(no subject)
Symmetry Breaking. In discussion elsewhere, I had been asked to talk about the nature of Symmetry Breaking in the universe. A requested overview follows. Firstly an overview of the forces as they are known to exist in the testable space we live in.
The four forces are Gravity, Strong Nuclear Force (SNF; the force that dominate nuclear core processes), the Weak Nuclear Force (WNF; a force which impacts on some sub-nuclear processes, most notably electrons bound within the nucleus, the formation of neutrons, et.al.), and the Electromagnetic Force (EM), which is the force by which charges are drawn to/forced away from one another, and by which magnetism makes itself known. There is argument about a potential fifth force, which has been designated Lambda, and would be a form of anti-gravity that exhibits it's effects over large (supra-galactic) distances; this is highly controversial, and I do not adhere to it (ha-ha, nothing does). Einstein required Lambda to generate flat universes in Relativistic theory.
Symmetry is when forces are merged together. Currently Electricity and Magnetism exhibit a symmetry as the Electromagnetic force; it is this force specifically which allows electric fields and magnetic fields to operate in harmony; and light is the result, it is the coherent tangling of these two fields.
When you compress matter/energy to a high enough density, the forces merge again, as they once were in the universe's commencement phase. Experiments have proven that the WNF can be merged with the EM force at relatively low energy levels. The theory of the combination of Electromagnetics and Weak Nuclear fields is known as Electroweak theory. It is accepted and has been for decades. Further, compressing to even higher energy, eventually the SNF is merged with the Electroweak field. Nominally known as Electrostrong force, or also, it involves the merger of one of the latest and most interesting parts of quantum theory, Quantum Chromodynamics (*this next bit is a description by analogy... you may skip it if you wish. QCD is the theory of quark and gluon interactions. Quarks form solid matter such as baryons (eg. proton and neutron) and mesons [quark-combines are analogous to electrons in EM]; gluons join the baryons together, within themselves and to each other [and are analogous to photons in EM]).
So that mentions the forces we have now, and shows how as you compress things, they merge together.
There was a problem with the universe under the old idea of the Big Bang. The problem was 'how come when we look out there, we see the same thing in all directions? How can it be that areas so far apart that nothing can have gotten from one to the other can leave everything pretty much equal?' It was known as the Isotropic problem, and it was a problem because there was not enough time for things to equalise out across the entire universe.
This was resolved with Inflationary theory (prime author, Alan Guth); it is the theory which allows the universe to be isotropic, that is, the same from one end to the other, despite the fact there hasnt been enough time for anything to equalise across such a vast space. It does this by positing that when the four forces were combined as a Unified Field, that the properties of gravity (and hence time) were not distinct. This meant that in effect, as space expanded, energy created a form of time which also grew with the expansion. This lasted for the barest hint of a moment of time from our perspective, the smallest bit of time you can have. It has a name; Planck Time, it's about 1x10-43second long (0.0000(42 zeros)3 seconds) and at that point, space broke. Gravity separated out, time with it. The Expansion phase had ended, and the resultant expansion of the universe continued due to the energy of this expansion, and it did it in a kind of time we work with now. We cant really work out how time worked then... it may have worked in both directions at once, it may not have even existed in time and been a full spatial dimension. Either way, it wasnt until the Gravitic Field separated from the Unifed Field that time became a real entity.
As you can see, the separation of the main field into two other fields led to a huge change not just in the contents of space; but the nature of space and the rules that the matter/energy within it had to follow.
Very soon after this, the strong nuclear force crystallised out. This meant protons and neutrons formed then, for as soon as the field crystallised, the nature of the strong force pulled all sets of quarks together and dissolved any free ones. Like a really huge game of musical chairs. It was the density of the universe at this time that led to the amount of hydrogen, helium and lithium we had in the baby universe, stuff that would eventually become the first stars (stars we can still see as Quasars).
After a few more changes I wont describe, we ended up in a plateau phase, the place we're in now.
The reason to describe all this is to show that as the forces split, changes occured. It shows that as you increase the energy, you can encourage the fields to remerge. And it also shows that we still have one merged pair of forces.
The conclusion that can be drawn is that the last force pair can split just as the other forces split out of the combined force previously. What does this mean?
If Electromagnetism breaks down, it would mean that Electricity and Magnetism would 'decouple' from each other. Trying to imagine what would happen then is difficult. But the primary conclusion that could be drawn is this. Light would cease to exist. I once said that it would mean the decoupling of light and matter; that is incorrect. Light would break. Light, as a combination of the two fields, would become a rarity, and could only exist in certain unique circumstances, rather than being stable and able to travel by itself until it interacts with something. Space itself would tear light apart into separate electric and magnetic fields. So, everything would go dark, from our perspective. What else? Well, here's where it gets scary. Electrons are intimately linked with photons at the moment. They emit photons as they move about, and the only way electrons manage to sit in orbits above nuclear cores is by living in a sea of trapped, or virtual, photons. This sea would dissolve... most likely electrons would no longer sit in regular orbital structures. it at the very least means a change to the electron shell shapes, if not complete dissolution. This would mean an end to chemistry. So... light would break, electron shells would dissolve, so basically elemental cores woud drop their shells.
the way the two forces work now creates a kind of spin on electrons. This would also fail. Electrons would fall towards nuclear cores in a matter akin to gasses falling toward planets. That's just a complete guess though, you cant really tell until the field breaks and you see how which field becomes the stronger of the two.
And this.. could it happen? Well... five fields.. four have separated. As the universe continues to expand, the pressure decreases. Is there another critical limit? Could space break one more time? I believe it could, and not only that it could, but that it will, and probably soon. What happens then? *shrugs*
The four forces are Gravity, Strong Nuclear Force (SNF; the force that dominate nuclear core processes), the Weak Nuclear Force (WNF; a force which impacts on some sub-nuclear processes, most notably electrons bound within the nucleus, the formation of neutrons, et.al.), and the Electromagnetic Force (EM), which is the force by which charges are drawn to/forced away from one another, and by which magnetism makes itself known. There is argument about a potential fifth force, which has been designated Lambda, and would be a form of anti-gravity that exhibits it's effects over large (supra-galactic) distances; this is highly controversial, and I do not adhere to it (ha-ha, nothing does). Einstein required Lambda to generate flat universes in Relativistic theory.
Symmetry is when forces are merged together. Currently Electricity and Magnetism exhibit a symmetry as the Electromagnetic force; it is this force specifically which allows electric fields and magnetic fields to operate in harmony; and light is the result, it is the coherent tangling of these two fields.
When you compress matter/energy to a high enough density, the forces merge again, as they once were in the universe's commencement phase. Experiments have proven that the WNF can be merged with the EM force at relatively low energy levels. The theory of the combination of Electromagnetics and Weak Nuclear fields is known as Electroweak theory. It is accepted and has been for decades. Further, compressing to even higher energy, eventually the SNF is merged with the Electroweak field. Nominally known as Electrostrong force, or also, it involves the merger of one of the latest and most interesting parts of quantum theory, Quantum Chromodynamics (*this next bit is a description by analogy... you may skip it if you wish. QCD is the theory of quark and gluon interactions. Quarks form solid matter such as baryons (eg. proton and neutron) and mesons [quark-combines are analogous to electrons in EM]; gluons join the baryons together, within themselves and to each other [and are analogous to photons in EM]).
So that mentions the forces we have now, and shows how as you compress things, they merge together.
There was a problem with the universe under the old idea of the Big Bang. The problem was 'how come when we look out there, we see the same thing in all directions? How can it be that areas so far apart that nothing can have gotten from one to the other can leave everything pretty much equal?' It was known as the Isotropic problem, and it was a problem because there was not enough time for things to equalise out across the entire universe.
This was resolved with Inflationary theory (prime author, Alan Guth); it is the theory which allows the universe to be isotropic, that is, the same from one end to the other, despite the fact there hasnt been enough time for anything to equalise across such a vast space. It does this by positing that when the four forces were combined as a Unified Field, that the properties of gravity (and hence time) were not distinct. This meant that in effect, as space expanded, energy created a form of time which also grew with the expansion. This lasted for the barest hint of a moment of time from our perspective, the smallest bit of time you can have. It has a name; Planck Time, it's about 1x10-43second long (0.0000(42 zeros)3 seconds) and at that point, space broke. Gravity separated out, time with it. The Expansion phase had ended, and the resultant expansion of the universe continued due to the energy of this expansion, and it did it in a kind of time we work with now. We cant really work out how time worked then... it may have worked in both directions at once, it may not have even existed in time and been a full spatial dimension. Either way, it wasnt until the Gravitic Field separated from the Unifed Field that time became a real entity.
As you can see, the separation of the main field into two other fields led to a huge change not just in the contents of space; but the nature of space and the rules that the matter/energy within it had to follow.
Very soon after this, the strong nuclear force crystallised out. This meant protons and neutrons formed then, for as soon as the field crystallised, the nature of the strong force pulled all sets of quarks together and dissolved any free ones. Like a really huge game of musical chairs. It was the density of the universe at this time that led to the amount of hydrogen, helium and lithium we had in the baby universe, stuff that would eventually become the first stars (stars we can still see as Quasars).
After a few more changes I wont describe, we ended up in a plateau phase, the place we're in now.
The reason to describe all this is to show that as the forces split, changes occured. It shows that as you increase the energy, you can encourage the fields to remerge. And it also shows that we still have one merged pair of forces.
The conclusion that can be drawn is that the last force pair can split just as the other forces split out of the combined force previously. What does this mean?
If Electromagnetism breaks down, it would mean that Electricity and Magnetism would 'decouple' from each other. Trying to imagine what would happen then is difficult. But the primary conclusion that could be drawn is this. Light would cease to exist. I once said that it would mean the decoupling of light and matter; that is incorrect. Light would break. Light, as a combination of the two fields, would become a rarity, and could only exist in certain unique circumstances, rather than being stable and able to travel by itself until it interacts with something. Space itself would tear light apart into separate electric and magnetic fields. So, everything would go dark, from our perspective. What else? Well, here's where it gets scary. Electrons are intimately linked with photons at the moment. They emit photons as they move about, and the only way electrons manage to sit in orbits above nuclear cores is by living in a sea of trapped, or virtual, photons. This sea would dissolve... most likely electrons would no longer sit in regular orbital structures. it at the very least means a change to the electron shell shapes, if not complete dissolution. This would mean an end to chemistry. So... light would break, electron shells would dissolve, so basically elemental cores woud drop their shells.
the way the two forces work now creates a kind of spin on electrons. This would also fail. Electrons would fall towards nuclear cores in a matter akin to gasses falling toward planets. That's just a complete guess though, you cant really tell until the field breaks and you see how which field becomes the stronger of the two.
And this.. could it happen? Well... five fields.. four have separated. As the universe continues to expand, the pressure decreases. Is there another critical limit? Could space break one more time? I believe it could, and not only that it could, but that it will, and probably soon. What happens then? *shrugs*