Einstein was Right! Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity are the two main theories of physics that describe the universe in which we live. Attempts at combining them have been made since the 1920's with no success. Albert Einstein spent much of his later years searching for the key to unification. He never fully accepted quantum theory and maintained it was incomplete. Einstein showed that gravitation is the curving of spacetime, not an attractive force between masses. Evans has showed that electromagnetism is the spinning of spacetime. Using Cartan differential geometry, Evans describes Einstein's gravitation and quantum electromagnetics in the same equations. This book describes the basics of special relativity, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and the geometry used to describe them.
Group Theoretical Methods in Physics: Proceedings of the Fifth International Colloquium provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of group theoretical methods in physics. This book provides a variety of topics, including nuclear collective motion, complex Riemannian geometry, quantum mechanics, and relativistic symmetry. Organized into six parts encompassing 64 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the theories of nuclear quadrupole dynamics. This text then examines the conventional approach in the determination of superstructures. Other chapters consider the Hamiltonian formalism and how it is applied to the KdV equation and to a slight variant of the KdV equation. This book discusses as well the significant differential equations of mathematical physics that are integrable Hamiltonian systems, including the equations governing self-induced transparency and the motion of particles under an inverse square potential. The final chapter deals with the decomposition of the tensor product of two irreducible representations of the symmetric group into a direct sum of irreducible representations. This book is a valuable resource for physicists.
Despite the rapidly expanding ambit of physical research and the continual appearance of new branches of physics, the main thrust in its development was and is the attempt at a theoretical synthesis of the entire body of physical knowledge. The main triumphs in physical science were, as a rule, associ ated with the various phases of this synthesis. The most radical expression of this tendency is the program of construction of a unified physical theory. After Maxwellian electrodynamics had unified the phenomena of electricity, magnetism, and optics in a single theoretical scheme on the basis of the con cept of the electromagnetic field, the hope arose that the field concept would become the precise foundation of a new unified theory of the physical world. The limitations of an electromagnetic-field conception of physics, however, already had become clear in the first decade of the 20th century. The concept of a classical field was developed significantly in the general theory of relativity, which arose in the elaboration of a relativistic theory of gravitation. It was found that the gravitational field possesses, in addition to the properties inherent in the electromagnetic field, the important feature that it expresses the metric structure of the space-time continuum. This resulted in the following generalization of the program of a field synthesis of physics: The unified field representing gravitation and electromagnetism must also describe the geometry of space-time.
"A fascinating and thought-provoking story, one that sheds light on the origins of . . . the current challenging situation in physics." -- Wall Street Journal When the fuzzy indeterminacy of quantum mechanics overthrew the orderly world of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Erwin Schröger were at the forefront of the revolution. Neither man was ever satisfied with the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, however, and both rebelled against what they considered the most preposterous aspect of quantum mechanics: its randomness. Einstein famously quipped that God does not play dice with the universe, and Schröger constructed his famous fable of a cat that was neither alive nor dead not to explain quantum mechanics but to highlight the apparent absurdity of a theory gone wrong. But these two giants did more than just criticize: they fought back, seeking a Theory of Everything that would make the universe seem sensible again. In Einstein's Dice and Schröger's Cat, physicist Paul Halpern tells the little-known story of how Einstein and Schröger searched, first as collaborators and then as competitors, for a theory that transcended quantum weirdness. This story of their quest-which ultimately failed-provides readers with new insights into the history of physics and the lives and work of two scientists whose obsessions drove its progress. Today, much of modern physics remains focused on the search for a Theory of Everything. As Halpern explains, the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson makes the Standard Model-the closest thing we have to a unified theory- nearly complete. And while Einstein and Schröger failed in their attempt to explain everything in the cosmos through pure geometry, the development of string theory has, in its own quantum way, brought this idea back into vogue. As in so many things, even when they were wrong, Einstein and Schröger couldn't help but get a great deal right.
This open access book chronicles the rise of a new scientific paradigm offering novel insights into the age-old enigmas of existence. Over 300 years ago, the human mind discovered the machine code of reality: mathematics. By utilizing abstract thought systems, humans began to decode the workings of the cosmos. From this understanding, the current scientific paradigm emerged, ultimately discovering the gift of technology. Today, however, our island of knowledge is surrounded by ever longer shores of ignorance. Science appears to have hit a dead end when confronted with the nature of reality and consciousness. In this fascinating and accessible volume, James Glattfelder explores a radical paradigm shift uncovering the ontology of reality. It is found to be information-theoretic and participatory, yielding a computational and programmable universe.
For several decades since its inception, Einstein's general theory of relativity stood somewhat aloof from the rest of physics. Paradoxically, the attributes which normally boost a physical theory - namely, its perfection as a theoreti cal framework and the extraordinary intellectual achievement underlying i- prevented the general theory from being assimilated in the mainstream of physics. It was as if theoreticians hesitated to tamper with something that is manifestly so beautiful. Happily, two developments in the 1970s have narrowed the gap. In 1974 Stephen Hawking arrived at the remarkable result that black holes radiate after all. And in the second half of the decade, particle physicists discovered that the only scenario for applying their grand unified theories was offered by the very early phase in the history of the Big Bang universe. In both cases, it was necessary to discuss the ideas of quantum field theory in the background of curved spacetime that is basic to general relativity. This is, however, only half the total story. If gravity is to be brought into the general fold of theoretical physics we have to know how to quantize it. To date this has proved a formidable task although most physicists would agree that, as in the case of grand unified theories, quantum gravity will have applications to cosmology, in the very early stages of the Big Bang universe. In fact, the present picture of the Big Bang universe necessarily forces us to think of quantum cosmology.
Why did Einstein tirelessly study unified field theory for more than thirty years? In this book, the author argues that Einstein believed he could find a unified theory of all of nature's forces by repeating the methods he thought he had used when he formulated general relativity. The book discusses Einstein's route to the general theory of relativity, focusing on the philosophical lessons that he learnt. It then addresses his quest for a unified theory for electromagnetism and gravity, discussing in detail his efforts with Kaluza-Klein and, surprisingly, the theory of spinors. From these perspectives, Einstein's critical stance towards the quantum theory comes to stand in a new light. This book will be of interest to physicists, historians and philosophers of science.
