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Together,they allow life to coalesce and flourish.
它们共同作用,使生命和谐繁盛
But each pocket universe in Alan&`&s multiverse
但在Alan的多重宇宙中
could have a completely different balance of forces.
每个独立的宇宙都有自己基本作用
Maybe electromagnetism is weaker,
也许电磁作用要弱一点
And perhaps gravity is way more powerful.
也许重力作用非常强大
The result.
结果是—
an entirely different universe with no chance of human life.
一个不可能孕育人类的不同的宇宙
To Alan,our universe
对Alan来说,我们的宇宙
is not carefully crafted by a divine being.
并不是神的精美工艺品
“It&`&s just a lucky roll in a cosmic crap shoot.
只不过是运气好,扔出的“四、五、六，大！
This debate for and against an intelligently designed cosmos
几十年来,全世界的物理学家们
has raged inside the world of physics for decades.
都在为支持或反对这一观点 而争论不休
And that&`&s where Garrett Lisi comes in.
这时,加瑞特?里斯冒出来了
A single mathematical theory to explain everything
解释所有事实的统一数学理论
could bring science closer than ever to understanding our creation.
也许能够使我们的科学前所未有的接近真相.
And right now,it&`&s all in the head
现在 这么重要的东西,就装在一个脑袋里
of a beach bum in Hawaii.
而脑袋被顶在一个屁股上 屁股呢 坐在夏威夷的海滩上
One universe.
一个宇宙
Four forces.
四种作用力
Billions of galaxies.
几十亿个星系
The precision and complexity of our world
我们世界的精确性和复杂性
is enough to make even the sanest cosmologist
足以让精神最正常的宇宙学家
go just a little bit crazy.
发一点小疯
How does it all fit together?
这些怎么就配合的这么好?
Is there a single,overarching design to the cosmos?
宇宙有一个基本规则,一个设计蓝图吗?
And if we find it,
如果有
will we glimpse the mind of God?
我们会瞅见上帝吗?
Scientists have spent decades and billions of dollars on this quest.
科学家们花了几十年,上百亿美元追寻答案
They&`&ve build giant atom-smashing machines to probe
他们建造了巨大的原子对撞机来证明
how the four fundamental forces actually work.
四种基本作用力是怎么工作的
They&`&ve found that down at the microscopic level,
他们在极微小的层级
billions of times smaller than atoms,
在比原子级别还要小几十亿倍
forces are actually caused
发现作用力存在的原因
by the movement of tiny particles.
是微小粒子的运动
Electromagnetism is carried by photons.
电磁作用与光子有关
The strong force is carried by particles called gluons,
强相互作用与胶子有关
the weak force by particles called the "w" and "z" bosons.
弱相互作用与W和Z玻色子有关
But they&`&ve never found the force carriers for gravity,
但他们还从没发现和重力作用有关的粒子
the elusive gravitons.
难以捉摸的引力子
And that&`&s where their efforts
这是他们寻找
to unify the math of the universe are stuck treading water.
宇宙一统数学路上的绊脚石
But renegade physicist and compulsive surfer Garrett Lisi
但是物理学家叛徒和冲浪上瘾者 加瑞特?里斯.
could be on the cusp of succeeding.
也许离成功不
Right after people got the idea that there were these electromagnetic,weak,and strong forces, which was toward the end of the &`&70s,
就在上世纪70年代末，人们发现电磁作用,弱相互作用 强相互作用
most immediately people saw how they fit together
如此相似.
to make a grand unified theory unifying those three forces.
人们忍不住试图用统一的理论解释这三种作用.
Now,it&`&s much trickier to try to bring gravity into the picture
现在,人们还要在统一版图中加入重力,太棘手了.
because it&`&s slightly different.
因为它有点与众不同
Tricky is an understatement.
棘手还是一种含蓄的说法
The greatest minds in physics have all but given up
最伟大的物理头脑
on unifying gravity and its unseen gravitons
也开始放弃统一重力,放弃隐身的引力子
with the other three forces.
不在奢望了
But then Garrett had a vision,
然而加瑞特有个想法
a vision of twisted circles.
关于扭曲的环
I was working on just how this whole algebraic structure fit together,of gravity and the other forces,
我在研究关于重力和其他作用的整个代数结构怎么契合.
and I started to wonder if this thing
然后我开始考虑
could be understood as a whole,
所有东西被看作一个整体
if this entire structure could be described
把整个结构被描述为
as part of some larger lie group.
某种大李群的一部分
A lie group is a mathematical shape that is a collection of circles twisting around each other in a specific pattern.
李群不是姓李的某人 李群是一个数学概念，是一堆有特定模式.纠缠在一起的环.
Now,the simplest lie group is just a circle.
最简单的李群就是一个环
Now,if you take a second circle
现在,如果你再拿一个环
and you wrap it around that inner circle,
把它缠在里面的环上
keeping it perpendicular,you get what&`&s called a torus.
保持它垂直 你就得到一个环面
It looks like the surface of a doughnut.
看上去像是甜甜圈的表面
But if you take a third circle
如果你再拿第三个环
and keep that perpendicular to the other two,
与另外两个保持垂直
and you Twist it around the inner circle
缠绕在内环上
as you wrap it around,
完成之后
you can get all three of those circles
这三个环
to Twist around each other
互相缠绕
to form a three-dimensional shape.
建立了一个三维形状
But this is only the beginning.
但这只是开始
Garrett kept on twisting circles around one another
加瑞特不停的缠啊缠啊
until he&`&d done it 248 times.
缠了248个环
The end result is a shape so complex
结果是超级复杂的一个形体
that it can&`&t even be fully appreciated
它甚至不能够
in three dimensions.
用三维来表述
It&`&s called the e8 lie group.
它叫做 e8 李群
To us,it&`&s just a mind-bending pattern.
对我们来说 它只是一种意识摧残模式
But Garrett Lisi realized
但加瑞特.里斯意识到
the way the circles twisted around one another
环与环之间缠绕的方式
looked just like the way various fundamental particles interact.
看上去正像各种基本粒子相互作用的方式
In physics,each one of these circles can be associated
在物理意义上,每一个环
with a different kind of elementary particle.
都能与一类基本粒子相对应
One circle could correspond to electrons.
这个环对应着电子
The other circles could correspond
其他的环对应着
to the force particles,
基本作用粒子
such as photons or weak-force particles
比如光子,或者说弱相互作用粒子
or strong-force particles,the gluons.
强相互作用粒子,胶子
For months,
几个月来
Garrett turned this kaleidoscope over and over in his mind.
加瑞特在他大脑里一遍又一编的玩儿着这个万花筒
And then it hit him.
突然,他领悟了
He found a set of circles
他找到一系列环
that seemed to act like the never-yet-seen graviton.
似乎对应着从所未见的引力子
And for the first time in the history of physics,
在物理学的历史上,第一次看到了
a mere mortal saw how gravity might fit in
重力和其他基本作用统一的
with all the other forces and particles.
一丝希望
You know,seeing how gravity could be combined
你知道,发现重力怎样和
with these other lie groups during this unification
其他李群对应统一
was one of the greatest moments of my life.
这一刻是我生命中最重要的一
Dr. Lee Smolin is a world-renowned physicist.
Lee Smolin博士 世界知名的物理学家
He&`&s watching with keen interest
他对里斯把所有基本作用
as Lisi struggles with his attempt to put all the forces of nature into a single mathematical framework.
放入统一数学框架的尝试和努力.,保持着浓厚的兴趣.
My view of Garrett Lisi&`&s work
我的观点是
is that he&`&s doing something
里斯在从事的工作
which is very high risk,high payoff.
属于高风险,高回报
If he&`&s right or if even something
如果他是正确的
in the direction that he&`&s going down is right,
甚至只是方向正确
it&`&s very important
那也是非常重要的
because it&`&s a kind of hypothesis
因为这种猜想
that most of us have given up working for
我们大多数人已经放弃了
that is,a unique unification within a beautiful mathematical structure.
那就是构建拥有美丽的数学结构.独一无二的统一.
Garrett calls this dizzying geometrical relationship between all the particles and forces in the universe
加瑞特把这种宇宙中所有粒子和作用关系间的.令人头昏的几何关系.
an exceptionally simple theory of everything.
称作"极其简单的万有理论"
It predicts several as yet undiscovered particles.
该理论还预测了若干中未发现的基本粒子
And scientists across the world
而全世界的科学家们
are on the hunt for those right now.
正在努力的发现它们
One is the most sought-after particle in all of physics,
其中之一是在所有粒子中最吃香的
the Higgs Boson.
Higgs 玻色子
There are some parts that are in this larger group
在这个大群
that are not clearly these elementary particle forces.
某些部分很明显不是这些基本粒
But what they are is exactly what you need to describe the higgs field.
搞清楚Higgs域，也就搞清楚它们了.
And the Higgs field is this geometric particle field
而Higgs域是一个几何粒子域
that gives mass to all known elementary particles.
给予所有已知的基本粒子质量
And it&`&s exactly the missing puzzle piece you need
这也是在统一作用的拼图中
to tie everything together.
缺失的那一块
The center of the action in the Higgs hunt
探寻Higgs域的中心活动
is halfway around the world from Garrett&`&s beaches.
就是从加瑞特的海滩开始的漫步
In the cooler but no less scenic city of Geneva,Switzerland,
瑞士,日内瓦,天气稍冷,但景色不减
researchers are peering
研究者们在捣鼓着
through the most advanced scientific microscope in human history
人类历史上最先进的显微镜.
the LHC,or Large Hadron Collider.
LHC 用汉语说,巨强子对撞机
They&`&re throwing everything they have at finding the Higgs Boson,
为了寻找Higgs玻色子,他们发射各种粒子
the particle that is supposed to give everything mass.
Higgs玻色子被认为是质量的本源
But they should also be able to detect
不过他们也许能够探测到
some of thos
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