Take a thrill ride into a world stranger than science fiction

踏上比科幻世界更為奇妙的驚險旅程

Where you play the game,

在這裡 你可以享受

By breaking some rules,

顛覆規則的樂趣

Where a new view of the universe,

在這裡 一種新的宇宙視角

Pushes you beyond the limits of your wildest imagination.

將使你超越想像力的極限

This is the world of string theory,

這就是弦理論的世界

A way of describing every force and all matter

一種描述所有的力與物質的理論

From an atom to earth,

從原子到地球

To the end of the galaxies—

再到無盡的星空彼端

From the birth of time to its final tick—

從時間的初始到最後一聲滴答

In a single theory,

世間萬物

A theory of everything.

盡歸此理

Our guide to this brave new world is Brian Greene,

這次美麗新世界之旅的導遊是布萊恩·格林

The bestselling author and physicist.

暢銷書作家和物理學家

And no matter how many times I come here,

不論我多少次進入這裡

I never seem to get used to it.

我似乎總是無法熟悉它

Can he help us solve the greatest puzzle of modern physics—

他能幫助我們解答現代物理中的最大難題嗎

That our understanding of the universe

我們對宇宙的所有認識

Is based on two sets of laws,

是建立在兩套基礎理論之上的

That don't agree?

它們矛盾嗎

Resolving that contradiction eluded even Einstein,

為了解決愛因斯坦提出 卻連自己也無法自圓其說的

Who made it his final quest.

終極矛盾

After decades,

數個世紀過去

We may finally be on the verge of a breakthrough.

我們也許離答案僅有一步之遙

The solution is strings,

那就是弦

Tiny bits of energy vibrating like the strings on a cello,

微小的帶能振動細絲如同演奏中大提琴上的弦

A cosmic symphony at the heart of all reality.

吟唱出現實世界裡的萬事萬物

But it comes at a price

隨之帶給我們

Parallel universes and 11 dimensions,

多數人從未瞭解過的

Most of which you've never seen.

平行宇宙和11維空間

We really may live in a universe

我們也許真的生活在

With more dimensions than meet the eye.

一個比我們肉眼能觀察到的維度更多的世界中

People who have said that

那些認為

There were extra dimensions of space

空間可能存在額外的維度的人

Have been labeled crackpots,

往往被貼上想入非非

Or people who are bananas.

或者白日做夢的標籤

A mirage of science and mathematics

這是科學和數學研究的空想

Or the ultimate theory of everything?

還是涵蓋萬物的終極理論

If string theory fails to provide a testable prediction,

如果無法對弦理論進行實驗性論證

Then nobody should believe it.

那麼很難被人接受

Is that a theory of physics, or a philosophy?

這是物理理論 還是哲學理論

One thing that is certain

可以確定的是

Is that string theory is already showing us that

弦理論給我們展示出

The universe may be a lot stranger

宇宙也許比任何人的想像

Than any of us ever imagined.

更為陌生

Coming up tonight...

就在今晚

It all started with an apple.

一切從一個蘋果開始

The triumph of Newton』s equations

牛頓定理的偉大勝利

Come from the quest to understand the planets and the stars.

源自人們對天體運動的研究需求

And we've come a long way since.

自那之後又經歷了許久

Einstein gave the world a new picture for

愛因斯坦向世界描繪了一幅

What the force of gravity actually is.

引力究竟為何物的新圖景

Where he left off,

如今 他已優雅地謝幕

String theorists now dare to go.

該弦理論家們上場了

But how close are they to fulfilling Einstein』s dream?

但他們能在何種程度上 滿足愛因斯坦的夢想呢

Watch the elegant universe right now.

現在 一起來看看這優雅的宇宙吧

Fifty years ago,

第一部 愛因斯坦之夢

This house was the scene

50年前

Of one of the greatest mysteries of modern science,

這幢房子見證了

A mystery so profound that today

現代物理中最偉大的未解之謎之一

Thousands of scientists on the cutting edge of physics

時至今日 它依然艱深無比

Are still trying to solve it.

無數位於物理學前沿的科學家們

Albert Einstein spent his last two decades

仍在試圖解決它

In this modest home in Princeton, new jersey.

阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦生命中的最後20年

And in his second floor study

就是在新澤西普林斯頓的這座樸素的小家中度過

Einstein relentlessly sought a single theory so powerful

而就在二樓的書房中

It would describe all the workings of the universe.

愛因斯坦不屈不撓的尋找著一個強大到

Even as he neared the end of his life

能夠包羅所有宇宙運動的理論

Einstein kept a notepad close at hand,

即使在他生命的最後時光裡

Furiously trying to come up with the equations

手邊也常放著一個記事本

For what would come to be known

努力地試圖通過各種各樣的公式

As the "theory of everything."

尋找出所謂的

Convinced he was on the verge of the most important discovery

"萬物至理"

In the history of science,

愛因斯坦對自己正處在物理學歷史上最重要發現的邊緣

Einstein ran out of time, his dream unfulfilled.

深信不疑

Now, almost a half century later,

然而他卻溘然長逝 遺恨空餘

Einstein』s goal of unification—

現在 幾乎半個世紀過去

Combining all the laws of the universe in one,

愛因斯坦的統一目標

All-encompassing theory—

將所有宇宙間的規則歸於一種

Has become the holy grail of modern physics.

包羅萬象的理論

And we think we may at last achieve Einstein』s dream

已成為現代物理學研究中的皇冠

With a new and radical set of ideas called "string theory."

而我們認為 也許通過一套徹底的嶄新的"弦"理論

But if this revolutionary theory is right,

我們將實現愛因斯坦的夢想

We're in for quite a shock.

但如果這種革命性的理論是正確的

String theory says we may be living in a universe

我們將震驚不已

Where reality meets science fiction—

弦理論認為我們生活的宇宙

A universe of eleven dimensions

是現實和科幻交織而成

With parallel universes right next door—

這是個11維的宇宙

An elegant universe composed entirely of the music of strings.

而平行的世界觸手可及

But for all its ambition,

一個完全由美妙的弦奏響的優雅的宇宙

The basic idea of string theory is surprisingly simple.

不論它如何野心勃勃

It says that everything in the universe,

弦理論的基本理念簡單得出奇

From the tiniest particle to the most distant star

它認為宇宙萬物

Is made from one kind of ingredient—

不論是最微小的粒子還是最遙遠的星球

Unimaginably small vibrating strands of energy called strings.

都是由同一種元素組成

Just as the strings of a cello

一種小到無法想像的帶能振動細絲 也叫做弦

Can give rise to a rich variety of musical notes,

就如大提琴上的弦一樣

The tiny strings in string theory

可以奏出大量不同的音符

Vibrate in a multitude of different ways

在弦理論中 這種微小的弦

Making up all the constituents of nature.

以大量的不同方式振動著

In other words,

從而組成了自然界的萬事萬物

The universe is like a grand cosmic symphony

換句話說

Resonating with all the various notes

整個世界就如同一支浩大無匹的宇宙交響曲

These tiny vibrating strands of energy can play.

在一切這種細小能量絲振動發出的各種音符中

String theory is still in its infancy,

轟然奏響

But it's already revealing

弦理論尚在萌芽期

A radically new picture of the universe,

但它已經為我們

One that is both strange and beautiful.

展現了一幅徹底嶄新的宇宙圖景

But what makes us think we can understand

完全陌生 卻又美麗無比

All the complexity of the universe,

但又憑什麼相信我們可以

Let alone reduce it to a single "theory of everything?"

將包羅萬象的宇宙化繁為簡

We have r mu nu,

用一個單獨的"萬物至理"來概括呢

Minus a half g mu nu r—

我們用Rμν

You remember how this goes—

減去GμνR/2

Equals eight pi g t mu nu...

你們還記得這個吧

Comes from varying the Einstein Hilbert action,

等於8πGTμν

And we get the field equations and this term.

這是從愛因斯坦公式變形導出的

You remember what this is called?

我們得到這個場方程 而這個變量

No that's the scalar curvature.

你還記得它叫做什麼吧

This is the Ricci tensor.

不 這就叫做標量曲率

Have you been studying this at all?

這也就是裡奇張量

No matter how hard you try,

你完全沒學過嗎

You can't teach physics to a dog.

不管你如何絞盡腦汁

Their brains just aren't wired to grasp it.

你也沒法教一條狗學會物理

But what about us?

它們的腦子裡根本沒這個概念

How do we know that we're wired to

而我們呢

Comprehend the deepest laws of the universe?

我們又如何得知自己可以

Well, physicists today are confident that we are,

理解宇宙最深奧的法則呢

And we're picking up where Einstein left off

今天的物理科學家比我們可有信心多了

In his quest for unification.

我們正在繼續著愛因斯坦在統一理論上

Unification would be

未盡的事業

The formulation of a law that describes,

統一論應該是

Perhaps, everything in the known universe from

一種法則 可以公式化的表述

One single idea, one master equation.

每個單獨理論 每個主方程

And we think that there might be this master equation,

也許 乃至整個已知的宇宙

Because throughout the course of the last 200 years or so,

我們認為可能確實存在這樣一個主方程

Our understanding of the universe

因為經歷了過去200多年的歷程

Has given us a variety of explanations that are all pointing

基於我們對宇宙的認知

Towards one spot.

而得出各種各樣的解答都指向

They seem to all be converging

同一點

On one nugget of an idea that we're still trying to find.

它們似乎彙集

Unification is where it's at.

在我們仍然苦苦追尋的這一點上

Unification is what we're trying to accomplish.

統一就在此處

The whole aim of fundamental physics

統一也是我們的使命

Is to see more and more of the world's phenomena

基礎物理學的整個目標

In terms of fewer and fewer

就是試圖將越來越多的世界表象

And simpler and simpler principles.

歸結為越來越少

We feel, as physicists,

越來越簡單的法則

That if we can explain

作為物理學家 我們感到

A wide number of phenomena

如果我們可以

In a very simple manner,

把大量的表象

That that's somehow progress.

用很簡單的方式來解釋

There is almost an emotional aspect

那就是某種的進步

To the way in which the great theories in physics.

這幾乎是所有偉大物理學理論

Sort of encompass

所追求的一種殊途同歸

A wide variety of apparently different physical phenomena

一種可以囊括

So this idea that

大量不同類型物理現象的理論

We should be aiming to unify our understanding is inherent,

所以這種

Essentially,

統一我們所認知的一切的追求是與生俱來的

To the whole way in which this kind of science progresses.

本質上

And long before Einstein,

也是這種科學發展的必由之路

The quest for unification

早在愛因斯坦之前

Began with the most famous accident

對統一的追求

In the history of science.

始於科學史上

As the story goes,

一個著名的故事

One day in 1665,

故事是這樣的

A young man was sitting under a tree when,

1655年的某天

All of a sudden,

一個年輕人正坐在樹下

He saw an apple fall from above.

一切都那麼突然

And with the fall of that apple,

他看到一顆蘋果從上面落下

Newton revolutionized our picture of the universe

隨著蘋果落下

In an audacious proposal for his time,

艾薩克·牛頓重新描繪了我們的宇宙圖景

Newton proclaimed that the force pulling apples to the ground

在他那個時代裡一次大膽的猜想中

And the force keeping the moon in orbit around the earth

牛頓聲稱將蘋果拉向地面的力

Were actually one and the same.

與使月球繞著地球公轉的力

In one fell swoop,

實際上是同一種力

Newton unified the heavens and the earth

一下子

In a single theory he called gravity.

牛頓將天堂與凡間統一在了一起

The unification of the celestial with the terrestrial—

並為之命名為 引力

That the same laws that govern the planets in their motions

這種法則將天上與地下統一在一起

Govern the tides and the falling of fruit

也是這同一種法則 統治著行星的運動

Here on earth

潮漲潮落 以及我們身邊

It was a fantastic unification of our picture of nature.

蘋果的落下

Gravity was the first force to be understood scientifically,

這是對我們眼中的自然界一次美妙的統一

Though three more would eventually follow.

引力是科學上第一種被瞭解到的力

And, although Newton discovered his law of gravity

最終 又有三種力隨之被發現

More than 300 years ago,

雖然牛頓發現引力的法則

His equations describing this force

遠在300多年前

Make such accurate predictions that

但他用來描述這種力的公式

We still make use of them today.

預言是如此之精準

In fact

時至今日 我們仍在沿用

Scientists needed nothing more than Newton』s equations

實際上

To plot the course of a rocket that landed men on the moon.

科學家們謀劃如何讓火箭升天 宇航員登月

Yet there was a problem.

需要的也僅僅只是牛頓這一公式而已

While his laws

但是這裡有個問題

Described the strength of gravity with great accuracy,

雖然他的法則

Newton was harboring an embarrassing secret

極為精確地描述了引力的強度

He had no idea how gravity actually works.

牛頓卻深懷著一個尷尬的秘密

For nearly 250 years,

他對引力是如何發生作用毫無頭緒

Scientists were content to look the other way

近250年

When confronted with this mystery.

科學家們心滿意足的使用著這一理論

But in the early 1900s,

卻對牛頓耿耿於懷的問題避而不提

An unknown clerk working in the Swiss patent office

直到了20世紀初

Would change all that.

瑞士專利局辦公室裡一位默默無聞的小職員

While reviewing patent applications,

才改變了這一切

Albert Einstein was also pondering the behavior of light.

一邊審閱著專利申請

And little did Einstein know

愛因斯坦一邊思考著光的特性

That his musings on light

愛因斯坦卻從未料到

Would lead him to solve Newton』s mystery

他對光的思考

Of what gravity is.

將引領他解開牛頓的迷題

At the age of 26,

什麼是引力

Einstein made a startling discovery

26歲時

That the velocity of light is a kind of cosmic speed limit,

愛因斯坦的就有驚人的發現

A speed that nothing in the universe can exceed.

即光速是一種宇宙速度的極限

But no sooner had the young Einstein published this idea

宇宙中沒有任何一種速度可以超越它

Than he found himself squaring off

但是愛因斯坦公開他的發現不久

With the father of gravity.

他就發現與引力之父之間

The trouble was,

發生了矛盾

The idea that nothing can go faster than the speed of light

問題在於

Flew in the face of Newton』s picture of gravity.

認為沒有任何速度可以超越光速的理念

To understand this conflict,

與牛頓的引力理論 相互衝突

We have to run a few experiments.

為了理解這種矛盾

And to begin with,

我們來做幾個實驗

Let's create a cosmic catastrophe.

首先

Imagine that all of a sudden,

讓我們設計一場宇宙大災難

And without any warning,

想像突然之間

The sun vaporizes and completely disappears.

毫無前兆的

Now, let's replay that catastrophe

太陽蒸發了 徹底消失不見

And see what effect it would have on the planets

現在 我們來回放這場災難

According to Newton.

看看根據牛頓理論 它會對星球

Newton's theory predicts that with the destruction of the sun

造成什麼影響

The planets would immediately fly out of their orbits

牛頓理論預言 隨著太陽的毀滅

Careening off into space.

星球馬上會脫離它們的軌道

In other words,

傾斜著飛向宇宙空間

Newton thought that gravity

換句話說

Was a force that acts instantaneously across any distance.

牛頓認為引力

And so we would immediately feel

是超越任何距離瞬間作用的

The effect of the sun's destruction.

所以我們馬上就會感覺到

But Einstein saw a big problem with Newton』s theory,

太陽消失帶來的效果

A problem that arose from his work with light.

但是愛因斯坦發現了牛頓理論的一個問題

Einstein knew light doesn't travel instantaneously.

通過他對光線的研究

In fact,

愛因斯坦發現光並不是瞬時傳播的

It takes eight minutes for the sun's rays

實際上

To travel the 93 million miles to the earth.

太陽的射線穿越九千三百萬英里射到地球

And since he had shown that nothing,

大約需要8分鐘

Not even gravity, can travel faster than light,

而由於他已經證明了沒有任何東西

How could the earth be released from orbit

哪怕是引力 會比光速快

Before the darkness resulting from

那麼地球怎麼會在沒有

The sun's disappearance reached our eyes?

因為太陽消失的影響陷入黑暗之前

To the young upstart from the Swiss patent office

就從自己的軌道上脫離呢

Anything outrunning light was impossible,

對於這位瑞士專利局裡的小將來說