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  • Now, on nova,

    現在 和NOVA一起

  • 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

  • And that meant

    比光跑得更快的東西是不存在的

  • The 250-year old Newtonian picture of gravity

    這意味著

  • Was wrong.

    250年來的牛頓引力理論

  • If Newton is wrong,

    錯了

  • Then why do the planets stay up?

    如果牛頓錯了

  • Because remember,

    那麼行星又是如何恪守本分的呢

  • The triumph of Newton』s equations come from the quest

    要記住

  • To understand the planets and stars

    牛頓理論的凱旋 是基於

  • And particularly the problem of

    對研究天體運動的迫切需求

  • Why the planets have the orbits that they do.

    尤其是關於

  • And with Newton』s equations

    行星是如何沿軌道運行這一問題上

  • You could calculate the way that the planets would move.

    根據牛頓的公式

  • Einstein's got to resolve this dilemma.

    你可以計算出行星的運動方式和軌跡

  • In his late twenties,

    愛因斯坦必須解決這種困境

  • Einstein had to come up with a new picture of the universe

    在他不到30歲時

  • In which gravity does not exceed the cosmic speed limit.

    愛因斯坦必須描繪一幅新的宇宙圖景

  • Still working his day job in the patent office,

    在這裡 引力無法超越光速

  • Einstein embarked on a solitary quest to solve this mystery.

    一邊繼續在專利辦公室裡上日班

  • After nearly ten years of wracking his brain

    愛因斯坦一邊孤獨的在這條道路上求索著

  • He found the answer in a new kind of unification.

    經過近十年的絞盡腦汁

  • Einstein came to think of the three dimensions of space

    他用一種新的統一方式得出了答案

  • And the single dimension of time

    愛因斯坦開始思考一種三維空間

  • As bound together in a single fabric of "space-time.".

    以及一維時間

  • It was his hope

    共同構成的一種模式 "時空"

  • That by understanding

    他希望

  • The geometry of this four-dimensional fabric of space-time,

    通過理解

  • That he could simply talk about things

    這種四維時空的幾何構造

  • Moving along surfaces in this space-time fabric

    他就能簡單的談到將事物

  • Like the surface of a trampoline,

    沿著這一時空構造的表面平移

  • This unified fabric is warped and stretched

    就如同蹦床的表面一樣

  • By heavy objects like planets and stars.

    這種統一的結構可以被質量大的物體如星球

  • And it's this warping or curving of space-time

    彎曲或延展

  • That creates what we feel as gravity.

    而正是這種扭曲或弧形的時空

  • A planet like the earth is kept in orbit,

    造成了我們所感覺到的引力

  • Not because the sun reaches out and

    一個類似地球的行星沿著軌道運動

  • Instantaneously grabs hold of it,

    並不是如牛頓理論所言

  • As in Newton』s theory,

    因為太陽發出的持續不斷的引力

  • But simply because it follows

    抓住了它

  • Curves in the spatial fabric

    而僅僅是因為它

  • Caused by the sun's presence.

    隨著由太陽造成的空間結構的曲線

  • Let's rerun the cosmic catastrophe.

    在運動

  • Let's see what happens now if the sun disappears.

    讓我們再來一次宇宙大災難

  • The gravitational disturbance that results

    讓我們看看現在如果太陽消失了會怎麼樣

  • Will form a wave that travels across the spatial fabric

    引力的擾動將會造成

  • In much the same way that

    沿著空間結構延伸的一道波

  • A pebble dropped into a pond

    就猶如在湖心

  • Makes ripples that travel across the surface of the water.

    投進一顆石子

  • So we wouldn't feel a change in our orbit around the sun

    造成的漣漪在水面上蕩漾開去

  • Until this wave reached the earth.

    所以在這道波到達地球之前 呆在軌道上

  • What's more,

    我們都不會感覺到任何改變

  • Einstein calculated that these ripples of gravity

    此外

  • Travel at exactly the speed of light.

    愛因斯坦計算出這種引力的波

  • And so, with this new approach,

    正是以光的速度傳播

  • Einstein resolved the conflict with Newton

    於是 採用這種新的方法

  • Over how fast gravity travels.

    愛因斯坦解決了和牛頓之間

  • And more than that,

    關於引力傳播速度的矛盾

  • Einstein gave the world a new picture

    更重要的是

  • for what the force of gravity actually is

    愛因斯坦描繪出了一個新的世界

  • It's warps and curves in the fabric of space and time.

    來說明引力的本質 那就是

  • Einstein called this new picture of gravity

    一個由時間和空間組成的曲面和弧面結構

  • "general relativity,"

    愛因斯坦把這種對引力的新的描繪稱為

  • And within a few short years

    廣義相對論

  • Albert Einstein became a household name.

    在短暫的幾年內

  • Einstein was like a rock star in his day.

    阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦成為家喻戶曉的名字

  • He was one of the most widely known

    愛因斯坦那時猶如天王巨星

  • And recognizable figures alive.

    生龍活虎

  • He and perhaps Charlie Chaplin

    而又廣為人知

  • Were the reigning kings of the popular media.

    他 也許還有查理·卓別林

  • People followed his work.

    成為了大眾傳媒的統治者

  • And they were anticipating...

    人們追隨他的成果

  • Because of this wonderful thing

    並對之充滿期望

  • He had done with general relativity,

    因為他對廣義相對論的研究

  • This recasting the laws of gravity out of his head...

    如此精彩絕倫

  • There was a thought he could do it again, and they,

    他改寫了引力理論

  • People want to be in on that.

    人們希望他能再接再厲

  • Despite all that he had achieved

    並期盼能目睹這一切發生

  • Einstein wasn't satisfied.

    儘管他成果顯赫

  • He immediately set his sights on an even grander goal,

    愛因斯坦並沒有滿足

  • The unification of his new picture of gravity

    他馬上把目光轉向更為偉大的目標

  • With the only other force known at the time,

    將對引力的新發現與

  • Electromagnetism.

    當時唯一的另一已知作用統一

  • Now electromagnetism is

    那就是電磁力

  • A force that had itself been unified

    僅在幾十年前

  • Only a few decades earlier.

    電磁力本身

  • In the mid-1800s,

    才完成了自己的統一

  • Electricity and magnetism

    18世紀中期

  • Were sparking scientists' interest.

    電力和磁力

  • These two forces seemed to share a curious relationship

    引發了無數科學家的研究興趣

  • That inventors like Samuel Morse

    這兩種力彷彿有著某種奇怪的聯繫

  • Were taking advantage of in new fangled devices,

    發明家塞繆爾·摩爾斯

  • Such as the telegraph.

    將二者運用到新發明裝置中

  • An electrical pulse

    例如電報機

  • Sent through a telegraph wire to a magnet

    一個電脈衝

  • Thousands of miles away

    通過電報線

  • Produced the familiar dots and dashes of Morse code

    向千里之外的磁體發送信號

  • That allowed messages to be transmitted across the continent

    產生相似的點號和破折號稱為摩爾斯電碼

  • In a fraction of a second.

    它可以使信息在不到一秒的時間裡

  • Although the telegraph was a sensation,

    傳送到五湖四海

  • The fundamental science driving it

    儘管電報機轟動一時

  • Remained something of a mystery.

    但它工作的基本科學原理

  • But to a Scottish scientist named James Clark Maxwell,

    仍然是個未解之迷

  • The relationship between electricity and magnetism

    但是對於蘇格蘭科學家麥克斯韋·J·C而言

  • Was so obvious in nature that it demanded unification.

    電力和磁力

  • If you've ever been on top of a mountain

    終將歸於一統 是順理成章之事

  • During a thunderstorm

    如果你曾在暴風雨來臨時

  • You'll get the idea of

    站在山頂之上

  • How electricity and magnetism are closely related.

    你就會明白

  • When a stream of electrically charged particles flows,

    電力和磁力的關係是如此緊密

  • Like in a bolt of lightning, it creates a magnetic field.

    當帶電粒子流動時

  • And you can see evidence of this on a compass.

    就像閃電 它會產生磁場

  • Obsessed with this relationship,

    你可以從羅盤上找到證據

  • The scot was determined to explain the connection

    沉迷於對這種聯繫的研究

  • Between electricity and magnetism

    這位蘇格蘭科學家決定

  • In the language of mathematics.

    以數學的語言解釋

  • Casting new light on the subject,

    電力和磁力之間的關係

  • Maxwell devised a set of four

    這項研究有了新發現

  • Elegant mathematical equations

    麥克斯韋發現了由四個

  • that unified electricity and magnetism

    精美的數學方程組成的方程組

  • in a single force called "electromagnetism."

    他們將電力和磁力

  • And like Newton』s before him,

    統一成為了"電磁力"

  • Maxwell's unification took science a step closer

    就像之前的艾薩克·牛頓

  • To cracking the code of the universe.

    麥克斯韋的統一讓我們

  • That was really the remarkable thing,

    離解開宇宙的奧秘更近了一步

  • That these different phenomena were really

    這項成果意義重大

  • Connected in this way.

    那些不同的現象

  • And it's another example of

    通過這種方式聯繫了起來

  • Diverse phenomena coming from a single underlying

    這又是一個

  • Building block or a single underlying principle.

    多種多樣的現象都基於

  • Imagine that everything that you can think of

    同一種結構或原理的例子

  • Which has to do with electricity and magnetism

    想像一下你能想到的任何

  • Can all be written in four very simple equations.

    和電磁有關的事情

  • Isn't that incredible?

    都可以用四個非常簡單的方程表達

  • Isn't that amazing?

    是不是很不可思議

  • I call that elegant.

    是不是很神奇

  • Einstein thought that this was

    這就叫精妙絕倫

  • One of the triumphant moments of all of physics

    愛因斯坦認為那是

  • And admired Maxwell hugely for what he had done.

    物理學界最為輝煌的時刻之一

  • About 50 years after Maxwell

    並非常欽佩麥克斯韋的成果

  • Unified electricity and magnetism,

    大約在麥克斯韋

  • Einstein was confident

    將電力和磁力統一的50年後

  • That if he could unify his new theory of gravity

    愛因斯坦很有信心

  • With Maxwell』s electromagnetism,

    如果他可以把新引力理論

  • He'd be able to formulate a master equation

    與麥克斯韋的電磁力整合

  • That could describe everything, the entire universe.

    他將得出一個主方程

  • Einstein clearly believes

    足以描述萬事萬物 乃至整個宇宙

  • That the universe has an overall grand

    愛因斯坦堅信

  • And beautiful pattern to the way that it works.

    宇宙運行存在著一個

  • So to answer your question,

    高於一切的共通的美妙模式

  • Why was he looking for the unification?

    所以回答你的問題

  • I think the answer is simply

    他之所以鑽研統一場理論

  • That Einstein is one of those physicists

    我認為答案很簡單

  • Who really wants to know the mind of god,

    愛因斯坦

  • Which means the entire picture.

    想瞭解造物主的秘密

  • Today, this is the goal of the string theory.

    探究萬物的法則

  • To unify our understanding of everything

    如今 這就是弦理論的目標

  • From the birth of the universe

    統一我們所認知到的一切

  • To the majestic swirl of galaxies

    從宇宙的誕生

  • In just one set of principles,

    到銀河系宏偉的渦旋

  • One master equation.

    以一條原理

  • Newton had unified the heavens and the earth

    一條主方程 囊括一切

  • In a theory of gravity.

    牛頓已經將天堂與凡間

  • Maxwell had unified electricity and magnetism.

    用引力統一到了一起

  • Einstein reasoned all that remained

    麥克斯韋已經將電力和磁力統一

  • To build a "theory of everything"-

    愛因斯坦則思考這餘下的一切

  • A single theory

    試圖尋找到"萬物至理"

  • That could encompass all the laws of the universe

    一條簡單的理論

  • Was to merge his new picture of gravity with electromagnetism.

    可以包含所有宇宙的法則

  • He certainly had motivation.

    那就是將引力新原理與電磁力結合

  • Probably one of them might have been aesthetics,

    他的確有很多理由

  • Or this quest to simplify.

    其中之一也許是對美的追求

  • Another one might have been just the physical fact

    也就是對於簡潔的追求

  • That it seems like the speed of gravity

    另一個或許是物理事實

  • Is equal to the speed of light.

    就像引力的速度

  • So if they both go at the same speed,

    等於光速

  • Then maybe that's an indication of some underlying symmetry.

    所以如果他們的傳播速度相同

  • But as Einstein began

    也就意味著他們有某種潛在的對稱性

  • Trying to unite gravity and electromagnetism

    但是當愛因斯坦開始

  • He would find that the difference in strength

    嘗試整合引力學和電磁學時

  • Between these two forces would outweigh their similarities.

    他發現二者之間不同之處

  • Let me show you what I mean.

    遠遠多過相似之處

  • We tend to think that gravity is a powerful force.

    讓我來演示給你看

  • After all, it's the force that, right now,

    我們一般認為引力十分強大

  • Is anchoring me to this ledge.

    畢竟 現在就是這股力

  • But compared to electromagnetism,

    讓我固定在房屋頂處

  • It's actually terribly feeble.

    但是與電磁力相比

  • In fact, there's a simple little test to show this.

    其實相當微弱

  • Imagine that I was to leap from this rather tall building.

    這個簡單的實驗可以證明

  • Actually, let's not just imagine it.

    想像我要從這個建築躍下

  • Let's do it. you'll see what I mean.

    事實上 不要只是想像

  • Now, of course,

    來實踐一下 你們將明白我什麼意思

  • I really should have been flattened.

    現在 當然

  • but the important question's

    我肯定會被撞扁

  • What kept me from crashing through the sidewalk and

    但重要的是

  • Hurtling right down to the center of the earth?

    是什麼防止我穿入人行道

  • Well, strange as it sounds,

    猛撞到地核

  • The answer is electromagnetism.

    聽起來很奇怪

  • Everything we can see,

    答案就是電磁力

  • From you and me to the sidewalk,

    我們看到的一切

  • Is made of tiny bits of matter called atoms.

    從你到我 到人行道

  • And the outer shell of every atom contains

    都是由許多很小的原子組成

  • A negative electrical charge.

    每個原子表層帶著

  • So when my atoms collide with the atoms in the cement

    一個負電荷

  • These electrical charges repel each other with such strength

    當我的原子與水泥的原子相撞

  • That just a little piece of sidewalk

    電荷相互排斥的力量是如此強大

  • Can resist the entire earth's gravity

    只是那麼一小塊人行道

  • And stop me from falling.

    就可以抵禦整個地球的引力

  • In fact the electromagnetic force

    防止我繼續往下掉

  • Is billions and billions of times stronger than gravity.

    事實上 電磁力

  • That seems a little strange,

    比上億倍的地心引力還強

  • Because gravity keeps our feet to the ground,

    聽上去很奇怪

  • It keeps the earth going around the sun.

    因為地心引力讓我們的雙腳著地

  • But, in actual fact,

    可以讓地球繞著太陽轉動

  • It manages to do that only because

    但是 事實上

  • It acts on huge enormous conglomerates of matter,

    只有龐然大物之間

  • You knowyou, me, the earth, the sun

    才能感受到引力的存在

  • But really at the level of individual atoms,

    你和我 地球 太陽

  • Gravity is a really incredibly feeble tiny force.

    但是在原子層面

  • It would be an uphill battle

    引力是個相當微弱的力

  • For Einstein to unify these two forces

    對於愛因斯坦 整合兩種

  • Of wildly different strengths.

    截然不同的力

  • And to make matters worse,

    是一場艱苦的戰鬥

  • Barely had he begun

    更糟糕的是

  • Before sweeping changes in the world of physics

    物理世界翻天覆地的變化

  • Would leave him behind.

    他卻置若罔聞

  • Einstein had achieved so much in the years up to about 1920

    他落伍了

  • That he naturally expected that

    愛因斯坦一路輝煌到1920年左右

  • He could go on by playing the same theoretical games

    他自然很希望

  • And go on achieving great things.,

    可以繼續將理論遊戲玩轉

  • And he couldn't.

    繼續取得偉大成就

  • Nature revealed itself in other ways in the 1920s and 1930s

    但是他失敗了

  • And the particular tricks and tools that

    20至30年代人才輩出

  • Einstein had at his disposal

    愛因斯坦曾掌握的

  • Had been so fabulously successful,

    特定技巧和工具

  • Just weren't applicable anymore.

    雖獲得過舉世矚目的成就

  • You see, in the 1920s

    可已經不再適應

  • A group of young scientists stole the spotlight from Einstein

    在十九世紀二十年代

  • When they came up with an outlandish

    一群年輕的科學家奪走了愛因斯坦的光環

  • New way of thinking about physics.

    他們對物理學的研究

  • Their vision of the universe was so strange,

    提出了新奇的思路

  • It makes science fiction look tame,

    他們對宇宙的看法是那麼獨特

  • And it turned Einstein』s quest for unification on its head.

    連科幻小說都望塵莫及

  • Led by Danish physicist noels boor,

    它徹底顛覆了愛因斯坦對統一的訴求

  • These scientists

    在丹麥物理學家尼爾斯·玻爾的帶領下

  • Were uncovering an entirely new realm of the universe.

    這些科學家

  • Atoms,

    開拓了宇宙全新的領域

  • Long thought to be the smallest constituents of nature,

    原子

  • a found it's consisted a even small parties

    一直被認為是自然界最小粒子

  • The now-familiar nucleus of protons and neutrons

    被發現是由更小的粒子組成

  • Orbited by electrons.

    質子和中子組成了原子核

  • And the theories of Einstein and Maxwell were useless

    外圍則是電子作軌道運動

  • At explaining the bizarre way these tiny bits of matter

    愛因斯坦和麥克斯韋的理論都無法解釋

  • Interact with each other inside the atom.

    這些微小粒子的行為

  • There was a tremendous mystery about

    以及原子內相互作用

  • How to account for all this,

    這一切太神秘了

  • How to account for what was happening to the nucleus .

    這都是怎麼回事

  • As the atom began to be pried apart in different ways

    原子核又是怎麼回事

  • And the old theories were

    隨著原子被以各種各樣的方式分解開

  • Totally inadequate to the task of explaining them.

    之前的理論

  • Gravity was irrelevant.

    完全無法解釋它們

  • It was far too weak.

    引力作用

  • And electricity and magnetism was not sufficient.

    微乎其微

  • Without a theory to explain this strange new world,

    電磁現象也並不顯著

  • These scientists were lost in an unfamiliar atomic territory

    由於沒有一種理論能解釋這新奇的世界

  • Looking for any recognizable landmarks.

    科學家們在陌生的原子領土裡迷失了

  • Then, in the late 1920s,

    他們苦苦的尋找著可辨識的地標

  • All that changed.

    量子咖啡

  • During those years,

    20年代後期

  • Physicists developed a new theory

    這一切改變了

  • Called "quantum mechanics,"

    在那些年裡

  • And it was able to describe the microscopic realm

    物理學家發明了一個新的理論

  • With great success.

    "量子力學"

  • but here is the thing

    它可以成功解釋

  • Quantum mechanics was so radical a theory

    微觀領域中粒子的行為

  • That it completely shattered

    但這裡有個問題

  • All previous ways of looking at the universe.

    量子力學是個激進的理論

  • Einstein's theories demand

    完全粉碎了

  • That the universe is orderly and predictable,

    先前對於宇宙的認識

  • But noels boor disagreed.

    愛因斯坦的理論認為

  • He and his colleagues proclaimed that

    宇宙是有序並且可預測的

  • At the scale of atoms and particles,

    但是玻爾不這樣認為

  • The world is a game of chance

    他和他的同事宣稱

  • At the atomic or quantum level, uncertainty rules.

    在原子級別

  • The best you can do,

    是個隨機的世界

  • According to quantum mechanics,

    在原子或量子級別中存在不確定性

  • Is predict the chance

    根據量子理論

  • Or probability of one outcome or another.

    你所能做到最好的

  • And this strange idea .

    就是預測

  • Opened the door to an unsettling new picture of reality

    一次又一次結果的概率

  • It was so unsettling

    這個奇怪的想法

  • That if the bizarre features of quantum mechanics were

    描繪出了一個令人不安的新世界

  • Noticeable in our everyday world,

    它是如此的令人忐忑

  • Like they are here in the quantum cafe,

    如果怪誕的量子力學

  • You might think you'd lost your mind.

    在我們日常生活的世界裡隨處可見

  • The laws in the quantum world

    就像他們在量子咖啡館這樣

  • Are very different from the laws that we are used to.

    也許你認為自己瘋了

  • Our daily experiences

    量子世界的法則

  • Are totally different from anything

    與我們過去習慣的法則大相逕庭

  • That you would see in the quantum world.

    我們的日常經驗

  • The quantum world is crazy.

    與在量子世界見到的任何一切

  • For nearly 80 years,

    截然不同

  • Quantum mechanics has successfully claimed

    量子世界非常瘋狂

  • That the strange and bizarre are typical

    這個詞是最好的形容 瘋狂世界 It's probably the best way to put it:It's a crazy world.

  • Of how our universe actually

    近80年來

  • Behaves on extremely small scales.

    量子力學成功地證明

  • At the scale of everyday life,

    這些看起來奇異的現象

  • We don't directly experience

    在微觀世界

  • The weirdness of quantum mechanics.

    確實存在

  • But here in the quantum cafe,

    在日常生活中

  • Big, everyday things sometimes behave

    我們沒能直接感覺到

  • As if they were microscopically tiny.

    量子力學的不可思議

  • And no matter how many times I come here,

    但是在量子咖啡館

  • I never seem to get used to it.

    那些日常生活裡的"大"事情

  • I'll have an orange juice, please.

    偶爾也會像微觀世界裡那樣發生

  • I'll try.

    無論我來這裡多少次

  • "I』ll try," she says.

    我都不能習慣這裡

  • You see,

    我想要杯橘子水 謝謝

  • They're not used to people

    我試試

  • Placing definite orders here in the quantum cafe,

    她說 "我試試"

  • Because here everything is ruled by chance.

    你看

  • While I'd like an orange juice,

    在量子咖啡廳 服務員對於人們

  • There is only a particular probability

    點出特定的餐飲很不適應

  • That I'll actually get one.

    因為這裡所有的一切都由幾率控制

  • And there's no reason to be disappointed

    我要的橘子汁

  • With one particular outcome or another,

    只能是有一定幾率

  • Because quantum mechanics suggests that

    真的得到

  • Each of the possibilities like getting a yellow juice

    無論結果是什麼

  • Or a red juice may actually happen.

    沒有理由失望

  • They just happen to happen in universes

    因為量子力學認為

  • That are parallel to ours,

    你也有可能得到

  • Universes that seem as real to their inhabitants

    黃汽水或紅汽水

  • As our universe seems to us.

    不同的事件

  • If there are a thousand possibilities,

    確實都發生與我們平行的

  • And quantum mechanics cannot,

    而對各自的居住者是真實的宇宙中

  • With certainty, say which of the thousand it will be,

    就如同我們身處其間的這個宇宙

  • Then all thousand will happen.

    如果一個事件有一千個可能性

  • Yeah, you can laugh at it and say,

    連量子力學也不能確定

  • "well, that has to be wrong."

    究竟哪一個才將發生

  • But there are so many other things in physics which-

    於是所有的可能都會實現

  • At the time that people came up with

    你可以嘲笑這個原理

  • Had to be wrong, but it wasn't.

    "這太離譜了"

  • Have to be a little careful, I think,

    但是物理界的其他許多事情

  • Before you say this is clearly wrong.

    在當時人們認為是錯的

  • And even in our own universe,

    卻被最終證明它的正確

  • Quantum mechanics says there's a chance

    我認為 在否定一些事物時

  • That things we'd ordinarily think of as impossible

    一定要謹慎的進行論證

  • Can actually happen.

    甚至在我們的宇宙中

  • For example

    被量子力學認為存在概率的事情

  • There's a chance that particles can pass

    雖然通常被我們認為絕無可能

  • Right through walls or barriers

    但卻事實發生了

  • That seem impenetrable to you or me.

    例如

  • There's even a chance that I

    粒子真的有概率

  • Could pass through something solid,

    穿越牆或者障礙物

  • Like a wall.

    你我都感到不可理解

  • Now, quantum calculations do show

    甚至我都有一定的概率

  • That the probability for this to happen

    穿過一些固體

  • In the everyday world is so small

    比如一面牆

  • That I'd need to continue walking into the wall

    經計算顯示

  • For nearly an eternity

    以上情況發生的可能性

  • Before having a reasonable chance of succeeding.

    微乎其微

  • But here, these kinds of things happen all the time.

    直到這個可能性的發生前

  • You have to learn to abandon those assumptions

    以至於我有可能

  • That you have about the world

    永永遠遠的抵在這面牆上

  • In order to understand quantum mechanics.

    但在這裡 這類事情時刻都在發生

  • In my gut, in my belly, do I feel like

    為了理解量子原理

  • I have a deep intuitive understanding of quantum mechanics?

    你需要放棄那些

  • No.

    你關於世界的假設

  • And neither did Einstein.

    在我心裡 我真的感覺

  • He never lost faith

    非常瞭解量子力學嗎

  • That the universe behaves in a certain

  • And predictable way.

    愛因斯坦也是這麼想的

  • The idea that all we can do is calculate the odds

    他堅信

  • That things will turn out one way or another

    世界是按可預知的

  • Was something Einstein deeply resisted.

    的規律運作

  • Quantum mechanics says that

    對於那些認為我們只能

  • You can't know for certain the outcome of any experiment;

    計算事件出現概率的想法

  • You can only assign a certain probability

    愛因斯坦堅決牴觸

  • to the outcome of any experiment.

    量子力學表明

  • And this, Einstein disliked intensely.

    你不能確定任何實驗的結果

  • He used to say "God does not throw dice."

    你只能確定某種實驗結果

  • Yet, experiment after experiment showed

    出現的概率

  • Einstein was wrong.

    在這點上 愛因斯坦堅決不同意

  • And that quantum mechanics really does describe

    他說 上帝絕不會擲骰子

  • how the world works at the subatomic level.

    然而 一個接一個的實驗證明

  • So quantum mechanics is not a luxury,

    愛因斯坦錯了

  • something that you can do without.

    量子力學確實可以從亞原子層面上

  • I mean why is water the way it is?

    描述宇宙的運轉

  • Why does light go straight through water?

    所以量子力學不是某種奢侈品

  • Why is it transparent?

    可有可無

  • Why are other things not transparent?

    我是說為什麼水是這個樣子

  • How do molecules form?

    為什麼光能在水中傳播

  • Why are they reacting the way they react?

    為什麼它是透明的

  • The moment that you want to understand

    而其他物體卻不是

  • anything at an atomic level,

    分子是怎麼形成的

  • As non-intuitive as it is,

    為什麼物質的相互作用是那樣的

  • At that moment,

    當你想去認識

  • you can only make progress with quantum mechanics.

    我們不能直觀看到的

  • Quantum mechanics is fantastically accurate.

    原子層面上的任何物質

  • There has never been a prediction of quantum mechanics

    在這個時候

  • that has contradicted an observation,

    你只能依賴量子力學

  • Never.

    量子力學簡直天衣無縫

  • By the 1930s,

    通過量子力學做出的推測還從來沒有

  • Einstein's quest for unification was floundering,

    和現實觀測產生分歧

  • While quantum mechanics was unlocking the secrets of the atom.

    從來沒有

  • Scientists found that gravity and electromagnetism

    直到1930年代

  • are not the only forces ruling the universe.

    愛因斯坦在尋求統一的道路上屢屢受挫

  • Probing the structure of the atom,

    而量子力學卻打開了微觀世界的大門

  • they discovered two more forces.

    科學家們發現除了引力和電磁力

  • One, dubbed the "strong nuclear force",

    還有其他力支配著這個世界

  • acts like a super-glue,

    在探測原子的結構時

  • holding the nucleus of every atom together,

    他們發現了另外兩種力

  • Binding protons to neutrons.

    一種被稱為"強核力"

  • And the other,

    作用就像強力膠

  • called the "weak nuclear force,"

    存在於每個原子中 將質子和中子粘合在一起

  • allows neutrons to turn into protons,

    構成原子核

  • giving off radiation in the process.

    另一種

  • At the quantum level,

    叫做"弱核力"

  • the force we're most familiar with,

    可以使中子轉化成質子

  • Gravity, was completely overshadowed by electromagnetism

    並在過程中產生輻射

  • and these two new forces.

    在量子界

  • Now, the strong and weak forces may seem obscure,

    我們最熟知的引力

  • But in one sense at least,

    相對於電磁力和其他兩種新力來說

  • we're all very much aware of their power.

    徹底黯然失色

  • At 5:29 on the morning of July 16th, 1945,

    雖然強弱核力看起來並不起眼

  • that power was revealed by an act

    但是至少有一幕

  • that would change the course of history.

    可以展示給我們它們的強悍

  • In the middle of the desert, in New Mexico,

    1945年7月16日 早晨5:29

  • at the top of a steel tower about

    那個可怕的力量被釋放出來

  • a hundred feet above the top of this monument,

    足以改變歷史的進程

  • the first atomic bomb was detonated.

    在新墨西哥州的沙漠中心

  • It was only about five feet across,

    在一個比這座紀念碑

  • but that bomb packed a punch

    還高100尺的鋼塔頂上

  • equivalent to about twenty thousand tons of TNT.

    第一顆原子彈被引爆

  • With that powerful explosion,

    它的直徑也就5英尺左右

  • scientists unleashed the strong nuclear force.

    但是它所釋放的能量

  • The force that keeps neutrons and protons

    相當於2萬噸TNT炸藥的爆炸當量

  • tightly glued together inside the nucleus of an atom.

    隨著這次猛烈的爆炸

  • By breaking the bonds of that glue

    科學家們釋放出了強核力

  • and splitting the atom apart,

    這種緊緊地粘合質子和中子

  • vast, truly unbelievable amounts

    形成原子核的力

  • of destructive energy were released.

    通過破壞這種粘合力

  • We can still detect remnants of that explosion

    將原子分裂

  • through the other nuclear force--

    不可思議的巨大的

  • the weak nuclear force.

    破壞性能量就被釋放了出來

  • Because it's responsible for radioactivity.

    通過另一種核力

  • And today, more than 50 years later,

    我們還能探測出殘留輻射

  • the radiation levels around here are still

    弱核能

  • about 10 times higher than normal.

    因為輻射就是它作用產生的

  • So, although in comparison to electromagnetism and gravity

    50多年後的今天

  • the nuclear forces act over very small scales,

    這裡的輻射量仍然是

  • their impact on everyday life is every bit as profound.

    其他正常地方的10倍

  • But what about gravity?

    所以相對電磁力和引力

  • Einstein's general relativity?

    雖然核力作用的範圍很小

  • Where does that fit in at the quantum level?

    但它們對我們生活的影響卻是舉足輕重的

  • Quantum mechanics tells us

    但是引力呢

  • how all of nature's forces work in the microscopic realm

    還有愛因斯坦的廣義相對論

  • except for the force of gravity.

    怎樣在量子界謀得一席之地

  • Absolutely no one

    量子力學告訴我們

  • could figure out how gravity operates

    微觀世界中這些自然力怎樣作用

  • when you get down to the size of atoms

    唯獨沒有提到引力

  • and subatomic particles.

    其實沒人能

  • That is,

    從原子和亞原子層面

  • no one could figure out how to put general relativity

    解釋清楚引力

  • and quantum mechanics together into one package.

    到底是怎樣運作的

  • For decades,

    也就是

  • Every attempt to describe the force of gravity

    還沒有人能把廣義相對論

  • in the same language as the other forces -

    和量子力學統一在一起

  • the language of quantum mechanics -

    幾十年來

  • has met with disaster.

    每一次企圖

  • You try to put those two pieces of mathematics together,

    用描述量子力學的方法

  • they do not coexist peacefully.

    來描述引力的嘗試

  • You get answers that the probabilities

    都以失敗告終

  • of the event you're looking at are infinite.

    你試著把這兩個數學概念放在一起

  • Nonsense, it's not profound,

    它們卻不能和平共處

  • it's just nonsense.

    你從你的研究中

  • It's very ironic because it was the first force

    得到的概率是無窮大

  • to actually be understood

    這毫無意義 不是有多麼深奧

  • in some decent quantitative way.

    而是毫無意義

  • But, but, but it still remains split off

    具有諷刺性的是這是第一個

  • and very different from, from the other ones.

    通過正統的定量方法

  • The laws of nature are supposed to apply everywhere.

    被人們所瞭解的力

  • So if Einstein's laws are supposed to apply everywhere,

    可是它仍然不是一個統一體

  • and the laws of quantum mechanics

    而且和另一個力截然不同

  • are supposed to apply everywhere.

    大自然的定律具有普適性

  • Well you can't have two separate everywhere.

    如果愛因斯坦的定律普適成立

  • In 1933, after fleeing Nazi Germany,

    量子力學

  • Einstein settled in Princeton, New Jersey.

    也普適成立

  • Working in solitude,

    但世界只有一個

  • he stubbornly continued the quest

    1933年 愛因斯坦從納粹德國

  • he had begun more than a decade earlier,

    移居到新澤西的普林斯頓

  • to unite gravity and electromagnetism.

    他獨自一人

  • Every few years, headlines appeared,

    固執地繼續著

  • proclaiming Einstein was on the verge of success.

    他從十多年前就開始了的研究

  • But most of his colleagues believed his quest was misguided

    統一引力和電磁力

  • and that his best days were already behind him.

    每過幾年 報刊頭條上就會聲稱

  • Einstein, in his later years,

    愛因斯坦即將成功

  • got rather detached from the work of

    而他多數的同行都認為他走錯了方向

  • Physics in general and,

    他的輝煌時期也已成歷史

  • and stopped reading people's papers.

    愛因斯坦在他的晚年

  • I didn't even think he knew

    已經和基礎物理研究

  • there was such a thing as the weak nuclear force.

    分道揚鑣

  • He didn't pay attention to those things.

    而且也不再讀別人的論文

  • He kept working on the same problem

    我甚至認為

  • that he had started working on as a younger man.

    他根本不知道弱核力的存在

  • When the community of theoretical physicists

    他不關注那些東西

  • begins to probe the atom,

    他一直堅持著

  • Einstein very definitely gets left out of the picture.

    自己從早些年就開始的研究

  • He, in some sense,

    當理論物理學界

  • chooses not to look at the physics

    開始研究原子的時候

  • coming from these experiments.

    愛因斯坦顯然已經脫離了這個圈子

  • That means that the laws of quantum mechanics

    從某種意義上

  • play no role in his sort of further investigations.

    他不願去理會那些

  • He's thought to be this doddering,

    實驗證實的結果

  • sympathetic old figure who led an earlier revolution

    這就意味著量子力學理論

  • but somehow fell out of it.

    對他的後期研究沒有絲毫影響

  • It is as if a general who was a master of horse cavalry,

    他晚年的思想有些僵化

  • who has achieved great things as a commander

    一個富有同情心的老人 引領了早年的變革

  • at the beginning of the first world war,

    卻沒有堅持到最後

  • would try to bring mounted cavalry

    就好像一個指揮騎兵隊的將軍

  • into play against the barbwire trenches

    在第一次世界大戰早期

  • and machine guns of the other side.

    取得了卓越的戰績

  • Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955.

    卻試著要指揮騎兵

  • And for many years

    跨越佈滿鐵絲網的戰壕

  • it seemed that Einstein's dream

    跟對面的機槍對抗

  • of unifying the forces in a single theory

    艾伯特·愛因斯坦於1955年4月18日辭世

  • died with him.

    多年以來

  • So the quest for unification becomes a backwater of physics.

    愛因斯坦的

  • By the time of Einstein's death in the '50s,

    將各種力統一於一個理論中的夢想

  • almost no serious physicists

    好像也隨他而去了

  • are engaged in this quest for unification.

    對統一的尋求在物理學界也停滯不前

  • In the years since, physics split into two separate camps,

    直到愛因斯坦去世的50年代

  • One that uses general relativity

    幾乎沒有正統物理學家

  • to study big and heavy objects,

    對力的統一進行研究

  • things like stars, galaxies and the universe as a whole.

    從那時起 物理學界分成了兩派

  • And another that uses quantum mechanics

    有些人用廣義相對論

  • to study the tiniest objects,

    研究大而沉的物體

  • like atoms and particles.

    例如星球 星系和整個宇宙

  • This has been kind of like having two families

    而另一派用量子力學

  • that just cannot get along and never talk to each other

    研究最微小的物體

  • living under the same roof.

    像原子和粒子

  • There just seemed to be no way to combine quantum mechanics

    這有點像兩個家庭

  • and general relativity in a single theory

    即使住在同一屋簷下

  • that could describe the universe on all scales.

    卻互不搭理 形同陌路

  • Now, in spite of this,

    好像真的沒有辦法將量子力學

  • we've made tremendous progress

    和廣義相對論統一在一個理論中

  • in understanding the universe.

    從而能從各種角度解釋萬物

  • But there's a catch,

    如今 儘管如此

  • There are strange realms of the cosmos

    我們仍然在理解萬物的進程中

  • that will never be fully understood

    取得了巨大的進展

  • until we find a unified theory.

    但是有一個問題

  • And nowhere is this more evident

    在我們找到一個統一的理論前

  • than in the depths of a black hole.

    廣褒的宇宙中總會有陌生的領域

  • A German astronomer named Karl Schwarzschild

    我們不會徹底知曉

  • first proposed what we now call black holes in 1916.

    在這點上 再沒有比黑洞

  • While stationed on the front lines in World War I,

    更有說服力的了

  • he solved the equations of Einstein's general relativity

    一個叫卡爾·史瓦西的德國天文學家

  • in a new and puzzling way.

    在1916年第一個提出了現在所謂的黑洞

  • Between calculations of artillery trajectories,

    駐紮在第一次世界大戰前線期間

  • Schwarzschild figured out that an enormous amount of mass,

    他通過一種新的複雜的方式

  • like that of a very dense star,

    發現了廣義相對論中愛因斯坦方程的解

  • concentrated in a small area,

    通過對彈道的計算

  • would warp the fabric of space-time so severely that nothing,

    史瓦西領悟到把一個巨大質量

  • not even light, could escape its gravitational pull.

    比如一個密度很大的恆星

  • For decades,

    集中在一個很小的範圍內

  • physicists were skeptical

    就會使時空極度變形 致使所有物質

  • that Schwarz child』s calculations

    包括光 都無法逃脫它的引力場

  • were anything more than theory.

    之後幾十年

  • But today

    物理學家們一直懷疑

  • satellite telescopes probing deep into space

    史瓦西的計算

  • are discovering regions with enormous gravitational pull

    只是存在於理論中

  • that most scientists believe are black holes.

    可是如今

  • Schwarz child』s theory now seems to be reality.

    通過太空望遠鏡對宇宙深處的觀測

  • So here's the question,

    發現了產生巨大引力的區域

  • If you're trying to figure out

    多數科學家認為那些就是黑洞

  • what happens in the depths of a black hole,

    現在看來史瓦西的理論是現實存在的

  • where an entire star is crushed to a tiny speck,

    那麼問題就來了

  • do you use general relativity

    如果你試圖弄清楚

  • because the star is incredibly heavy

    一顆恆星坍縮成黑洞

  • or quantum mechanics

    那裡到底發生了什麼

  • because it's incredibly tiny?

    你是會用廣義相對論

  • Well, that's the problem.

    因為恆星是質量巨大的

  • Since the center of a black hole is both tiny and heavy,

    還是用量子力學

  • you can't avoid using both theories at the same time.

    因為它的體積又是極其微小的

  • And when we try to put the two theories together

    這就是問題所在

  • in the realm of black holes,

    因為黑洞中心既質量巨大又體積微小

  • they conflict. It breaks down.

    你不可避免的得同時用這兩種理論

  • They give nonsensical predictions.

    而當我們把這兩種理論

  • And the universe is not nonsensical; it's got to make sense.

    都放到黑洞的研究中

  • Quantum mechanics works really well for small things,

    衝突發生了 研究無法進行

  • and general relativity works

    它們給出的是毫無意義的預測

  • really well for stars and galaxies.

    而宇宙不會沒有意義 一定有它存在的道理

  • But the atoms, the small things, and the galaxies,

    量子力學對小的物體很有效

  • they're part of the same universe.

    而廣義相對論

  • So there has to be some description

    能很好的解釋星球和星系

  • that applies to everything.

    可是小到原子 大到星系

  • So we can't have one description for atoms and one for stars.

    都是這個世界的組成部分

  • Now, with string theory,

    所以一定存在一種解釋

  • we think we may have found a way

    可以說明所有

  • to unite our theory of the large and our theory of the small.

    我們不能把對原子和星球的解釋割裂開來

  • And make sense of the universe at all scales and all places.

    現在有了弦理論

  • Instead of a multitude of tiny particles,

    我們認為我們找到了

  • string theory proclaims that everything in the universe,

    將研究大物體和小物體的理論統一的方法

  • all forces and all matter is made of one single ingredient,

    使這個宇宙在各個角度看起來都有意義

  • tiny vibrating strands of energy known as strings.

    摒棄了從眾多粒子出發的角度

  • A string can wiggle in many different ways,

    弦理論聲稱宇宙萬物

  • whereas, of course, a point can't.

    所有能量所有物質都是由一種元素組成

  • And the different ways in which the string wiggles

    微小的帶能震盪細絲 也就是所謂的弦

  • represent the different kinds of elementary particles.

    一條弦能以不同方式振動

  • It's like a violin string,

    當然一個點就做不到

  • and it can vibrate just like violin strings can vibrate.

    不同振動的弦

  • Each note if, you like, describes a different particle.

    就代表了不同的基本粒子

  • So it has incredible unification power,

    就像小提琴的弦

  • It unifies our understanding

    就像小提琴的弦一樣可以振動

  • of all these different kinds of particles.

    每一個音符就能描述一種粒子

  • So unity of the different forces and particles is achieved

    所以它具有非凡的統一能力

  • because they all come from different kinds of

    它統一了

  • vibrations of the same basic string.

    我們對這些不同粒子的認識

  • It's a simple idea with far-reaching consequences.

    自然 不同的力和粒子就被統一了

  • What string theory does is it holds out the promise that,

    因為它們都來自於

  • "look, we can really understand questions that

    基本的弦的不同振動

  • you might not even have thought were scientific questions:

    理論雖然簡單 但卻意義深遠

  • questions about how the universe began,

    弦理論給了人們這樣一種前景

  • why the universe is the way it is

    瞧 我們能從最基本層面上解釋這些問題

  • at the most fundamental level".

    你可能甚至不認為它是科學問題

  • The idea that a scientific theory

    那就是宇宙是如何形成的

  • that we already have in our hands

    宇宙為什麼

  • could answer the most basic questions

    是這個樣子

  • is extremely seductive.

    我們可以利用

  • But this seductive new theory is also controversial.

    手中已有的科學理論

  • Strings, if they exist, are so small,

    來解釋最基本的問題

  • there's little hope of ever seeing one.

    這是令人嚮往的

  • String theory and string theorists do have a real problem.

    但是這迷人的弦理論也是有爭議的

  • How do you actually test string theory?

    微小的弦 如果真的存在

  • If you can't test it in the way that we test normal theories,

    幾乎沒有可能看見

  • it's not science, it's philosophy,

    弦理論和其研究者確實面臨著現實問題

  • and that's a real problem.

    你怎麼來驗證弦理論

  • If string theory fails to provide a testable prediction,

    如果不能像對正常理論那樣進行驗證

  • then nobody should believe it.

    那就不是科學 而是哲學

  • On the other hand,

    這確實是個問題

  • there is a kind of elegance to these things,

    如果無法對弦理論進行實驗性論證

  • and given the history of

    人們就不能接受它

  • how theoretical physics has evolved thus far.

    另一方面

  • It is totally conceivable

    它也有一定的積極作用

  • that some if not all of

    它告訴歷史

  • these ideas will turn out to be correct.

    當今的理論物理發展到何種程度

  • I think, a hundred years from now,

    完全有可能

  • this particular period,

    至少這些想法中的一些

  • when most of the brightest young theoretical physicists

    最終會是正確的

  • worked on string theory,

    我相信 一百年後

  • will be remembered as a heroic age

    這段特殊的時期

  • when theorists tried and succeeded

    會被那些從事弦科學研究的

  • to develop a unified theory of all the phenomena of nature.

    最聰明的年輕的科學家們

  • On the other hand, it may be remembered as a tragic failure.

    當做一個偉大的時代來緬懷

  • My guess is

    因為這個時代的理論學家們嘗試並成功的

  • that it will be something like the former

    提出了一個統一大自然所有現象的理論

  • rather than the latter.

    也有可能 它會以可悲的失敗被歷史記住

  • But ask me a hundred years from now,

    我估計

  • then I can tell you.

    應該會是前者

  • Our understanding of the universe has come

    而不是後者

  • an enormously long way during the last three centuries.

    還是一百年後再問我吧

  • Just consider this.

    我會給出你答案

  • Newton,

    我們從3百年前就開始了

  • who was perhaps the greatest scientist of all time, once said,

    對宇宙的漫長探索

  • "I have been like a boy playing on the sea shore,

    想想看

  • diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble

    艾薩克·牛頓

  • or a prettier shell than usual,

    也許是前無古人後無來者最偉大的科學家

  • while the great ocean of truth lay before me,

    他說 我曾經像個在海邊玩耍的孩子

  • all undiscovered."

    時不時因為找到一塊光滑的鵝卵石

  • And yet,

    或者一個美麗的貝殼而沾沾自喜

  • two hundred and fifty years later,

    而對於展現在我眼前的浩瀚的真理之海

  • Albert Einstein, who was Newton's true successor,

    卻全然沒有發現

  • was able to seriously suggest that this vast ocean,

    然而

  • all the laws of nature,

    250年後

  • might be reduced to a few fundamental ideas

    艾伯特·愛因斯坦 牛頓毫無爭議的繼任者

  • expressed by a handful of mathematical symbols.

    正式的提出 這片充滿大自然法則的

  • And today,

    浩瀚海洋

  • a half century after Einstein's death,

    可以簡化為幾個基本的

  • we may at last be on the verge

    只用幾個數學符號就能表達的理論

  • of fulfilling his dream of unification

    如今

  • with string theory.

    愛因斯坦去世半個世紀後

  • But where did this daring and strange new theory come from?

    我們終於就要

  • How does string theory achieve

    利用弦理論來實現

  • the ultimate unification of the laws of the large

    他對力的統一的夢想

  • and the laws of the small?

    但是這個大膽新奇的理論從何而來

  • And how will we know if it's right or wrong?

    弦理論到底最終如何

  • No experiment can ever check up what's going on

    把大世界的法則和小世界的法則

  • at the distances that are being studied.

    統一起來

  • The theory is permanently safe.

    還有我們怎麼知道它是對是錯

  • Is that a theory of physics or a philosophy?

    沒有實驗能在

  • It isn't written in the stars that we're going to succeed.

    如此量級進行

  • But in the end

    所以這個理論不會被推翻

  • We hope we will have a single theory

    那麼它到底是物理理論還是哲學理論呢

  • that governs everything.

    星星上也沒寫著我們將會成功

Now, on nova,

現在 和NOVA一起

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