Cosmology: Is a unified theory coming soon? (Introduction)

by dhw, Saturday, November 06, 2010, 13:06 (5130 days ago) @ David Turell

David has alerted us to the latest sensation in physics, and calls it "a possible BIG step to a unified theory".-I struggle with the physics, but in all these sensational new discoveries there is usually a sting in the tail that is obvious even to the layman. This one is no exception: -"That must be good news for physicists working in unification."-"Sort of. Toms has shown that quantum gravity causes asymptotic freedom in all the gauge couplings. This is handy if you want to show that all forces unify in a single (very weak) force at very high energies. However, he treated quantum gravity by simply quantizing Einstein's general theory of relativity. This approach breaks down at the very energies that unification is expected to occur. To take things further, physicists would need to integrate more exotic aspects of quantum gravity such as additional dimensions and supersymmetry."-All you need for your unified theory, then, is confirmation of various other theories in such a way that you can unify them.