Fundamental Physics in 2025: Status, Decisive Targets, and Path Forward

Abstract

Fundamental physics today is best defined operationally: it is the program of identifying the microscopic degrees of freedom, symmetries, and dynamical laws that (i) reproduce the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, General Relativity (GR), and the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model in their regimes of validity, and (ii) explain the observed phenomena that these baseline theories do not account for (dark matter, neutrino masses, baryogenesis, dark energy), while resolving conceptual inconsistencies (quantum gravity, naturalness, the cosmological constant problem, the measurement problem in quantum theory, information in black holes) and providing predictive unification. This review first lays out the SM+GR+$\Lambda$CDM baseline, the best current evidence for its parameters, and the concrete anomalies and missing ingredients. It then surveys the most relevant theoretical directions (effective field theories; amplitude/positivity programs; lattice and many-body methods; symmetry-based model building; cosmological EFTs; quantum information approaches to QFT/gravitation) and the experimental/observational landscape, including ground and space platforms, astronomical messengers, and in-situ tests. Throughout we emphasize: (a) how each observable maps to energy scales and couplings; (b) the dominant statistical and systematic limitations; (c) the sensitivity required for decisive progress. A staged roadmap is given only after the technical review, organized by decision points and cross-checks rather than by specific projects.

arXiv comment46 pages, 2 figures, 13 tables

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