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Life, the , and everything – 42 fundamental questions

Suzy Lidström1 and Roland E. Allen2 1 Physica Scripta, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; Department of and Astronomy, Uppsala University 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is found to be 42 – but the meaning of this is left open to interpretation. We take it to mean that there are 42 fundamental questions which must be answered on the road to full enlightenment, and we attempt a first draft of these ultimate questions, on topics ranging from the and origin of the universe to the origin of life and [1], which is meant to stimulate a series of invited articles on 21st Century Frontiers [2]. The fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide have suggested that “42” is actually fifty-four expressed in base 13. This would mean that there are a dozen additional essential questions beyond those listed and discussed in Ref. [1]. We invite the members of the audience to formulate those questions, in which quantum optics and related areas (obviously) play the leading role.

[1] Roland E. Allen and Suzy Lidström, “Life, the Universe, and everything—42 fundamental questions”, Phys. Scr. 92, 012501 (2017). [2] Roland E. Allen and Suzy Lidström, “21st Century frontiers—a series of articles on current challenges and future opportunities”, Phys. Scr. 92, 010302 (2017).

21st Century frontiers will be advanced by both leading scientists of the present, like those shown in the upper panels, and those of the future, for which we look to students and teachers like those in the lower panels. Clockwise from top left: and Stephen Hawking, with 4 stars of the movie Interstellar; , with astronomer Sarah Higdon; teachers at the new Max IV synchrotron facility in Lund, Sweden; students with guides at the Institut Laue- Langevin in Grenoble, France. The speaker appears in the bottom panels as organizer of the materials physics outreach programme at Uppsala University. Respective credits: Kip Thorne, Roland Allen, Suzy Lidström, Uppsala University.