Blog – Page 6

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The gauge bosons of the standard model of particle physics are responsible for 3 of the 4 known forces in the universe. A force is conferred is through the exchange of virtual bosons. So for example in electromagnetism, an exchange of virtual photons results in an exchange of momentum which results in two like charges repelling each other.

Gravity is missing from this picture because in General relativity, gravity is not a force, but is a curvature of space-time. The problem is that stars and planets are made of molecules, atoms and radiation. And the forces that hold the atoms together are due to discrete units of virtual particles. It is the exchange or swapping of these virtual bosons that holds or breaks up atoms and molecules.

Quantum mechanics conflicts with general relativity, because QM treats every thing as being discrete, and GR treats everything as being continuous. We need a theory that combines the two because we live in one reality, not two different realities.

This is why most physicists believe General relativity is incomplete. Why can’t quantum mechanics be the one that is incomplete?
Of the 4 fundamental forces, 3 have very robust quantum mechanical theories. Only gravity lacks a quantum description. Quantum mechanics also has almost all of classical physics within in its limits. Classical physics like general relativity, does not have quantum effects. We have learned is that Quantum physics is the fundamental language of reality.

One way to quantize gravity is to quantize space-time itself. This is what loop quantum gravity or LQG does. It shows that the fabric of space-time is not continuous, but is made up of discrete quanta, like the pixels on a TV screen. This is different than string theory, because in string theory, space is the background or the canvas, on which strings vibrate.