“We Don’t Know What We Are Talking About” – Nobel Laureate David Gross

Write-up by Michael Strauss

Science has reached an enormous impasse. From biology to physics, astronomy to genetics, the scientific community is reaching the limits of understanding which typically presage a complete rethinking of lengthy-accepted theories. So characteristic of this new apex of modern arrogance is the inability to comprehend the obvious in physics: That we don’t know what we are talking about.

Last December (’05), physicists held the 23rd Solvay Conference in Brussels, Belgium. Amongst the many topics covered in the conference was the topic matter of string theory. This theory combines the apparently irreconcilable domains of quantum physics and relativity. David Gross a Nobel Laureate created some startling statements about the state of physics including: “We do not know what we are talking about” whilst referring to string theory as well as “The state of physics today is like it was when we had been mystified by radioactivity.”

The Nobel Laureate is a heavyweight in this field having earned a prize for work on the strong nuclear force and he indicated that what is happening these days is very similar to what happened at the 1911 Solvay meeting. Back then, radioactivity had recently been discovered and mass energy conservation was under assault simply because of its discovery. Quantum theory would be required to solve these problems. Gross further commented that in 1911 “They were missing something totally fundamental,” as well as “we are missing possibly something as profound as they had been back then.”

Coming from a scientist with establishment credentials this is a damning statement about the state of present theoretical models and most notably string theory. This theoretical model is a means by which physicists replace the more commonly known particles of particle physics with one dimensional objects which are recognized as strings. These bizarre objects were first detected in 1968 through the insight and work of Gabriele Veneziano who was attempting to comprehend the powerful nuclear force.

Whilst meditating on the powerful nuclear force Veneziano detected a similarity between the Euler Beta Function, named for the famed mathematician Leonhard Euler, and the powerful force. Applying the aforementioned Beta Function to the powerful force he was able to validate a direct correlation between the two. Interestingly enough, no 1 knew why Euler’s Beta worked so well in mapping the powerful nuclear force data. A proposed answer to this dilemma would follow a couple of years later.

Nearly two years later (1970), the scientists Nambu, Nielsen and Susskind supplied a mathematical description which described the physical phenomena of why Euler’s Beta served as a graphical outline for the powerful nuclear force. By modeling the strong nuclear forces as 1 dimensional strings they were able to show why it all seemed to work so well. Nonetheless, numerous troubling inconsistencies had been right away observed on the horizon. The new theory had attached to it a lot of implications that had been in direct violation of empirical analyses. In other words, routine experimentation did not back up the new theory.

Needless to say, physicists romantic fascination with string theory ended nearly as fast as it had begun only to be resuscitated a couple of years later by one more ‘discovery.’ The worker of the miraculous salvation of the sweet dreams of modern physicists was known as the graviton. This elementary particle allegedly communicates gravitational forces throughout the universe.

The graviton is of course a ‘hypothetical’ particle that appears in what are recognized as quantum gravity systems. Regrettably, the graviton has in no way ever been detected it is as previously indicated a ‘mythical’ particle that fills the mind of the theorist with dreams of golden Nobel Prizes and perhaps his or her name on the periodic table of elements.

But back to the historical record. In 1974, the scientists Schwarz, Scherk and Yoneya reexamined strings so that the textures or patterns of strings and their associated vibrational properties had been connected to the aforementioned ‘graviton.’ As a result of these investigations was born what is now known as ‘bosonic string theory’ which is the ‘in vogue’ version of this theory. Having both open and closed strings as well as several new essential issues which gave rise to unforeseen instabilities.

These problematical instabilities leading to numerous new difficulties which render the prior thinking as confused as we were when we began this discussion. Of course this all began from undetectable gravitons which arise from other theories equally untenable and inexplicable and so on. Therefore was born string theory which was hoped would supply a total picture of the simple fundamental principles of the universe.

Scientists had believed that when the shortcomings of particle physics had been left behind by the adoption of the exotic string theory, that a grand unified theory of every thing would be an quickly ascertainable goal. Nevertheless, what they could not anticipate is that the theory that they hoped would create a theory of every thing would leave them much more confused and frustrated than they had been just before they departed from particle physics.

The end result of string theory is that we know less and less and are becoming much more and a lot more confused. Of course, the argument could be made that further investigations will yield far more relevant data whereby we will tweak the model to an eventual perfecting of our understanding of it. Or perhaps ‘We don’t know what we are talking about.’

About the Author

Michael Strauss is an engineer who has an interest in this topic matter. To contact the author go to: http://www.relativitycollapse.com or http://www.relativitycollapse.net