The unified theory
or, Theory of Everything, (ToE) as it is alternatively known, could be described
as the holy grail of physics. In
reality, it is to some degree an aspiration shared by much of the human race throughout history. I don’t mean that most of us can comprehend
the complexities of such a notion – but – the human race does have a strange
innate desire to understand how it all fits together – and where our
place in the cosmic story lies. It
is this same deep curiosity that drives us to spend billions of dollars a year
on scientific projects such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and other similarly
expensive ventures. I guess from a
layperson’s point of view, such a theory is most easily understood as an
attempt to synthesise Einstein’s theories of relativity (gravity) with the
theory of quantum mechanics, into a set of laws that comprehensively clarifies how and why the universe, in all its intricacies, works.
For myself, part of the attraction to characters like the
good Dr Kaku are his willingness to pursue and expand on Einstein’s work – even
to the extent of verging on science fiction!
As an example, a short paper, entitled ‘The Physics of Time Travel’ – jumps unashamedly into the realm
normally reserved for purveyors of Sci-Fi, such as H.G.Wells – or Arthur C
Clarke.
The only way to
discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. Arthur C Clarke
Kaku gets straight to the point in explaining Albert
Einstein’s dilemma with the concept of time travel, and how in his memoirs he
finally concluded that time travel was not a reality that fitted into his model
of the universe. Kaku then jumps ahead
to 1963 and a New Zealand mathematician, named Roy Kerr. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Kerr) He explains how Kerr found a solution to one
of Einstein’s equations – this one for a rotating black hole with weird
properties. This black hole – if it
existed – instead of collapsing to a
‘point’, would develop into a very rapidly spinning ring of neutrons. Such a ring would be spinning so rapidly that
centrifugal force would prevent it from
collapsing under gravity.
Now comes the Sci-Fi; such a ‘ring’ would act like ‘the
Looking Glass of Alice’ (sic). Someone
walking through the ring would not die, instead they would pass through into an
alternative universe. Since that time,
Kaku declares, literally hundreds of other ‘wormhole’
solutions have been found to Einstein’s equations. I’m sure I don’t need to go into the
properties of such amazingly speculative pathways. Even non Sci-Fi fans will be familiar with the general ideas
behind such fanciful creations.
Kaku naturally goes on to discuss some of the paradoxical situations
that might arise from time travel – the real stuff of Science Fiction. BUT – is
it all science fiction; multiple states of any object – electrons that
exist simultaneously in different orbits (see chemistry) – Schrodinger’s cat
and parallel universes! All concepts
with which most of us are probably aware of to some degree. Not to leave the reader in suspense, Kaku
tells us why, whilst in theory, time travel might be possible – in reality it
is highly unlikely! The foremost
difficulty is apparently one of the amount of energy required to create ‘a
pathway through time’; he even suggests the power required would be akin to
harnessing the power of a star!
A second problem might be that of stability – with no
guarantees that a wormhole such as suggested by Roy Kerr would remain stable
before, during, or after some brave soul had stepped through it. Perish the thought – you wouldn’t find me
lining up for that trip. If an ‘ordinary
soul’ were to seriously discuss such options, I’m sure they would at the very
least be labelled ‘eccentric’. Perhaps
it’s a good job we recognise people like Albert Einstein, Michio Kaku, Brian
Cox and many others, for the brilliant folks they actually are, and for the
scientific contributions they make.
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