A Unified Field Theory

2009-04-25T02:50:00.001-04:00

Finding a Unified Field Theory is truly the holy grail of modern physics. Many people aren't even sure what that would mean, most people don't know about the underlying discrepancies of our current understanding of the universe. Dare I say, most people do not care. The public is on the whole blissfully ignorant of what science we conduct, however there are still some bright and gifted few who strive to further the course of human understanding and uncover this mystery of mysteries. The author is one of them.

When we say Unified Field Theory, what we really mean is that we're searching for a law or set of laws that would apply to gravity as well as the other three fundamental forces - electromagnetism, the strong nuclear and the weak nuclear forces. The problem is, gravity just doesn't seem to fit. When we need to figure out the answer to a problem where gravity is the main force, we need to apply Einstein's Relativity. However when dealing with the other three laws, we use Quantum Mechanics.

The problem is that Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics just do not mix together at all. If you try to apply Relativity to scales of the very small, or Quantum Mechanics to the scale of the very large, you just quite frankly end up with answers that don't make sense.

One of the particles that is theorized might exist, called the Higgs Boson or Higgs Particle (AKA The God Particle), would in theory be able to answer the question of how gravity works. This particle was theorized by Peter Higgs. If it exists, then there would also have to exist a completely seperate "Higgs Field," which the Higgs Boson uses to interact with particles, giving them mass and creating the effect of gravity. In this way gravity would be transmitted from one body to another by "travelling" through the Higgs Field.

While we know little about the possible existence of the Higgs Particle or Higgs Boson, we do know that it mathematically makes sense and is allowable under our current understanding of Physics. It is quite possible that The Higgs may be discovered by the Large Hadron Collider, hopefully creating a newfound interest in the world of Physics not seen since the time of Einstein.

The other possibility of course is that the Large Hadron Collider may find nothing. This is perhaps the most interesting possibility, as it will leave the same questions unanswered that we started with. However I am personally rooting for the existence of the Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field, and think it may very well be the most exciting new scientific discovery that I get to witness in my life. Stay tuned, more to come.

Large Hadron Collider Broken Down

2009-01-24T19:41:00.003-05:00

The Large Hadron Collider, better known as the LHC, is broken down. A faulty soldering connection on one of the supercooled semiconducting magnets caused a leak of the liquid helium used to cool the giant particle accelerator, now we must wait until Spring or Summer of 2009 for the future of mankind, science and technology.

For those who don't know, the Large Hadron Collider or LHC for short is a 17-mile circular particle accelerator buried deep beneath Switzerland and France, and run by CERN. It is the largest and most expensive ANYTHING ever created by mankind. When running at full force, it will accelerate protons into each other at nearly the speed of light billions of times per second, with four cathedral sized detectors taking measurements and readings of the chaotic "mess" that comes out of those collisions.

It's something like smashing two cars together at such a high speed that both cars completely blow each other apart, and then studying the wreckage. And by sifting through the wreckage, we hope to figure out how the cars worked.

Many physicists think we will find a Higgs Boson, a theoretical particle proposed by physicist Peter Higgs that would help explain away some of the mystery of gravity. However other more exotic theories also think the LHC will lead to miniature black holes, evidence of pocket dimensions, and more.

Many scientists expect to find super symmetry as well, in that way there would be a "periodic table" of particles just as there are elements, each sharing similar properties however constructed of quarks instead of atoms. The theory that nature is super symmetric like this is very appealing to physicists and other things have been deduced by making existing theories more symmetric, like the top and bottom quarks.

Spring 2009, The New Age of Superscience Debuts with the Large Hadron Collider

Search For The Higgs Boson Particle

A Unified Field Theory

Large Hadron Collider Broken Down