The 9 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries In Physics
Dark Matter by Artist
In 1900, the British
physicist Lord Kelvin is said to have pronounced: "There is nothing new to
be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise
measurement." Within three decades, quantum mechanics and Einstein's
theory of relativity had revolutionized the field. Today, no physicist would
dare assert that our physical knowledge of the universe is near completion. To
the contrary, each new discovery seems to unlock a Pandora's box of even
bigger, even deeper physics questions. These are our picks for the most
profound open questions of all.
9.What
is Dark Energy?
No matter how
astrophysicists crunch the numbers, the universe simply doesn't add up. Even
though gravity is pulling inward on space-time — the "fabric" of the
cosmos — it keeps expanding outward faster and faster. To account for this,
astrophysicists have proposed an invisible agent that counteracts gravity by
pushing space-time apart. They call it dark energy. In the most widely accepted
model of dark energy, it is a "cosmological constant": an inherent
property of space itself, which has "negative pressure" driving space
apart. As space expands, more space is created, and with it, more dark energy.
Based on the observed rate of expansion, scientists know that the sum of all
the dark energy must make up more than 70 percent of the total contents of the
universe. But no one knows how to look for it.
8.What
is Dark Matter?
Evidently, about 84
percent of the matter in the universe does not absorb or emit light. "Dark
matter," as it is called, cannot be seen directly, and it hasn't yet been
detected by indirect means, either. Instead, dark matter's existence and properties
are inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter, radiation and
the structure of the universe. This shadowy substance is thought to pervade the
outskirts of galaxies, and may be composed of "weakly interacting massive
particles," or WIMPs. Worldwide, there are several detectors on the
lookout for WIMPs, but so far, not one has been found. [If Not Dark Matter,
then What?]
7. Why is there an arrow of time?
Time moves forward because a property of the universe called "entropy," roughly defined as the level of disorder, only increases, and so there is no way to reverse a rise in entropy after it has occurred. The fact that entropy increases is a matter of logic: There are more disordered arrangements of particles than there are ordered arrangements, and so as things change, they tend to fall into disarray. But the underlying question here is, why was entropy so low in the past? Put differently, why was the universe so ordered at its beginning, when a huge amount of energy was crammed together in a small amount of space? [What's the Total Energy in the Universe?]
Time moves forward because a property of the universe called "entropy," roughly defined as the level of disorder, only increases, and so there is no way to reverse a rise in entropy after it has occurred. The fact that entropy increases is a matter of logic: There are more disordered arrangements of particles than there are ordered arrangements, and so as things change, they tend to fall into disarray. But the underlying question here is, why was entropy so low in the past? Put differently, why was the universe so ordered at its beginning, when a huge amount of energy was crammed together in a small amount of space? [What's the Total Energy in the Universe?]
6.
Are there parallel universes?
Astrophysical data suggests space-time might be
"flat," rather than curved, and thus that it goes on forever. If so,
then the region we can see (which we think of as "the universe") is
just one patch in an infinitely large "quilted multiverse." At the
same time, the laws of quantum mechanics dictate that there are only a finite
number of possible particle configurations within each cosmic patch (10^10^122
distinct possibilities). So, with an infinite number of cosmic patches, the particle arrangements within them are
forced to repeat — infinitely many times over. This means there are
infinitely many parallel universes: cosmic patches exactly the same as ours
(containing someone exactly like you), as well as patches that differ by just
one particle's position, patches that differ by two particles' positions, and
so on down to patches that are totally different from ours.
Is there something wrong with that logic, or is its bizarre outcome true? And if it is true, how might we ever detect the presence of parallel universes?
5. Why is there more matter than antimatter?
The question of why there is so much more matter than its oppositely-charged and oppositely-spinning twin, antimatter, is actually a question of why anything exists at all. One assumes the universe would treat matter and antimatter symmetrically, and thus that, at the moment of the Big Bang, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been produced. But if that had happened, there would have been a total annihilation of both: Protons would have canceled with antiprotons, electrons with anti-electrons (positrons), neutrons with antineutrons, and so on, leaving behind a dull sea of photons in a matterless expanse. For some reason, there was excess matter that didn't get annihilated, and here we are. For this, there is no accepted explanation.
4. What is the fate of the universe?
The fate of the universe strongly depends on a
factor of unknown value: Ω, a measure of the density of matter and energy
throughout the cosmos. If Ω is greater than 1, then space-time would be
"closed" like the surface of an enormous sphere. If there is no dark
energy, such a universe would eventually stop expanding and would instead start
contracting, eventually collapsing in on itself in an event dubbed the
"Big Crunch." If the universe is closed but there is dark energy, the
spherical universe would expand forever.
Alternatively, if Ω is less than 1, then the geometry of space would be "open" like the surface of a saddle. In this case, its ultimate fate is the "Big Freeze" followed by the "Big Rip": first, the universe's outward acceleration would tear galaxies and stars apart, leaving all matter frigid and alone. Next, the acceleration would grow so strong that it would overwhelm the effects of the forces that hold atoms together, and everything would be wrenched apart.
If Ω = 1, the universe would be flat, extending like an infinite plane in all directions. If there is no dark energy, such a planar universe would expand forever but at a continually decelerating rate, approaching a standstill. If there is dark energy, the flat universe ultimately would experience runaway expansion leading to the Big Rip.
Que sera, sera.
3. How do
measurements collapse quantum wavefunctions?
In the strange realm of electrons, photons and
the other fundamental particles, quantum mechanics is law. Particles don't
behave like tiny balls, but rather like waves that are spread over a large
area. Each particle is described by a "wavefunction," or probability
distribution, which tells what its location, velocity, and other properties are
more likely to be, but not what those properties are. The particle actually has
a range of values for all the properties, until you experimentally measure one
of them — its location, for example — at which point the particle's
wavefunction "collapses" and it adopts just one location. [Newborn
Babies Understand Quantum Mechanics]
But how and why does measuring a particle make
its wavefunction collapse, producing the concrete reality that we perceive to
exist? The issue, known as the measurement problem, may seem esoteric, but our
understanding of what reality is, or if it exists at all, hinges upon the
answer.
2. Is
string theory correct?
When physicists assume all the elementary
particles are actually one-dimensional loops, or "strings," each of
which vibrates at a different frequency, physics gets much easier. String
theory allows physicists to reconcile the laws governing particles, called
quantum mechanics, with the laws governing space-time, called general
relativity, and to unify the four fundamental forces of nature into a single
framework. But the problem is, string theory can only work in a universe with
10 or 11 dimensions: three large spatial ones, six or seven compacted spatial
ones, and a time dimension. The compacted spatial dimensions — as well as the vibrating
strings themselves — are about a billionth of a trillionth of the size of an
atomic nucleus. There's no conceivable way to detect anything that small, and
so there's no known way to experimentally validate or invalidate string theory.
1. Is there order in chaos?
Physicists can't exactly solve the
set of equations that describes the behavior of fluids, from water to air to
all other liquids and gases. In fact, it isn't known whether a general solution
of the so-called Navier-Stokes equations even exists, or, if there is a
solution, whether it describes fluids everywhere, or contains inherently
unknowable points called singularities. As a consequence, the nature of chaos
is not well understood. Physicists and mathematicians wonder, is the weather
merely difficult to predict, or inherently unpredictable? Does turbulence
transcend mathematical description, or does it all make sense when you tackle
it with the right math?
( LIVESCIENCE 2012 )
BY NOW SOLVED and Finish
9.Dark Energy, It is one of the most famous, and most embarrassing, problems in physics. But do not make sense (NewScientistCom )
None of our detectors or experiments have ever seen a dark matter particle directly, leading some to doubt that dark matter actually exists. Just as Newton’s theory of gravity is “good enough” for most familiar situations and reveals its limitations only in extreme situations or upon the most detailed examination, maybe what we call dark matter is actually a breakdown of general relativity.(PbsOrgPhysics )
7.An arrow of time, No evidence the early universe was in a state of extremely low entropy.(The Arrow of Time Still Puzzle ). An arrow of time is false. Finish.
5.More matter than antimatter, Why there's more matter than antimatter is one of the biggest questions confounding particle physicists and cosmologists, and it cuts to the heart of our own existence. In the time following the Big Bang, when the budding universe cooled enough for matter to form, most matter-antimatter particle pairs that popped into existence annihilated each other. Yet something tipped the balance in favor of matter, or we – and stars, planets, galaxies, life – would not be here.
The recently discovered Higgs boson is directly connected to the issues of mass and matter. Asking whether the Higgs is involved in the preponderance of matter over antimatter seems a reasonable question. ( The Higgs Boson a Clue ).
The Big Bang Theory Is Not Correct. General Relativity is wrong. So what the Higgs Boson? Antimatter unscientific nonsense.
The recently discovered Higgs boson is directly connected to the issues of mass and matter. Asking whether the Higgs is involved in the preponderance of matter over antimatter seems a reasonable question. ( The Higgs Boson a Clue ).
The Big Bang Theory Is Not Correct. General Relativity is wrong. So what the Higgs Boson? Antimatter unscientific nonsense.
4.What is the fate of the universe? What is the ultimate fate of our universe? A Big Crunch? A Big Freeze? A Big Rip? or a Big Bounce? Measurements made by WMAP or the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe favor a Big Freeze. But until a deeper understanding of dark energy is established, the other three still cannot be totally ignored. (UniverseToday).
Science should not answer all the questions, science is limited,
Science should not answer all the questions, science is limited,
3.How do measurements collapse quantum wavefunctions?
At the Solvay conference in Brussels in 1927, twenty-two years after Einstein first tried to understand what is happening when the wave collapses, he noted;
"If | ψ |2 were simply regarded as the probability that at a certain point a given particle is found at a given time, it could happen that the same elementary process produces an action in two or several places on the screen. But the interpretation, according to which | ψ |2 expresses the probability that this particle is found at a given point, assumes an entirely peculiar mechanism of action at a distance, which prevents the wave continuously distributed in space from producing an action in two places on the screen.”
Einstein came to call this spukhafte Fernwerkung, “spooky action at a distance.” It is known as nonlocality.
At the Solvay conference in Brussels in 1927, twenty-two years after Einstein first tried to understand what is happening when the wave collapses, he noted;
"If | ψ |2 were simply regarded as the probability that at a certain point a given particle is found at a given time, it could happen that the same elementary process produces an action in two or several places on the screen. But the interpretation, according to which | ψ |2 expresses the probability that this particle is found at a given point, assumes an entirely peculiar mechanism of action at a distance, which prevents the wave continuously distributed in space from producing an action in two places on the screen.”
Einstein came to call this spukhafte Fernwerkung, “spooky action at a distance.” It is known as nonlocality.
Scientists at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) have proven beyond reasonable doubt that Einstein was wrong about one of the main principles of quantum mechanics and that "spooky action at a distance" is actually real. ( Einstein was wrong)
1. Is there order in chaos? The nature of chaos
is not well understood, it is because we do not undertand about gravity. Gravity is not inertia or 'nothing about force' as Einstein said.
Eintein's theory of general relativity didn’t entirely explain the universe. He spent the last 30 years of his life trying to reconcile his physics of the very big with the physics of the very small—quantum mechanics. He failed.
Gravity is force, and it come due the effects of the well balance of universe. How about speed of gravity? Gravity travel with infinity velocity.
"The theory also tells us that nothing can travel faster than light. The special theory of relativity was very successful in explaining that the speed of light appears the same to all observers (as shown by the Michelson-Morley experiment) and in describing what happens when things move at speeds close to the speed of light. However, it was inconsistent with the Newtonian theory of gravity, which said that objects attracted each other with a force that depended on the distance between them. This meant that if one moved one of the objects, the force on the other one would change instantaneously. Or in other gravitational effects should travel with infinite velocity, instead of at or below the speed of light, as the special theory of relativity required. Einstein made a number of unsuccessful attempts between 1908 and 1914 to find a theory of gravity that was consistent with special relativity. Finally, in 1915, he proposed what we now call the general theory of relativity. Einstein made the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other forces, but is a consequence of the fact that space-time is not flat, as had been previously assumed: it is curved, or “warped,” by the didistribution of mass and energy in it." (Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time).
Gravity is force, and it come due the effects of the well balance of universe. How about speed of gravity? Gravity travel with infinity velocity.
"The theory also tells us that nothing can travel faster than light. The special theory of relativity was very successful in explaining that the speed of light appears the same to all observers (as shown by the Michelson-Morley experiment) and in describing what happens when things move at speeds close to the speed of light. However, it was inconsistent with the Newtonian theory of gravity, which said that objects attracted each other with a force that depended on the distance between them. This meant that if one moved one of the objects, the force on the other one would change instantaneously. Or in other gravitational effects should travel with infinite velocity, instead of at or below the speed of light, as the special theory of relativity required. Einstein made a number of unsuccessful attempts between 1908 and 1914 to find a theory of gravity that was consistent with special relativity. Finally, in 1915, he proposed what we now call the general theory of relativity. Einstein made the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other forces, but is a consequence of the fact that space-time is not flat, as had been previously assumed: it is curved, or “warped,” by the didistribution of mass and energy in it." (Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time).
