What is superstring theory and why is it important? Can superstrings offer the fulfilment of Einstein's lifelong dream of a Theory of Everything? Co-authored by one of the leading pioneers in superstrings, this book approaches these scientific questions, looking at the scientific research.
Beyond Einstein: Perspectives on Geometry, Gravitation, and Cosmology explores the rich interplay between mathematical and physical ideas by studying the interactions of major actors and the roles of important research communities over the course of the last century.
Beyond Einstein’s Gravity is a graduate level introduction to extended theories of gravity and cosmology, including variational principles, the weak-field limit, gravitational waves, mathematical tools, exact solutions, as well as cosmological and astrophysical applications. The book provides a critical overview of the research in this area and unifies the existing literature using a consistent notation. Although the results apply in principle to all alternative gravities, a special emphasis is on scalar-tensor and f(R) theories. They were studied by theoretical physicists from early on, and in the 1980s they appeared in attempts to renormalize General Relativity and in models of the early universe. Recently, these theories have seen a new lease of life, in both their metric and metric-affine versions, as models of the present acceleration of the universe without introducing the mysterious and exotic dark energy. The dark matter problem can also be addressed in extended gravity. These applications are contributing to a deeper understanding of the gravitational interaction from both the theoretical and the experimental point of view. An extensive bibliography guides the reader into more detailed literature on particular topics.
Einstein's gravity theory—his general theory of relativity—has served as the basis for a series of astonishing cosmological discoveries. But what if, nonetheless, Einstein got it wrong? Since the 1930s, physicists have noticed an alarming discrepancy between the universe as we see it and the universe that Einstein's theory of relativity predicts. There just doesn't seem to be enough stuff out there for everything to hang together. Galaxies spin so fast that, based on the amount of visible matter in them, they ought to be flung to pieces, the same way a spinning yo-yo can break its string. Cosmologists tried to solve the problem by positing dark matter—a mysterious, invisible substance that surrounds galaxies, holding the visible matter in place—and particle physicists, attempting to identify the nature of the stuff, have undertaken a slew of experiments to detect it. So far, none have. Now, John W. Moffat, a physicist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, offers a different solution to the problem. The capstone to a storybook career—one that began with a correspondence with Einstein and a conversation with Niels Bohr—Moffat's modified gravity theory, or MOG, can model the movements of the universe without recourse to dark matter, and his work challenging the constancy of the speed of light raises a stark challenge to the usual models of the first half-million years of the universe's existence. This bold new work, presenting the entirety of Moffat's hypothesis to a general readership for the first time, promises to overturn everything we thought we knew about the origins and evolution of the universe.
Veteran plasma physicist John Brandenburg reveals the new theory that finally accomplishes what Einstein failed to do: the GEM Unification Theory proves the mathematical and physical interrelation of the forces of gravity and electromagnetism! This theory vindicates Einstein's dedication to unifying the fields in the final labor of his life. His quest became legendary, then mythic, until the whole idea was dismissed as myth by other physicists; the gravity-electromagnetism problem pursued by Einstein until his death became regarded like the ancient Greek problem of squaring the circle-an epic puzzle with no solution. But the other physicists were wrong, as Brandenburg shows. It turns out the fields can be unified-the circle can be squared-and this has vast implications for the future of humankind. Brandenburg starts out by tracing the evolution of thought on the two long-term forces of nature, gravity and electromagnetism, from ancient times to the modern day. He shows the intricate interweaving of Einstein's work with that of other physicists, including Sarkharov and his "zero point” theory of gravity and the hidden fifth dimension of Kaluza and Klein. He also traces the surprising, hidden influence of Nikola Tesla on Einstein's life. This book shows how, despite Einstein's errors in the details, the successful GEM Unification Theory is built on his basic hypothesis that gravity and electromagnetic forces could be unified, and that both controlled gravity and a new view of the cosmos follow: hydrogen, the basic building block of the universe, can be unified with the vacuum itself! The universe is self-renewing, a sort of "evergreen cosmos.” Brandenburg describes control of space-time geometry through electromagnetism, and states that faster-than-light travel will be possible in the future. Anti-gravity through electromagnetism is possible, which upholds the basic "flying saucer” design utilizing "The Tesla Vortex.” A must read for any person interested in UFOs and leading-edge physics. See the physics used at Area 51 explained!
A daring new vision of the quantum universe, and the scandals controversies, and questions that may illuminate our future--from Canada's leading mind on contemporary physics. Quantum physics is the golden child of modern science. It is the basis of our understanding of atoms, radiation, and so much else, from elementary particles and basic forces to the behaviour of materials. But for a century it has also been the problem child of science, plagued by intense disagreements between its intellectual giants, from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking, over the strange paradoxes and implications that seem like the stuff of fantasy. Whether it's Schrödinger's cat--a creature that is simultaneously dead and alive--or a belief that the world does not exist independently of our observations of it, quantum theory is what challenges our fundamental assumptions about our reality. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, globally renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin provocatively argues that the problems which have bedeviled quantum physics since its inception are unsolved for the simple reason that the theory is incomplete. There is more, waiting to be discovered. Our task--if we are to have simple answers to our simple questions about the universe we live in--must be to go beyond it to a description of the world on an atomic scale that makes sense. In this vibrant and accessible book, Smolin takes us on a journey through the basics of quantum physics, introducing the stories of the experiments and figures that have transformed the field, before wrestling with the puzzles and conundrums that they present. Along the way, he illuminates the existing theories about the quantum world that might solve these problems, guiding us toward his own vision that embraces common sense realism. If we are to have any hope of completing the revolution that Einstein began nearly a century ago, we must go beyond quantum mechanics as we know it to find a theory that will give us a complete description of nature. In Einstein's Unfinished Revolution, Lee Smolin brings us a step closer to resolving one of the greatest scientific controversies of our age.
This book presents a new unified theory for physics. It uses hyperfluid, hyperspace, and hypervortices to unify electromagnetism, gravity, quantum mechanics and more. It builds on Einstein's original directions and that of his predecessors. The chapter on mathematical analysis provides the unifying equation along with proofs of some of the key challenges of unification. Also provided are methods to enable others to complete additional proofs and derivations. The book challenges the reader to visualize our universe as one of an infinite set of universes filling a hyperverse. It also challenges the reader to make a conceptual switch from a universe of particles to a universe of hyperfluid in which each particle is our observation of a hypervortex in the fluid. The new theory expands the scope of physics to begin explaining the nature of life and free will. The book includes discussion of technologies that may be enabled by the new physics.
Eight essays trace seminal ideas about the foundations of geometry that led to the development of Einstein's general theory of relativity. This is the only English-language collection of these important papers, some of which are extremely hard to find. Contributors include Helmholtz, Klein, Clifford, Poincaré, and Cartan.