Garrett Lisi
Garrett Lisi wrote an online scientific paper entitled "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" that has the physics community talking. It is an attempt at the universal theory of everything, to replace the Standard Model. Lisi... [more]
Garrett Lisi wrote an online scientific paper entitled "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" that has the physics community talking. It is an attempt at the universal theory of everything, to replace the Standard Model.
Lisi's theory is considerably more simple than the rival model of string theory.
His theory is based on the mathematical shape, known as E8.
Being poor sucks," Garrett Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."
77%
23%
It's easier to understand that String Theory, maybe he has a chance
68%
32%
Yes, eventually the scientific community will find an elegant solution
55%
45%
Yes, the E8 can lead us down the right path
To date, almost all experimental tests of the three forces described by the Standard Model have agreed with its predictions. However, the Standard Model falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions, primarily because of its lack of inclusion of gravity, the fourth known fundamental interaction, but also because of the large number of numerical parameters (such as masses and coupling constants) that must be put "by hand" into the theory (rather than being derived from first principles).
The four forces are:
| Interaction | Current Theory | Mediators | Range(m) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | Quantum chromodynamics |
gluons | 10-15 | ||
| Electromagnetic | Quantum electrodynamics |
photons | infinite | ||
| Weak | Electroweak Theory | W and Z bosons | 10-18 | ||
| Gravitation | General Relativity |
gravitons |
infinite |
"Some incredibly beautiful stuff falls out of Lisi's theory," adds David Ritz Finkelstein at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. "This must be more than coincidence and he really is touching on something profound."
Prof Marcus du Sautoy, of Oxford University and author of Finding Moonshine, told press: "The proposal in this paper looks a long shot and there seem to be a lot things still to fill in."
"The group of symmetries of this strange geometry called E8 is one of the most intriguing structures that Nature has left for the mathematician to play with," commented Prof Marcus du Sautoy of Oxford University, currently in Auckland. "Most of the time mathematical objects fit into nice patterns that we can order and classify. But this one just sits there like a huge Everest."
