Problems of Modern Physics

1. Problems of Modern Physics Theory of Everything…! By Ganapathy Mani

2. Outline • Past beliefs

3. Past Beliefs • The history of science is often told as a series of eureka moments—The ultimate triumph of the rational mind. • Over 10,000 years the humanity is searching for answers to the questions: What is out there? How did we get here? What is the world made of? • Many early civilizations developed sophisticated ideas about the heavens. But the western view was above all defined in ancient Greece.

4. Past Beliefs Continued… • Down the centuries Greek philosophers argued long and hard about the nature of the universe but one particular view became dominant. • Around the 4th century BC number of Greeks developed a model of the universe: Earth was stationary and everything else moved around it in giant perfect circles!

6. Past Beliefs Continued… • Down the centuries Greek philosophers argued long and hard about the nature of the universe but one particular view became dominant. • Around the 4th century BC number of Greeks developed a model of the universe: Earth was stationary and everything else moved around it in giant perfect circles! • This idea is endured for several centuries because the alternative didn’t make sense. If we are on a rock hurtling through space but surely we will be constantly buffeted by huge winds!!!!!

7. Past Beliefs Continued… • Though the idea was simple, there was a fundamental problem with the paradigm. • The Greeks rustled with a tricky astronomical problem.

9. Past Beliefs Continued… • Though the idea was simple, there was a fundamental problem with the paradigm. • The Greeks rustled with a tricky astronomical problem. Sometimes the planets tend to move backwards! • Well, that didn’t stop the Greeks from their strong belief in circles. Instead they added more circles. Well over 50!!

11. The Reformation • Europe went into turmoil in 1600s because of the revolt against the abuses of the catholic church. As the result, the Europe was divided into catholic and protestant societies. Protestant—Questioning the authority and long-held beliefs. • The moment for modern science was born during that period and rooted in Prague of Roman Empire governed by the king Rudolf II. • The emperor was hungry for new discoveries, new ideas to dazzle his fellow rulers. With his wealth he drew great minds to Prague.

12. The Reformation - Tycho Brahe • One of the greatest minds, a Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe, came to work for the emperor.

13. The Reformation - Tycho Brahe • One of the greatest minds, a Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe, came to work for the emperor. • He was a passionate stargazer. Science needs evidence and Tycho was a new data gatherer. He built the best observatory in whole world. • He committed himself to observe the stars night after night for 20 years and mapped all the movements of several stars and planets with his instruments.

14. The Reformation – Johannes Kepler • Arriving to joingTycho, the stargazer, was an impoverished German mathematician, Johannes Kepler. He practiced astrology.

15. Who is in the center? • In mid 1600s there were some new model of the cosmos with the Sun in the center. Well, the idea is not new but debated by Greek, Indian and Arab astronomers.

16. Who is in the center? • But the idea was rediscovered by Nicolaus Copernicus, a polish cleric, who tried to abandon the tangle of Greek circles.

18. Kepler’s thinking • Though Kepler believed in NicolausCopernicus’s sun centered universe, the model was nightmarishly confusing and still couldn’t explain the odd movement of planets and stars. • Keplerwas convinced that the Sun—the symbol of god—produces a force which drives the planets around. • Using Tycho’s data, he set himself a challenge. Explain the movement of the oddest orbit of the planet Mars! • Keplertried everything with the circular orbits and Tycho’sdata but couldn’t explain anything. Finally he dropped the Greek’s divine circles and tried other shapes. • Until finally he found one, an Ellipse. When published, people just ignored him. None realized the potential long after his death.

19. The Renaissance Italy • In July 1609, word reached Galileo Galilei, a professor of mathematics,that a stranger had arrived in Venice trying to patent a device called “The Dutch Spy Glass”.

20. The Renaissance Italy • In July 1609, word reached Galileo Galilei, a professor of mathematics,that a stranger had arrived in Venice trying to patent a device called “The Dutch Spy Glass”. • Galileo recognized the potential of the spy glass and made a quick move build a superior spy glass. • The best place to buy glass was the island of Murano where the craftsman made crystal clear colorless glasses. It was this glass that Galileo used to make telescope lenses. Fatefully he lifted his telescope to the heavens.

24. Economic Power of Europe • As new trade roots opened the captains needed a better navigation systems and star maps. Money was poured into understanding the movements and enormous astronomical data was collected. • One of the key questions back then was “what is it that keeps the planets in place?”, In 1684, this led to a bet about a week salary—£2. • Prove: The elliptical path of the planets can be represented by a simple rule.

25. Sir Isaac Newton • One of the men who’d taken the bet, the astronomer, Edmond Halley set of in search of help to Cambridge to find a Lucasianprofessor of mathematics, a certain, Isaac Newton.

26. “Theory of Gravity” • Newton published “PhilosophiæNaturalis Principia Mathematica” or “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” or “Principia” in 1687. • Newton gave us the first equation of gravity. The equation explained why the planets and sun are moving in a synchronized clock work. F=G*[(m1*m2)/r2] • For over two centuries his classical theory believed to be the only one which explains the behavior of moving bodies.

27. Albert Einstein • In June 30, 1905, Albert Einstein, a patent office clerk, published a paper called “On the electrodynamics of moving bodies”.

28. Albert Einstein • In June 30, 1905, Albert Einstein, a patent office clerk, published a paper called “On the electrodynamics of moving bodies”. • Einstein introduced “The Foundation of General Theory of Relativity” which exactly explains the movement of heavenly bodies with the fabric of space and time called SpaceTime. • The presence of matter distort the SpaceTime which creates a gravitational pull on less mass objects.

30. Relation between Mass & Energy E = mC2 • Having the speed of the light is Constant, Einstein found the relation between energy and mass using his famous though experiment. “Travelling with a beam of light”

31. Here Comes the Discovery! • In 1924, Dr. Edwin Hubble found a star that is so far away than anyone could imagine. Even though its very far away, it was so bright but fuzzy. He found out those are not stars, but they are cities of stars.

32. The Andromeda!!! • Dr. Hubble used the Hooker Telescope (254 cm telescope and considered to be the biggest of that time) near Las Angeles and found the first alien galaxy in our cosmic neighborhood. • The first alien galaxy found by Hubble is The Andromeda galaxy or M31. Home to One trillion stars. Its 5 time bigger than our milky way galaxy and 2.6 million light years away, which makes it the nearest galaxy of our galaxy. It’s over 200,000 light years across.

34. Do you think that’s big? • We do have a galaxy that will blow your mind. Its called IC 1011. 6 million light year across.

37. The shock is not over…. • Hubble started to study these galaxies deeply. He concentrated on the way they move and speed of them. • Hubble’s findings shocked the astronomers. His famous graph showed that the universe is expanding. He showed that the galaxies are moving away from us. Farther the galaxy is, the faster it is moving. • He plot the velocity of the stars against the distance.

39. The Big Bang theory • Believe it or not, The George Washington University laid the first foundation of Big Bang theory. In 1948, Prof. George Gamow of physics department explained the excessive Helium existence in Sun. By that he argued, everything must have been created by “A single moment of creation”.

41. Age of the Universe • With the Hubble’s telescope’s ultra-deep field image the age of the universe was calculated to be 13.7 billion years.

43. Age of the Universe • With the Hubble’s telescope’s ultra-deep field image the age of the universe was calculated to be 13.7 billion years. • With the CMB calculation, now we know that the universe is 13.8 billion years old.

44. Einstein’s theory -- ?! • Black Holes – Are they real? • Quantum Mechanics

45. The Black Hole • Einstein’s theory breaks down when it comes to a black hole even though his theory is the source of black holes. • A black hole is a supernova remnant of a collapsed star which was fallen in on its own mass. It has infinite gravity, infinite density, not even light can escape it. The star has to be several times more massive than our Sun. Like VY CanisMajoris – The biggest star ever found with 2.8 Billion km across.

47. Scientist wondered what might be in the center of our galaxy. Few scientists were observing the center of our galaxy which is 25,000 light years away from earth. The observation went for 15 years with the telescope “ACT”. The stars circling the center point are called S stars. The scientists found they are moving incredibly fast. Using radius and speed of the star we can find the mass of the central object. Its 4 million times the mass of the sun. Interesting fact

48. The Standard Model of Quantum Mechanics • Einstein’s theory explained LARGE scale bodies like planets, stars and galaxies. Gμν = [8πG/C4]* Tμνand E = mC2 • The success of the standard model comes from the simplicity of the equations and calculations.

49. How about the standard model of SMALL scale sub-atomic particles? At the time of World War II particle hunting took a big hike and so many theories have been developed since then. By that time, scientists believed that the atom contains 3 basic particles. Electron (e-), Proton (p+) and charge less particle Neutron (n0) Standard Model – Small Scale

50. Acting Strange! • Double Slit Experiment – Light behaves as wave even in particle forms which means a photon can be present in two places at the same time.