When buying with links to our articles, it may gain the future and partnership partners in the commission.
A clarification of how a galaxy is distorting time according to Einstein’s general aory. . | Credit: Mark Garink/Scientific Photo Library/Getty Em.
There is a set of very special numbers, known as the basic principles of nature, which cannot be explained. Where did they come from? Knowing if, in fact, fixed is the key to opening this permanent puzzle.
Physics is a mathematical description of nature. We use models, equations and formulas to describe how systems work and predict how they behave in the future. This approach has proven great success, and explained everything from Calculatory behavior without atomic to Evolution of the entire universe.
But there are aspects of these equations that challenge the interpretation. Even when we try to take a virtual model and connect it to the real world, we have to provide special numbers. These numbers pick up some aspects of nature that were left outside our equations. For example, if you want to predict the motion of the ball, I must know how powerful attractiveness He is. But there is no theory that explains why gravity has the strength you do. We can only measure this value independently and insert it into equations.
Over the decades, physicists collected different lists of the most important basic constants. In general, there are more than twenty of them. They describe things like strengths Four forces of natureBasic particles blocks, aspects of time, such as Light speed.
We have no idea where these numbers come from and why they have the values they do. One way to study them is to know if it is already fixed. If any of these numbers is transformed either in time or throughout space, this will be a major idea. The differences in the constants tell us that they are not really essential and instead a reflection of our ignorance of a deeper physics theory.
For example, if I don’t know anything about how gravity works, I still can measure the acceleration of things at near the ground. I can appoint a “basic” fixed fixed for this number and measure it to be 9.8 meters per second. I can still predict the ejaculation balls well with this number on hand.
But accurate notes will reveal that this acceleration is not really fixed. It can change depending on the height or even the site is running land. This would tell me that there is something deeper – in this case, there is a comprehensive force of gravity.
Physicists and astronomers have tried a variety of experiments to find differences in constants. In the end, this requires an enormous amount of data to find incredibly small transformations. Scientists can accomplish this either by examining a very long -term system or looking at the depth of the universe. Either way, we can test to see if some of the fixed or another has changed over time.
For example, astronomers used far measurements KawazratWhich are incredibly bright sources of radio emissions from the early universe. They also studied Cosmic microwave backgroundIt is the radiation emitted when the universe cools from the hot plasma state billions of years ago.
A picture of the amount of the floor of the cosmic microwave background, created by the Blanc satellite in the European Space Agency, which shows echoes of the large explosion of the dawn of the universe. | Credit: ESA/ LFI and HFI federations
If the constants are like light speed, or the strength of gravity, or even a block Electron We were on a different way back when, we should be able to see an accurate transformation in the appearance of these astronomical things. In other words, they should look different from being in a world where the constants are already fixed.
Closer to the house, physicists study the vibrations of atoms, Such used in atomic watchesTo search for deviations from pure stability. Regardless of what, we have not noticed any hints of anything other than pure monotheism. These are incredibly accurate measurements. For many constants, we have suspended their stability to more than one change per million a year.
Related stories:
– How do we know that the basic constants are fixed? We do not.
– What is the steadfastness of gravity?
We can never prove that the constants are really fixed. This is because there is always some uncertainty in our measurements, so there will always be room for some possible differences, even if it is incredibly small.
But at the present time, it seems that the basic principles of nature are fixed, and we do not know why they have the values they do. We believe a firm belief that the story of discovery in physics has not yet ended and that there is a lot to reveal the secrets of the universe. But at the present time, we have to live with the basic constants because they look: raw numbers that challenge the interpretation.
