Physics Theories

Have I mentioned that I LOVE physics?

I particularly like learning about new theories that may be able to solve age-old problems. One of the biggest concerns in theoretical physics is that the Standard Model explains almost everything except gravity.

The Standard Model uses quantum field theories to understand electricity and magnetism, the strong force, and the weak force. The power of the Standard Model is amazing!

So far, there is no experimental data from any relevant experiment that contradicts the predictions of the Standard Model. (To be fair, the Standard Model did not predict neutrino oscillations; however, I see this as a natural extension of the Standard Model and not something it should exclude.)

For most of his life, Einstein tried to reconcile his understanding of gravity with quantum physics.

Many physicists have followed his lead. So far, none of their attempts have produced a compelling way to combine gravity and quantum phenomena in a single theory.

Until now?

I just read an article by Sabine Hossenfelder that describes a new theory to reconcile gravity with quantum physics. She is a highly regarded physicist and the author of Lost in Math, a fascinating book on the approaches taken by theoretical physicists.

She describes the work of Jonathan Oppenheim, who has added randomness into Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which provides our best understanding of gravity.

Could this approach provide a way to make general relativity consistent with the Standard Model? She doesn’t think so. But it’s promising in that it could be right.

We’ll have to see if it provides a way for new experiments to test its predictions. If that happens, then this is BIG NEWS IN THEORETICAL PHYSICS!

Thanks, Sabine!