“Like peeling an endless onion, the more you peel, the more you peel.”
galaxy brain
Most, but not all, physicists live on the premise of a rigid and immutable set of laws that govern the universe.
“What we often call the laws of physics are really just coherent mathematical theories that seem to be consistent with some parts of nature,” says theoretical physicist Sankar Das. Salma writes: New must-read column for new scientist digitThese laws of physics are meant to explain the reality we share, even if it “evolves as our empirical knowledge of the universe improves.”
“This is the problem,” continues Salma. “Despite the fact that many scientists see their role as uncovering these ultimate laws, I do not believe they exist.”
Prior to Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking (and ultimately unfinished) attempt to create all the theoriesand all subsequent leaps in fields such as quantum mechanics, such claims did not seem outlandish, physicists argue.
In fact, Salma says it is “amazing” that humans can “understand some aspects of the universe through the laws of physics.”
“As we discover more about nature, we can hone our descriptions of it, but it never ends,” he writes. Like peeling, the more you peel, the more you peel.”
multiverse madness
referring to the concept of multiverseor in an infinite number of universes, Salma wonders how humans can become so arrogant as to imagine that the overt rules that seem to govern our reality apply to all universes. I will consider whether I can do it.
Raising a theoretical argument, Salma argues that even when faced with a theory as substantial as quantum mechanics, it is “rather than the ultimate law itself, but the set of rules we use to express it.” There are too many mysteries and variables left to consider this so-called foundational theory sacred.
“It is hard to imagine that physicists will still be using quantum mechanics as a fundamental description of nature a thousand years from now,” he continues. “By then, something else should replace quantum mechanics, just as quantum mechanics itself replaced Newtonian mechanics.”
As for what that replacement might be, Salma refuses to speculate. But he nevertheless argues that “the particular reason why our description of how the physical universe appears to work suddenly peaks at the beginning of the 21st century and gets stuck forever in quantum mechanics is I don’t think so.
“That would be a really depressing thought!” he adds.
Physics details: Headlines about scientists building wormholes are utter nonsense, people