Thursday, September 1, 2011

THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE – Part I DOCUMENTARY FILM ANALYSIS

The Elegant universe is an exemplary documentary based on quantum mechanics and physics. It takes a drill into a new world of “String Theory” which is a recent and an advanced concept of new physics. It deals with precision and conviction on the concept of “What all of us in this universe are made up of” ranging from the smallest existing atom to the earth. This theory mainly suggests that we are a tree of everything and these strings constitute a cosmic symphony, thereby creating a parallel vision of the universe with eleven dimensions.

The theory of everything -: Is it a theory of Philosophy or Physics? The root cause for this sphere of thinking all started with Newton’s discovery of gravity through his observation of the apple falling from the tree. Einstein gave the world what the position of gravity is to the world. So the possibilities of science are plethora in nature and have made it possible for humans to communicate with animals.

Almost half a century ago, at a modest home in Princeton University Einstein propounded the equation “Theory of everything” which lays emphasis on the goal for unification. This became the holy grill of physics and fostered the development of the string theory. The string theory suggests that we may be living in a universe with a parallel elegant universe comprising of musical strings. On a precise manner, everything in this universe is made up of vibrating strings of energy just like how the strings of a cello is capable of producing music, when played by a musician.  This unification describes everything in one single master equation which has been the ultimate dream of fundamental physicists over a long period of time to derive at.     

The story of the quest for this master equation dates back to 1665, wherein a young man (Isaac Newton) after observing an apple falling from the tree, propounded the theory of gravity. Thus gravity was considered to be the first force to be understood scientifically and brought heaven and earth in a single theory. Though Newton was able to plot the course of gravity, he had no idea how it works. At the age of 26, Einstein discovered that the velocity of light is at the speed of cosmic limit, thus claiming that nothing can travel speeder than light. According to Newton’s theory if the sun diminishes from the universe, all planets will fly off the orbit due to the absence of gravitation. Einstein knows that the light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach the earth and disproved the 250 year old picture of the universe created by Newton. He claimed that the force of gravity doesn’t exceed the speed of cosmic limit and that it traverses as if on a trampoline through the fabric of space time. Thus he states that if the sun disappears, the gravitational change will create new wave ripples of gravity, thereby creating a new picture of gravity and the universe. Despite propounding the general relativity theory, Einstein wasn’t satisfied and started to work on electromagnetism. Einstein at that time was deeply influenced by the Morse code invention of Samuel Morse which enabled transmission of messages through telegraph wires over long distances and Maxwell who found how electricity and magnetism are closely related in the language of Mathematics. Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism as electromagnetism and this was a remarkable breakthrough as a diverse phenomena. Einstein admired Newton and Maxwell and believed that through unifying gravity and electromagnetism he will derive the master equation that would unify the entire universe.  Though he was sure to derive the theory, his elements of research contradicted his results. When comparing the force of gravity to that of electromagnetism, gravity is terribly feeble and that the force of electromagnetism is billion times greater than that of gravity. Thus Einstein’s unification on these set of parameters couldn’t reach its ultimate goal.

In the 1920’s a group of young scientists came up with a new realm of physics, which deals with the bifurcation of atoms into its sub atomic particles known as the nucleus , protons and electrons. The strong nucleus acts like a super gum binding all the sub atomic particles. The weak nucleus converts neutrons into electrons.

 This gave rise to a new sphere of thinking known as quantum mechanics. The field of quantum mechanics which is a radical theory rubbished all previous theories on the universe. It opened a new unsettled and uncertain picture of the world. Laws are different in the quantum world and everything is ruled by change in this world. It suggests all possibilities in the universe to happen and that one must abandon all previously existing notions on the world to understand its working.  Experiments proved how the universe works under sub atomic levels and no prediction in quantum mechanics hasn’t contradicted anything.

None could figure out how gravity works or binds with quantum mechanics. It still remains a split off from each other. In 1933 Einstein started working in solitude, to unify gravity and electromagnetism. He claimed that quantum mechanics played no role in his research to derive the theory of everything. After Einstein’s demise in 1950’s, no serious scientist got involved in this experiment. The Black holes theory propounded by the German scientist Karl Schwarzschild proved that not even light could escape its gravitational pull. This theory now seems to be the real foundation for the strings theory which aims to make a perfect sense and understanding of the universe. Probably everything in this universe is made of tiny vibrating strings of energy. The concept of this one single ingredient which unites different forces existing in this universe is achieved through this theory. The question as to why the universe exists in its current stature fails to provide a testified solution and proves that science is not all in this universe. Thus the understanding of the universe has come the wrong way for the past 300 years and that the strings theory which achieves the laws of all emerges as the single theory that governs everything.   

***************************************************************************

No comments:

Post a Comment