To Galilean physics To Galilean physics To Galilean physics To relativity To Galilean physics To relativity

UNIFICATION OF PHYSICS

A SPECULATION: THE STRAND MODEL

 
Physics textbook Research 6 September 2008
To quantum theory To nuclear physics To Galilean physics To Galilean physics

PredictionsTalk slidesManuscriptsAcknowledgments
 

This page presents an idiosyncratic approach to unification. It is argued that all of physics - electrodynamics, thermodynamics, general relativity, cosmology, quantum theory and the standard model of particle physics - can be deduced from a common model. In the approach presented, Maxwell's equations, Einstein's field equations, the Schrödinger equation, the Dirac equation and the weak and strong interaction Lagrangians are deduced directly from featureless strands (or featureless extended entities).

The strand model is a speculation that seems too simple to be true. Therefore, it cannot be part of any physics textbook – yet. Nevertheless, the approach allows to calculate particle masses, mixings and coupling constants, including their dependence on energy. It also seems to satisfy all the requirements for a unified description that are listed in the third part of the Motion Mountain physics textbook. And the model fulfils a famous wish: it fits on a T-shirt.

You can add comments on the research discussion page on the wiki.
 

Predictions of the model, made before the start of the LHC at CERN:

  • At most one additional particle will be discovered: a single neutral spin 0 Higgs field, with mass compatible to the experiments and estimates deduced from the standard model. (Charged Higgs bosons seem forbidden. If they do exist nevertheless, they are at most two, a positively and a negatively charged one, and they are more massive than the neutral Higgs boson.) (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • At least two neutrino flavours are equal to their own antiparticles. All neutrinos have mass. (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • No gauge groups other than those of the standard model are valid in particle physics. No form of GUT, technicolour or supersymmetry is valid. No other interaction exists. (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • No additional vector bosons, preons, superpartners, magnetic monopoles, axions, sterile neutrinos, additional fermion families or leptoquarks exist. (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • No additional spatial dimensions, fermionic coordinates, non-commutative spacetime or different vacua exist in nature. (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • No deviations from QCD, QFD and the standard model, when neutrino masses and mixings are included, appear for any measurable energy scale. (Website, August 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
  • Dark matter is compatible with the standard model. (Website, September 2008, and forthcoming manuscript 4.)
     
  • No deviations from quantum theory or quantum electrodynamics appear for any measurable energy scale. The QED energy dependence of the coupling constant is reproduced. (Manuscript 3, April 2008.)
  • No deviations from thermodynamics appear for any measurable energy scale. (Manuscripts 2 and 3, April 2008.)
     
  • The universe's integrated luminosity is c^5/4G. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
  • If the cosmological constant is nonvanishing, it decreases with time. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
  • If the cosmological constant is nonvanishing, minimal electric and magnetic fields, a minimum force and a minimum acceleration exist. (Manuscript 2, March 2008.)
  • The universe has trivial topology at all measurable energies. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
  • No singularities, wormholes, time-like loops, negative energy regions, cosmic strings, cosmic domain walls, information loss, torsion or MOND exist; inflation did not happen. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
  • No doubly or deformed special relativity arises in nature. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
  • No deviations from special or general relativity appear for any measurable energy scale. (Manuscript 2, April 2008.)
     
  • There are maximal electric and magnetic fields in nature. (Manuscript 1, March 2008.)
  • No deviations from electrodynamics appear for any measurable energy scale. (Manuscript 1, March 2008.)
     
  • The Planck values are the smallest measurable length and time intervals, the Planck momentum and energy are the highest measurable values for elementary particles. A maximum curvature exists and the generalized indeterminacy principle holds. (As predicted by many.)
  • The largest force and power values measurable locally in nature are c^4/4G and c^5/4G. (Predicted in 1998, proved independently by Gary Gibbons, and suggested by several others.)
  • The smallest entropy in nature is given by k ln 2. (As stated by many.)
  • The quantum of action, hbar, is the smallest action value measurable in nature. (As stated by Niels Bohr.)
  • The speed of light, c, is the highest energy speed measurable locally in nature. (As stated by Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein and others.)
 

Top

Talk slides:

Pdf:   A. Deducing Maxwell’s, Dirac’s and Einstein’s field equations from fluctuating featureless extended entities (C. Schiller, July 2008)

Slides of a talk summarizing the manuscripts 1, 2, 3, including the experimental predictions of the model. In addition, the first seven slides present the foundations of the model. They form a summary of a future manuscript 0 on the topic.

Top

Pdf:   B. Deducing general relativity from extended entities (C. Schiller, August 2008)

Slides of a talk on the way to deduce the structure of the vacuum, special relativity, general relativity and cosmology from extended entities. Einstein's field equations and black hole entropy are derived. The slides summarize manuscript 2.

Top

Pdf:   C. Quantum mechanics, entanglement and QED deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, July 2008)

Slides of a talk on manuscript 3. It includes, as additional result, the way to model quantum entanglement of photons and matter particles as strand entanglement. Among others, methods to calculate masses of charged elementary fermions are presented.

Top

Manuscripts:

Pdf:   1. Classical electrodynamics and photons in flat and curved space-time deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, March 2008):

Classical electrodynamics - including Coulomb's law, interference, relativistic invariance and the full Maxwell's equations - is deduced from a simple model based on featureless extended entities. Quantum effects are described as results of the extension of the fundamental entities. The model describes the photon, including its spin and its quantum behaviour. The model also works in curved space-time; it reproduces the known results for high curvature, such as black-hole radiation and the Fulling-Davies-Unruh effect. Maximum values for electric and magnetic fields in nature are predicted, and the power limit for light and energy sources is confirmed. A new type of underlying symmetry is predicted.

Top

Pdf:   2. General relativity, gravitons and cosmology deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, April 2008):

Einstein's field equations are deduced from a model of space-time based on featureless extended entities. Curvature is built from defects in space-time. In addition, extended entities yield a model for matter, for horizons and for the graviton, including its spin value. The model reproduces all known quantum-gravity effects, all black-hole properties - including a logarithmic correction to the black-hole entropy and a clarification of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter - and holography. The model predicts a minimum length, a maximum curvature, the absence of singularities, the generalized uncertainty principle, and the absence of effects of doubly special relativity.

The extended-entity model also yields a new approach to cosmology, predicts the existence of a cosmic horizon, and proposes an alternative to inflation and modified Newtonian dynamics. The predicted values of the present particle density and of the present cosmological constant agree with experiments. The cosmological constant is predicted to decrease with time. The model provides a natural explanation of dark energy. The acceleration value at which rotation curves in galaxies deviate from the inverse-square law is predicted to vary with distance. A minimum momentum, a minimum force, a minimum electric and magnetic field and a minimum power are predicted to exist in nature. The fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation are expected to be scale-invariant.

Top

Pdf:   3. Quantum theory and quantum electrodynamics deduced from extended entities (C. Schiller, April 2008):

It is argued that Schrödinger's and Dirac's equations can be deduced from a topological model of matter and photons based on featureless extended entities. The wave function, spin and quantum phase have intuitive descriptions. The probabilities appearing in quantum measurements are compatible with the Kochen-Specker theorem and do not rely on non-contextual hidden variables. The model reproduces Heisenberg's indeterminacy relations and the Hilbert space structure, provides a topological explanation for entanglement, provides general models for matter, antimatter, and real and virtual particles, and explains electric charge quantization and minimal coupling. The Weinberg-Witten theorem is satisfied. The model provides a basis for stochastic quantization, for the entwined-paths model, and for Zitterbewegung. At high energies, the model predicts the lack of higher dimensions, a minimum intrinsic electric dipole moment, the absence of divergences, and maximal values for electric and magnetic fields. The fine-structure constant, including its energy dependence, is calculable; first crudely calculated bounds contain the experimental value.

Top

Acknowledgments:

I thank HA, FS, FB, JS, LF, WS, SP, RH, LK and SG for the interesting discussions we had.

The unification project is independent of the sponsors of the textbook and is not funded or supported by any of them. (Dedicated sponsors for the unification project are of course welcome.)