Teh One Who Knocks
07-21-2016, 02:48 PM
By Sean Martin - The Express
http://i.imgur.com/YOPMKoX.jpg
PHYSICISTS fear that we may be reaching the limit of what we can understand about the Universe and “for the first time in the history of science, we could be facing questions that we cannot answer”, a leading expert has claimed.
While there is still so much mystery and wonder surrounding what makes up the Universe and what it holds, scientists are now fearing that all we may soon have left is the incomprehensible.
During a recent Ted Talk, Harry Cliff, a particle physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), warned: “The next few years may tell us whether we'll be able to continue to increase our understanding of nature or whether maybe, for the first time in the history of science, we could be facing questions that we cannot answer.”
He added that scientists are approaching this limit as “the laws of physics forbid” further understanding of the Universe.
Mr Cliff says that his theory is based on two numbers which account for everything that the Universe is made up of, and if these numbers are slightly off, then “there would be no physical structure in the Universe.”
The first value that Mr Cliff looks at represents the strength of the Higgs Field – an energy field which when particles travel through, they gain mass and become protons, neutrons and electrons which make up everything in the Universe.
According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the Higgs Field should either have a value of zero which would not give particles mass, or it should have an extremely great value which is likely to give particles too much mass.
But this is where physicists are confused.
http://i.imgur.com/LJ8MuAw.jpg
Instead of viewing a value of either extremely high or non-existent, experts have noticed that the Higgs field is just slightly on”, which is not as low or high as it should be.
Mr Cliff said: “It's not zero, but it's ten-thousand-trillion times weaker than it's fully on value — a bit like a light switch that got stuck just before the 'off' position.
“And this value is crucial. If it were a tiny bit different, then there would be no physical structure in the universe.”
The Field’s weakness defies the laws of physics and leaves experts scratching their heads for an answer.
The second value is of the mysterious dark energy which controls the expansion pace of the Universe.
However, Mr Cliff said “we don't know what dark energy is.”
He added: “The best idea is that it's the energy of empty space itself — the energy of the vacuum.”
However, if this was the case, experts should be able to calculate the empty space in the Universe to get a value of dark energy.
Scientists have calculated this, but encountered a problem with their answer.
The CERN scientist said: “Dark energy should be 10,120 times stronger than the value we observe from astronomy.
http://i.imgur.com/ycsmOgQ.jpg
“This is a number so mind-bogglingly huge that it's impossible to get your head around.
“This number is bigger than any number in astronomy — it's a thousand-trillion-trillion-trillion times bigger than the number of atoms in the universe. That's a pretty bad prediction.”
However, Mr Cliff said that there is one solution which will help experts understand more of the Universe – to prove that we are a part of an infinite amount of multiverses.
Then, he explains, “suddenly we can understand the weirdly fine-tuned values of these two dangerous numbers because in most of the multiverse dark energy is so strong that the universe gets torn apart, or the Higgs field is so weak that no atoms can form.”
Mr Cliff concluded his Ted Talk by saying: “We may be entering a new era in physics. An era where there are weird features in the universe that we cannot explain.
“An era where we have hints that we live in a multiverse that lies frustratingly beyond our reach.
“An era where we will never be able to answer the question why is there something rather than nothing.”
http://i.imgur.com/YOPMKoX.jpg
PHYSICISTS fear that we may be reaching the limit of what we can understand about the Universe and “for the first time in the history of science, we could be facing questions that we cannot answer”, a leading expert has claimed.
While there is still so much mystery and wonder surrounding what makes up the Universe and what it holds, scientists are now fearing that all we may soon have left is the incomprehensible.
During a recent Ted Talk, Harry Cliff, a particle physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), warned: “The next few years may tell us whether we'll be able to continue to increase our understanding of nature or whether maybe, for the first time in the history of science, we could be facing questions that we cannot answer.”
He added that scientists are approaching this limit as “the laws of physics forbid” further understanding of the Universe.
Mr Cliff says that his theory is based on two numbers which account for everything that the Universe is made up of, and if these numbers are slightly off, then “there would be no physical structure in the Universe.”
The first value that Mr Cliff looks at represents the strength of the Higgs Field – an energy field which when particles travel through, they gain mass and become protons, neutrons and electrons which make up everything in the Universe.
According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the Higgs Field should either have a value of zero which would not give particles mass, or it should have an extremely great value which is likely to give particles too much mass.
But this is where physicists are confused.
http://i.imgur.com/LJ8MuAw.jpg
Instead of viewing a value of either extremely high or non-existent, experts have noticed that the Higgs field is just slightly on”, which is not as low or high as it should be.
Mr Cliff said: “It's not zero, but it's ten-thousand-trillion times weaker than it's fully on value — a bit like a light switch that got stuck just before the 'off' position.
“And this value is crucial. If it were a tiny bit different, then there would be no physical structure in the universe.”
The Field’s weakness defies the laws of physics and leaves experts scratching their heads for an answer.
The second value is of the mysterious dark energy which controls the expansion pace of the Universe.
However, Mr Cliff said “we don't know what dark energy is.”
He added: “The best idea is that it's the energy of empty space itself — the energy of the vacuum.”
However, if this was the case, experts should be able to calculate the empty space in the Universe to get a value of dark energy.
Scientists have calculated this, but encountered a problem with their answer.
The CERN scientist said: “Dark energy should be 10,120 times stronger than the value we observe from astronomy.
http://i.imgur.com/ycsmOgQ.jpg
“This is a number so mind-bogglingly huge that it's impossible to get your head around.
“This number is bigger than any number in astronomy — it's a thousand-trillion-trillion-trillion times bigger than the number of atoms in the universe. That's a pretty bad prediction.”
However, Mr Cliff said that there is one solution which will help experts understand more of the Universe – to prove that we are a part of an infinite amount of multiverses.
Then, he explains, “suddenly we can understand the weirdly fine-tuned values of these two dangerous numbers because in most of the multiverse dark energy is so strong that the universe gets torn apart, or the Higgs field is so weak that no atoms can form.”
Mr Cliff concluded his Ted Talk by saying: “We may be entering a new era in physics. An era where there are weird features in the universe that we cannot explain.
“An era where we have hints that we live in a multiverse that lies frustratingly beyond our reach.
“An era where we will never be able to answer the question why is there something rather than nothing.”