The Role of Stability Theory in the Great Theories of the XX Century

Abstract

Three great theories dominated the first half of the twentieth century: Special Relativity, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics (QM). Exceptional practical applications (radio, television, telecommunications) were made possible by a fourth theory: Electromagnetism. These theories revolutionized classical physics throwing new light on what we knew so far. However, since the death of Einstein in the second half of the twentieth century, the initial impetus has slowed down and developments of some importance are hard to be found, despite the frantic search for a “unifying theory” and the enormous effort to widen the application field of the existing theories.