Three major reports have already been published – on atomic, molecular and optical science; plasma science; and elementary-particle physics – and reports on nuclear physics and gravitational physics are being completed. A separate NRC panel is preparing a report on astronomy and astrophysics.

The latest Physics in a New Era report to emerge, Condensed-Matter and Materials Physics: Basic Research for Tomorrow’s Technology, covers what is probably the biggest and most diverse area within physics. Prepared by a committee chaired by Venkatesh Narayanamurti of Harvard University, the report presents accessible summaries of the state-of-the-art in the field, along with recommendations for future directions and priorities.

There has certainly been plenty of progress over the past decade. The ink had barely dried on the 1986 report when high-temperature superconductivity was discovered. Other advances have included giant and colossal magnetoresistance, buckyballs and nanotubes, Bose-Einstein condensation, and the manipulation and visualization of single atoms and molecules with various atomic force microscopes. One major theme to emerge from the discussions of future directions and priorities is the broad scope for work on problems in biological physics. Some of the examples given include molecular motors, gene therapy, photosynthesis and energy transfer, protein folding and dynamics, and various non-equilibrium phenomena in biology.

Many of the recommendations are specific to the US. The report calls for increased investment in infrastructure, state-of-the-art instrumentation and fabrication capabilities, with an emphasis on partnerships between universities, national laboratories and industry to make the most of this investment. And not surprisingly it also expresses support for various advisory panels that have recommended the prompt construction of a new pulsed neutron source in the US, upgrades to other neutron sources, increased funding for existing synchrotron radiation sources, and R&D for a next-generation light source.

The report also notes that the time it takes to obtain a physics PhD in a US university is approaching seven years, and although it stops short of making specific recommendations, it does float the idea of redefining the physics PhD or developing a professional degree for the industrial physicist. This is a particular concern in condensed-matter and materials physics as many PhDs go on to work in industry.

Back at the research frontier, the report also identifies what it calls “strategic scientific themes” that will unite the various areas of condensed-matter and materials physics, and catalyse scientific and technical progress. This impressive list reads as follows: the quantum mechanics of large, interacting systems; materials with reduced dimensions; complex materials; non-equilibrium processes; soft condensed matter; the control of electrons and photons on the atomic scale; understanding magnetism and superconductivity; properties under extreme conditions; synthesis, processing and nanofabrication; and simulation.

This latest Physics in a New Era report has presented a clear agenda for taking condensed-matter physics forward, and much of it is as relevant to physicists outside the US as it is to those inside. The survey team is also to be commended for undertaking to produce an ambitious overview report, due for publication next year. This will cover the unity of physics, connections with other subjects, the contributions of physics to society and many other topics. With physics at a crossroads in so many parts of the world – and with about one third of the world’s physicists in the US – it is to be hoped that the overview committee produces an equally thorough and globally relevant report.