Albert Einstein wanted to unify his description of gravity with models of electromagnetism under a single master theory.
It is a quest that continues to bother theoretical physicists. Einstein's general theory of relativity and the laws of quantum mechanics are both immiscible.
Whatever a combination of the two looks like, it will almost certainly reveal the foundations of the Universe.
A mathematical discovery describes the emergence of gravity within aholographic model of the Universe, it was found by a team of researchers from the US and Sweden.
It is the best place for us to start in our search for a complete understanding on how space, time, and matter emerge from deeper laws.
Daniel Persson says that when we seek answers to questions in physics, we are often led to new discoveries in mathematics.
This interaction is particularly prominent in the search for quantum gravity, where it is extremely difficult to perform experiments.
Despite their ability to predict the behavior of everything from electron jumps to black hole bumps with amazing precision, quantum physics and general relativity arise out of two very different systems of thought.
The quantum Universe is blocky and hazy when viewed close, like a mess of color when you press your face against the screen.
General relativity relies on a seamless continuum of space and time that curves in response to mass with clear conviction, even when viewed on the smallest of scales.
There are other metaphors we can use to describe how the Universe might work, each with their own mathematical frameworks, which is a little more obscure than the last.
The researchers here use a strange principle that involves taking dimensions away.
It's like this: All the information about how particles push and pull together is on a flat surface, not like the 3D space we think we live in.
There is a reason to think of physics this way. Quantum versions of gravity embedded in spacetime are very difficult to understand.
If our spacetime were to curve back on itself to create a cylinder, it would have a flat boundary. The theories of quantum gravity are so complex that they are difficult to work with.
The mathematical equivalent of gravity can be achieved by mixing different models governing particles and their waves and how they transform in fields within a hologram.
The challenge is to describe how gravity arises. We want to describe how gravity emerges from a quantum mechanical system at the smallest level, just as everyday phenomena such as the flow of a liquid emerge from the chaotic movements of individual droplets.
This new work could point the way to explanations on other large-scale phenomena, such as the Universe-expanding fuel we currently refer to as dark energy.
Figuring out intriguing new patterns is a luxury that theorists have the luxury of filling their work with. The question of whether our Universe curves back on itself enough to have the kind of boundary necessary for the holographic principle is an open one.
Even though Einstein couldn't solve the problem, starting with the unimaginable is a good way to start.
Nature Communications published this research.
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