Ideas from 'Why the Universe Exists' by New Scientist writers [2017], by Theme Structure
[found in 'Why the Universe Exists' by New Scientist writers [John Murray 2017,978-1-473-62968-4]].
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27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / d. Gravity
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21167
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Gravity is unusual, in that it always attracts and never repels
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 1. Relativity / b. General relativity
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21176
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In the Big Bang general relativity fails, because gravity is too powerful
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / a. Electrodynamics
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21147
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Quantum electrodynamics incorporates special relativity and quantum mechanics
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21155
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Photons have zero rest mass, so virtual photons have infinite range
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / b. Fields
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21161
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In the standard model all the fundamental force fields merge at extremely high energies
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / c. Electrons
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21146
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Electrons move fast, so are subject to special relativity
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 3. Chromodynamics / a. Chromodynamics
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21148
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The strong force is repulsive at short distances, strong at medium, and fades at long
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21152
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The strong force binds quarks tight, and the nucleus more weakly
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21151
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Gluons, the particles carrying the strong force, interact because of their colour charge
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 3. Chromodynamics / b. Quarks
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21150
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Three different colours of quark (as in the proton) can cancel out to give no colour
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21143
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Quarks in threes can build hadrons with spin ½ or with spin 3/2
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21142
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Classifying hadrons revealed two symmetry patterns, produced by three basic elements
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / b. Standard model
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21154
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Three particles enable the weak force: W+ and W- are charged, and Z° is not
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21145
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The four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong) are the effects of particles
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21153
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The weak force explains beta decay, and the change of type by quarks and leptons
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21156
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The weak force particles are heavy, so the force has a short range
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21164
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Why do the charges of the very different proton and electron perfectly match up?
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21170
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The Standard Model cannot explain dark energy, survival of matter, gravity, or force strength
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / c. Particle properties
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21158
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Fermions, with spin ½, are antisocial, and cannot share quantum states
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21165
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Spin is akin to rotation, and is easily measured in a magnetic field
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21140
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Spin is a built-in ration of angular momentum
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21149
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Quarks have red, green or blue colour charge (akin to electric charge)
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21157
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Particles are spread out, with wave-like properties, and higher energy shortens the wavelength
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / d. Mass
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21163
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The mass of protons and neutrinos is mostly binding energy, not the quarks
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21168
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Gravitional mass turns out to be the same as inertial mass
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / e. Protons
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21144
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Top, bottom, charm and strange quarks quickly decay into up and down
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21138
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Neutrons are slightly heavier than protons, and decay into them by emitting an electron
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / f. Neutrinos
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21141
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Neutrinos were proposed as the missing energy in neutron beta decay
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21169
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Only neutrinos spin anticlockwise
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / g. Anti-matter
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21166
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Standard antineutrinos have opposite spin and opposite lepton number
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 5. Unified Models / a. Electro-weak unity
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21171
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The symmetry of unified electromagnetic and weak forces was broken by the Higgs field
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 5. Unified Models / b. String theory
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21175
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String theory might be tested by colliding strings to make bigger 'stringballs'
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21177
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String theory offers a quantum theory of gravity, by describing the graviton
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21178
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String theory is now part of 11-dimensional M-Theory, involving p-branes
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21179
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Supersymmetric string theory can be expressed using loop quantum gravity
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27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 5. Unified Models / c. Supersymmetry
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21159
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Supersymmetry has extra heavy bosons and heavy fermions
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21162
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Only supersymmetry offers to incorporate gravity into the scheme
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21172
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The evidence for supersymmetry keeps failing to appear
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21173
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Supersymmetry says particles and superpartners were unities, but then split
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27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 4. Substantival Space
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21160
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The Higgs field means even low energy space is not empty
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27. Natural Reality / E. Cosmology / 8. Dark Matter
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21174
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Dark matter must have mass, to produce gravity, and no electric charge, to not reflect light
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