The Holy Grail of Physics

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

This is geeky and informational.  Proceed if that kind of thing interests you. Also, I made the font size a little larger to make it easier on the eyes

My first post for this thread is a beginning look in the form of an article written by Dr. Michio Kaku, a Theoretical Physicist.  He may well be one of the most intelligent men to have walked this earth and I feel privileged to live in his time.  Our present day Einstein.

To start, it’s important to realize the as yet, undisputed proof of our research states that we operate in 4 dimensions.  Most people think 3 dimensions, as in 3D movies or rides, and that is in fact not complete.  The 3 commonly understood dimensions are 1) up/down, 2) back/forth,  and 3) side-to-side.  The 4th dimension is time. 

With that said, the following is an introduction to the String Field Theory which combines every known proven theory into one.  I have very high hopes that this equation will be not only completed, but proven before I die. 

Hyperspace and a Theory of Everything

What lies beyond our 4 dimensions?

When I was a child, I used to visit the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco. I would spend hours fascinated by the carp, who lived in a very shallow pond just inches beneath the lily pads, just beneath my fingers, totally oblivious to the universe above them.

I would ask myself a question only a child could ask: what would it be like to be a carp? What a strange world it would be! I imagined that the pond would be an entire universe, one that is two-dimensional in space. The carp would only be able to swim forwards and backwards, and left and right. But I imagined that the concept of “up”, beyond the lily pads, would be totally alien to them. Any carp scientist daring to talk about “hyperspace”, i.e. the third dimension “above” the pond, would immediately be labelled a crank. I wondered what would happen if I could reach down and grab a carp scientist and lift it up into hyperspace. I thought what a wondrous story the scientist would tell the others! The carp would babble on about unbelievable new laws of physics: beings who could move without fins. Beings who could breathe without gills. Beings who could emit sounds without bubbles. I then wondered: how would a carp scientist know about our existence? One day it rained, and I saw the rain drops forming gentle ripples on the surface of the pond.

Then I understood.

The carp could see rippling shadows on the surface of the pond. The third dimension would be invisible to them, but vibrations in the third dimensions would be clearly visible. These ripples might even be felt by the carp, who would invent a silly concept to describe this, called “force.” They might even give these “forces” cute names, such as light and gravity. We would laugh at them, because, of course, we know there is no “force” at all, just the rippling of the water.

Today, many physicists believe that we are the carp swimming in our tiny pond, blissfully unaware of invisible, unseen uni- verses hovering just above us in hyperspace. We spend our life in three spatial dimensions, confident that what we can see with our telescopes is all there is, ignorant of the possibility of 10 dimensional hyperspace. Although these higher dimensions are invisible, their “ripples” can clearly be seen and felt. We call these ripples gravity and light. The theory of hyperspace, however, languished for many decades for lack of any physical proof or application. But the thoery, once considered the province of eccentrics and mystics, is being revived for a simple reason: it may hold the key to the greatest theory of all time, the “theory of everything.”

Einstein spent the last 30 years of his life futilely chasing after this theory, the Holy Grail of physics. He wanted a theory that could explain the four fundamental forces that govern the universe: gravity, electromagnetism, and the two nuclear forces (weak and strong). It was supposed to be the crowning achievement of the last 2,000 years of science, ever since the Greeks asked what the world was made of. He was searching for an equation, perhaps no more than one-inch long, that could be placed on a T-shirt, but was so powerful it could explain every- thing from the Big Bang, exploding stars, to atoms and molecules, to the lilies of the field.

He wanted to read the mind of God. Ultimately, Einstein failed in his mission. In fact, he was shunned by many of his younger compatriots, who would taunt him with the ditty, “What God has torn asunder, no man can put together.” But perhaps Einstein is now having his revenge. For the past decade, there has been furious research on merging the four fundamental forces into a single theory, especially one that can meld general relativity (which explains gravity) with the quantum theory (which can explain the two nuclear forces and electro- magnetism).

The problem is that relativity and the quantum theory are precise opposites. General relativity is a theory of the very large: galaxies, quasars, black holes, and even the Big Bang. It is based on bending the beautiful four dimensional fabric of space and time. The quantum theory, by contrast, is a theory of the very small, i.e. the world of sub-atomic particles. It is based on discrete, tiny packets of energy called quanta. Over the past 50 years, many attempts have been tried to unite these polar opposites, and have failed. The road to the Unified Field Theory, the Theory of Everything, is littered with the corpses of failed attempts. The key to the puzzle may be hyperspace. In 1915, when Einstein said space-time was four dimensional and was warped and rippled, he showed that this bending produced a “force” called gravity. In 1921, Theodr Kaluza wrote that ripples of the fifth dimension could be viewed as light. Like the fish seeing the ripples in hyperspace moving in their world, many physicists believe that light is created by ripples in five-dimensional space-time.

But what about dimensions higher than 5?

In principle, if we add more and more dimensions, we can ripple and bend them in different ways, thereby creating more forces. In 10 dimensions, in fact, we can accomodate all four fundamental forces! Actually, it’s not that simple. By naively going to 10 dimensions, we also introduce a host of esoteric mathematical inconsistencies (e.g. infinities and anomalies) that have killed all previous theories. The only theory which has survived every challenge posed to it is called superstring theory, in which this 10 dimensional universe is inhabited by tiny strings.

In fact, in one swoop, this 10 dimensional string theory gives us a simple, compelling unification of all forces. Like a violin string, these tiny strings can vibrate and create resonances or “notes”. That explains why there are so many sub- atomic particles: they are just notes on a superstring. (This seems so simple, but in the 1950s, physicists were drowning in an avalanche of sub-atomic particles. J.R. Oppenheim- er, who helped build the atomic bomb, even said, out of sheer frustration, that the Nobel Prize should go to the physicist who does NOT discover a new particle that year!) Similarly, when the string moves in space and time, it warps the space around it just as Einstein predicted. Thus, in a remarkably simple picture, we can unify gravity (as the bending of space caused by moving strings) with the other quantum forces (now viewed as vibrations of the string).

Of course, any theory with this power and majesty has a problem. This theory, because it is a theory of everything, is really a theory of Creation. Thus, to fully test the theory requires re-creating Creation! At first, this might seem hopelessly impossible. We can barely leave the earth’s puny gravity, let alone create universes in the laboratory. But there is a way out to this seemingly intractable problem. A theory of everything is also a theory of the everyday. Thus, this theory, when fully completed, will be able to explain the existence of protons, atoms, molecules, even DNA. Thus, the key is to fully solve the theory and test the theory against the known properties of the universe. At present, no one on earth is smart enough to complete the theory. The theory is perfectly well-defined, but you see, superstring theory is 21st Century physics that fell accidentally into the 20th century. It was discovered purely by accident, when two young physicists were thumbing through a mathematics book. The theory is so elegant and powerful, we were never “destined” to see it in the 20th century. The problem is that 21st century mathematics has not yet been invented yet. But since physicists are genetically predisposed to be optimists, I am confident that we will solve the theory someday soon. Perhaps a young person reading this article will be so inspired by this story that he or she will finish the theory. I can’t wait!

[marty]

/approves


...

Seriously, though, I find this fascinating.

I'm pretty intelligent (not bragging by any means, just saying), but physics of this depth have always completely baffled me.  Like my brain isn't even agile enough to wrap itself around the idea.  Every time I try, the limitations of what I know keep me from being able to embrace the unknown. 
I may have to read up on this.  I really am fascinated by things of this nature.  I hope that someday my fascination will be satisfied with understanding.

Thanks for posting this article!

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

First I wanted to see if anyone was even interested in learning things such as this. 

My intention with this thread is to help whomever (you ) understand by providing bits of information at a time so that when I'm done it will make sense in whole.

Then we can talk about the next (unproven) steps... but we can't do that until the base is understood.

It's not necessarily a lack of intelligence, but rather allowing your brain to explore angles of perception.

I figured if no one bit, I did my job in trying.  Leaning is never-ending and it's empowering!

[audrey]

Thanks a lot for posting this, I've heard tidbits about/of this theory here and there over the years, but never really looked up more. This is incredibly interesting, though I agree with marty; I am intelligent, but maths and physics have always been my weakest points and I had to stop reading somewhere at 3/4th because my brain simply refused to take in any more. (Might've been a day worth of packing that kind of numbed it, too, though.) I will have to think it over a bit and finish the rest of the article, but it's definitely very interesting and I agree with what's said in there (unless I completely misunderstood it all); it'd be incredibly foolish and negligent to just assume that what we pick up with our senses is all there is, was, will be and can be.

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

Thanks a lot for posting this, I've heard tidbits about/of this theory here and there over the years, but never really looked up more. This is incredibly interesting, though I agree with marty; I am intelligent, but maths and physics have always been my weakest points and I had to stop reading somewhere at 3/4th because my brain simply refused to take in any more. (Might've been a day worth of packing that kind of numbed it, too, though.) I will have to think it over a bit and finish the rest of the article, but it's definitely very interesting and I agree with what's said in there (unless I completely misunderstood it all); it'd be incredibly foolish and negligent to just assume that what we pick up with our senses is all there is, was, will be and can be.

People absorb information differently.  For me, having the written word allows me to file it better.  Youtube offers many clips of info on it... I'll try to find something for you to watch (later/whenever) that has a solid, but computable delivery.   

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

This is a beginning introduction to Dr. Kaku.  Not so much the specifics of the field string theory, but a great place to start.

Video 1

[beatrix]

Read the article, but as others have said before me, I think that's about all I can take in at one sitting... I think all the math and physics genes went to my sister (who is a physics major, and teaching/doing research as a sophomore in college... yeah, I'm just a little bit proud  )  I'll come back to check out the YouTube vid once I give my brain a chance to process the other stuff. It is fascinating... thanks for posting it.

[Heretik]

/theory of everything... aka cool ideas

[audrey]

I watched all four videos, then reread the article, and I think I understand it now. I feel like the article is more of an introduction to the theory rather than a clear explanation if it; the videos were, for me at least, a lot clearer. It's an incredibly interesting theory and one that quite appeals to me. As Dr. Kaku said, it's pretty much impossible to prove it (yet), but it makes a lot of sense and would explain many things. I hope more discoveries on this will be done within my lifetime, more things proven and explained. This is indeed the start of a major paradigm shift.

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

I feel like the article is more of an introduction to the theory rather than a clear explanation if it; the videos were, for me at least, a lot clearer.

True, the article was more of an introduction, which was my intent but your point made me laugh.... it's the whole school required reading thing where students find the movie and watch that instead.    The videos are missing a lot of imperative info, but the gist of the theory is definitely more quickly explained.

Thanks for watching them.  I think that's cool that you took the time    [/color]

[audrey]

True, the article was more of an introduction, which was my intent but your point made me laugh.... it's the whole school required reading thing where students find the movie and watch that instead.    The videos are missing a lot of imperative info, but the gist of the theory is definitely more quickly explained.

Thanks for watching them.  I think that's cool that you took the time   

I was (and am) actually enough of a booknerd to read all the books and occasionally also watch the movies afterwards XD In this case, I just felt it was easier to wrap my mind around the text after I'd seen the videos, but maybe it was just because I was processing the information for the second (or third if you count my half-reading it earlier) time. I figured they didn't nearly contain all the information there is on this, but it's a start.

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

Oh for sure. You rock.

[Susan71]

 

I will admit..I haven't read this yet....but it is on my list to read once my head clears!

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

 

I will admit..I haven't read this yet....but it is on my list to read once my head clears!

HAHAHA! That's awesome

[EsenciaDeLaFuerza]

Mr. Man and I were finally getting to sit and rest a bit saturday night.  He was checkin out his new car detailing products... a nano-wax, a micro-fiber towel etc.  Then he says he's gone make the car shiny to the 12th dimension. I truthfully laughed my ass off! That's how geeky we are. I my hubby