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The Future of Physics |
 
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Now here is where the cool things begin. There are new theories emerging today that attempt to bring Einstein's vision of the huge smooth universe, with quantum mechanic's vision of small quantized packets. Currently we have a very good candidate for such a theory called the superstring theory, which describes different particles as different vibrations of a very small string. Forces are caused by these strings moving through space.
This theory has a high likelihood of fulfilling Einstein's dream--unifying the fundamental forces through extensions into higher dimensions of hyperspace. Currently, the M-theory of the superstring theory is based on 11-dimensions. However, currently there seems to be an infinite number of solutions for it, one of which may be our universe.
Does that mean that we have not yet found something that makes the theory work for just our universe? Or does it mean that there may be an infinite number of different universes, each with their different laws of physics. Hopefully physicists will find the answer to these questions in our lifetimes. Even though these theories have no current practical applications, they are interesting and may some day have vast implications on our world.
For example, Einstein's theories of relativity had no immediate practicality. However, we have derived several different things from his theory. One of which describes the existance of black holes and worm holes. Several black holes have since been found. A black hole is basically a point where the mass-energy is so concentrated it pulls space-time down, causing a hole in it. The illustrations below illustrate a black hole and how it makes a funnel shape in space-time (click on the illustrations for a VRML model of a black hole).
However, Einstein's predictions also predict that this rip through space must have another opening on the other side. This opening may be to another universe or to another part of our own universe. This is called a wormhole and it is illustrated below (click on the illustrations for a VRML model of a worm hole).
We are still not quite certain, but if we take advantage of wormholes, we can travel across the universe much faster than if we traveled at the speed of light. We are not violating relativity because we are still moving slower than the speed of light when passing through a wormhole. However, no one knows how you can go through a wormhole without being destroyed. In addition, the energy needed to create wormholes are approximately a quadrillion times the amount of energy that we can even produce.
There is also another interesting thing about wormholes. If you can move through space, why not move through time as well? Well, even though this seems contradictory to many physicists, some say that it may be done. This is only a small peek of the interesting things going on in modern physics today.
Clyde, Chetan, JimMelanie Krieger, Chhaya Taralekar