Abstract: The two pillars of modern physics are quantum mechanics and General Relativity. These jewels of 20th

century physics allows us to describe remarkably well the world around us, from the very small, the physics

of subatomic particles, to the very big, the evolution of our Universe as a whole. Yet it has been proven

difficult to combine them into one theory. Work on quantum black holes and on string theory, a leading

candidate for a quantum theory of gravitation, over the last 25 years suggest that the answer lies in

dramatic reformulation of physics:

the laws of physics for our four dimensional Universe (with time being one of the dimensions) are best

formulated in terms of a three-dimensional theory, which is akin to the theory of electromagnetism and of

the nuclear forces but contains no gravity. This reformulation is coined holographic because of an analogy

to optical holograms, where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface.

In this talk I will provide an introduction to this fascinating topic.