{"id":24411,"date":"2013-12-26T20:30:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-27T01:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/?p=24411"},"modified":"2014-06-19T10:44:42","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T15:44:42","slug":"forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2013\/12\/26\/forces\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Forces Too Many"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Yang-Mills<\/a>

Photo Credit: Avery Carr<\/p><\/div>\n

Patterns are inexplicably tucked under the fabric of natural existence.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes, with keen intuition and a strong analytical skill set, mathematical and theoretical physicists peel away the layers of entrancement exposing an ornate and cohesive structure underlying reality.\u00a0\u00a0 Whether it is a newly predicted particle or describing the role of entropy in black holes, these masters of universal logic trudge through the vast corridors of imagination to uncover the character of physical law.\u00a0 With each new step, discoveries leap from the pages of theoretical manuscripts into a medley of experimental procedures. <\/p>\n

In 1916, Albert Einstein\u2019s General Theory of Relativity <\/i>(generalizing his celebrated 1905 Special Theory of Relativity<\/i>) <\/i>revived the true essence of scientific discovery by explaining the nature of Newtonian universal gravitation.\u00a0 \u00a0The basic tenant of the theory, captured in Einstein\u2019s field equations, casts the force of gravity as a geometric entity of space and time.\u00a0\u00a0 Although the theory is elegant in explaining gravity, it lacks the same luster in describing the dynamics of the other three fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force.\u00a0 \u00a0It is the framework of Quantum Mechanics that paints the intrinsic landscape of the remaining forces.<\/p>\n

To a theoretician and experimentalist working in the area of unification, four fundamental forces are three too many.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A plethora of theories (as documented by a mass of literature on the subject) have been put forth over decades to reconcile gravity with Quantum theory in a major attempt to build a complete picture of Quantum Gravity.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0In 1921, the mathematician Theordor Kaluza proposed a geometric theory by extending the Theory<\/i> of<\/i> General Relativity <\/i>to a fifth dimension in hopes of unifying electromagnetism with gravity.\u00a0\u00a0 Later in 1926, the theoretical physicist Oskar Klein proposed another theory in a similar geometric vein as Kaluza\u2019s by postulating a certain circular shape of the fourth dimension, which combined with Kaluza\u2019s attempt, became known as the Kaluza-Klein theory.\u00a0 Other theories, like the more modern Yang-Mills theories, utilize the concepts of algebraic groups, geometry, and gauge theory in hopes of eventually exposing a unifying thread weaving through the fabric of the fundamental forces.<\/p>\n

This is a call to the mathematically minded everywhere to uncover new generalizations governing these forces.\u00a0 What tools should be used?\u00a0 Topology, Algebraic Geometry, Combinatorics, etc.? \u00a0\u00a0Providing new insights from the perspective of abstraction is the point where curiosity and imagination is met with discovery and the patterns tucked under the fabric of natural existence are exposed.<\/p>\n

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Patterns are inexplicably tucked under the fabric of natural existence.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes, with keen intuition and a strong analytical skill set, mathematical and theoretical physicists peel away the layers of entrancement exposing an ornate and cohesive structure underlying reality.\u00a0\u00a0 Whether it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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