Scientist proposes framework for reconciling mathematically incompatible theories of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s gravity
At the heart of modern physics is a gulf that scientists have spent more than a century trying to bridge. Quantum mechanics gives an apparently flawless description of the forces that dominate at the atomic scale. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity has never been proven wrong in its predictions of how gravity shapes cosmic events. But the two theories are fundamentally incompatible.
Now, scientists have proposed a framework that they say could unify these two pillars of physics, through a radical rethink of the nature of spacetime. Instead of time ticking away predictably, under the “postquantum theory of classical gravity”, the rate at which time flows would wobble randomly, like the ebb and flow of a stream.
About Author
More Stories
Memo to Trump: US telecoms is vulnerable to hackers. Please hang up and try again | John Naughton
Bizarre Australian mole even more unusual than first thought, new research reveals
Male mosquitoes to be genetically engineered to poison females with semen in Australian research