The pivotal role of causality in local quantum physics

In this paper an attempt is made to present very recent conceptual and computational developments in quantum field theory (QFT) as a new manifestation of old well-established physical principles. The vehicle for converting quantum algebraic aspects of local quantum physics into more classical geometric structures is the modular theory of Tomita. As the laureate E H Wichmann, together with his collaborators showed for the first time in sufficient generality, its use in physics goes beyond Einstein causality. This line of research recently gained momentum when it was realized that it is not only of great structural and conceptual innovative power, but also promises a new computational road into nonperturbative QFT which, figuratively speaking, enters the subject on the extreme opposite (noncommutative) side relative to (Lagrangian) quantization. (author)