions to revolutionary technologies, physics currently faces many unsolved mysteries ranging from the meaning of quantum mechanics to the nature of the dark energy that will determine the future of the Universe. It is clearly prohibitive for the general reader, and even the best informed physicists, to follow the vast number of technical papers published in the thousands of specialized journals. For this reason, we have asked the leading experts across many of the most important areas of physics to summarise their global assessment of some of the most important issues. In lieu of an extremely long abstract summarising the contents, we invite the reader to look at the section headings and their authors, and then to indulge in a feast of stimulating topics spanning the current frontiers of fundamental physics from The Future of Physics by William D Phillips and What characterises topological effects in physics? by Gerard t Hooft through the contributions of the widest imaginable range of world leaders in their respective areas. This paper is presented as a preface to exciting developments by senior and young scientists in the years that lie ahead, and a complement to the less authoritative popular accounts by journalists., Comment: 54 pages, 13 figures

This paper is a celebration of the frontiers of science. Goodenough, the maestro who transformed energy usage and technology through the invention of the lithium ion battery, opens the programme, reflecting on the ultimate limits of battery technology. This applied theme continues through the subsequent pieces on energy related topics (the sodium ion battery and artificial fuels, by Mansson) and the ultimate challenge for 3 dimensional printing the eventual production of life, by Atala. A passage by Alexander follows, reflecting on a related issue: How might an artificially produced human being behave? Next comes a consideration of consiousness and free will by Allen and Lidstrom. Further voices and new instruments enter as Bowen, Mauranyapin and Madsen discuss whether dynamical processes of single molecules might be observed in their native state. The exploitation of chaos in science and technology, applications of Bose Einstein condensates and a consideration of the significance of entropy follow in pieces by Reichl, Rasel and Allen, respectively. Katsnelson and Koonin then discuss the potential generalisation of thermodynamic concepts in the context of biological evolution. Entering with the music of the cosmos, Yasskin discusses whether we might be able to observe torsion in the geometry of the universe. The crescendo comes with the crisis of singularities, their nature and whether they can be resolved through quantum effects, in the composition of Coley. The climax is Krenn, Melvin and Zeilinger consideration of how computer code can be autonomously surprising and creative. In a harmonious counterpoint, Yampolskiy concludes that such code is not yet able to take responsibility for coauthoring a paper., Comment: Please send comments and questions to Suzy Lidstrom

The Winter Colloquium on the Physics of Quantum Electronics (PQE) has been a seminal force in quantum optics and related areas since 1971. It is rather mindboggling to recognize how the concepts presented at these conferences have transformed scientific understanding and human society. In January, 2017, the participants of PQE were asked to consider the equally important prospects for the future, and to formulate a set of questions representing some of the greatest aspirations in this broad field. The result is this multi-authored paper, in which many of the world's leading experts address the following fundamental questions: (1) What is the future of gravitational wave astronomy? (2) Are there new quantum phases of matter away from equilibrium that can be found and exploited - such as the time crystal? (3) Quantum theory in uncharted territory: What can we learn? (4) What are the ultimate limits for laser photon energies? (5) What are the ultimate limits to temporal, spatial, and optical resolution? (6) What novel roles will atoms play in technology? (7) What applications lie ahead for nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond? (8) What is the future of quantum coherence, squeezing, and entanglement for enhanced superresolution and sensing? (9) How can we solve (some of) humanity's biggest problems through new quantum technologies? (10) What new understanding of materials and biological molecules will result from their dynamical characterization with free electron lasers? (11) What new technologies and fundamental discoveries might quantum optics achieve by the end of this century? (12) What novel topological structures can be created and employed in quantum optics?, Comment: A review of the leading topics in quantum optics and related areas. Accepted for publication in J. Modern Optics (42 figures, 74 pages)