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  • It's a little known secret

    第二部 萬物之弦

  • But for more than half a century

    優雅的宇宙

  • A dark cloud has been looming over modern science.

    有個不為人所知的秘密

  • Here is the problem

    半個多世紀以來

  • Our understanding of the universe

    近代科學一直為烏雲籠罩

  • Is based on two separate theories.

    問題就在於

  • One is Einstein's general theory of relativity

    我們對宇宙的認知

  • That's a way of understanding The biggest things in the universe,

    是基於兩套不同的理論

  • Things like stars and galaxies.

    一套是愛因斯坦的廣義相對論

  • But the littlest things in the universe,

    描述的是宇宙間最龐大的物質

  • Atoms and subatomic particles,

    像星球跟星系

  • Play by an entirely different set of rules called,

    但宇宙中最微小的物質

  • "quantum mechanics."

    原子跟亞原子粒子

  • These two sets of rules

    則遵循另一種截然不同的定律

  • Are each incredibly accurate in their own domain

    那就是"量子力學"

  • But whenever we try to combine them,

    這兩種定律

  • To solve some of the deepest mysteries in the universe,

    在各自的領域都準確無疑

  • Disaster strikes.

    但一旦嘗試將其合二為一

  • Take the beginning of the universe, the "big bang."

    去探索宇宙的終極奧秘時

  • At that instant a tiny nugget erupted violently.

    災難降臨了

  • Over the next 14 billion years the universe expanded And cooled

    以宇宙誕生之初 也就是"大爆炸"為例

  • into the stars, Galaxies and planets we see today.

    在那一刻 極小的一點猛烈地爆發

  • But if we run the cosmic film in reverse,

    經過140億年 宇宙不斷膨脹 冷卻

  • Everything that's now rushing apart comes back together

    形成了現在所見的恆星 星系和行星

  • So the universe gets smaller, hotter and denser

    但如果我們將宇宙誕生膠片倒轉

  • as we head back to the beginning of time.

    讓所有分裂的物質再度聚合

  • As we reach the big bang,

    宇宙將一直變小 變熱 密度變大

  • When the universe was both enormously heavy And incredibly tiny

    我們將回到時間誕生之初

  • our projector jams.

    抵達大爆炸那一刻時

  • Our two laws of physics, when combined, break down.

    宇宙的質量無窮大而體積無窮小

  • But what if we could unite quantum mechanics

    放映機將停滯於此

  • And general relativity

    一旦這兩套物理定律在此相逢 便會決裂

  • And see the cosmic film in its entirety?

    可要是我們能將量子力學

  • A new set of ideas called "string theory"

    跟廣義相對論成功合併

  • May be able to do that.

    再整體來看宇宙膠片會如何呢

  • And if it's right,

    一種叫做"弦理論"的全新學說

  • It would be one of the biggest blockbusters In the history of science.

    或許能達到目的

  • Someday, string theory may be able to explain all of nature

    如果成功

  • From the tiniest bits of matter

    將是科學史上最轟動事件之一

  • To the farthest reaches of the cosmos,

    日後 弦理論或許能解釋自然界中的一切

  • Using just one ingredient, tiny vibrating strands of energy

    從物質最微小的部分

  • called strings.

    到茫茫宇宙最遙遠的地方

  • But why do we have to rewrite the laws of physics to accomplish this?

    只用一種元素 微小振搗的能量

  • Why does it matter if the two laws That we have are incompatible?

    叫作弦

  • Well, you can think of it like this.

    為何我們要為此改寫物理學定律

  • Imagine you lived in a city ruled not

    兩套定律互不相容有何要緊

  • By one set of traffic laws,

    可以這樣試想

  • But by two separate sets of laws that conflicted with each other.

    假設你住的城市

  • As you can see it would be pretty confusing.

    不是被一種交通規則支配

  • To understand this place, You'd need to find a way

    而是遵循兩套互相矛盾的規則

  • To put those two conflicting sets of laws together

    你就會看到 情形會多混亂

  • Into one all-encompassing set that makes sense.

    為瞭解宇宙 必須找到一種辦法

  • We work on the assumption that there is a theory out there,

    將兩套矛盾的定律

  • And it's our job,

    歸納為一套具有普適性的定律

  • If we're sufficiently smart and sufficiently industrious,

    我們在努力證實存在這樣一套理論

  • To figure out what it is.

    這就是我們的工作

  • We don't have a guarantee

    如果我們足夠聰明和勤奮

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

    就能找到它

  • But in the end

    我們不能保證

  • We hope we will have a single theory

    成功是板上釘釘的事

  • That governs everything.

    但說到底

  • But before we can find that theory,

    我們希望能找到唯一的一套理論

  • We need to take a fantastic journey

    適用於萬事萬物

  • To see why the two sets of laws We have

    在找到那種理論之前

  • conflict with each other.

    我們要先來一次奇幻旅程

  • And the first stop on this strange trip

    看看為何現有的兩套定律

  • Is the realm of very large objects.

    會互相衝突

  • To describe the universe on large scales

    奇妙旅程的第一站

  • We use one set of lawsEinstein's general theory of relativity,

    是龐然大物的國度

  • And that's a theory of how gravity works.

    從宏觀角度描述宇宙時

  • General relativity pictures space as sort of like a trampoline

    我們會用愛因斯坦的廣義相對論

  • A smooth fabric

    它描述了引力是如何運作的

  • that heavy objects like stars and planets can warp and stretch.

    廣義相對論描繪的宇宙像一張蹦床

  • Now, according to the theory,

    一片光滑的結構

  • These warps and curves create what we feel as gravity.

    重物如恆星和行星可以扭曲和擴張

  • That isThe gravitational pull that keeps the earth In orbit around the sun

    根據這套理論

  • Is really nothing more than our planet Following the curves and contours

    這些空間的扭曲讓我們感覺到了所謂的引力

  • that the sun creates in the spatial fabric.

    就是說 保持地球在繞日軌道運行的引力

  • But the smooth, Gently curving image of space

    只是地球在太陽製造的扭曲和波紋

  • predicted By the laws of general relativity

    形成的特殊空間結構上的運動而已

  • is not the whole story.

    但廣義相對論裡預言的

  • To understand the universe on extremely small scales,

    平滑而起伏有致的空間

  • We have to use our other set of laws, quantum mechanics.

    並不是宇宙的全部

  • And as we'll see,

    要以極微觀的角度理解宇宙

  • Quantum mechanics paints a picture of space

    我們得用上另一套定律 量子力學

  • So drastically different from general relativity

    如我們即將所見

  • That you'd think they were describing

    量子力學描繪的宇宙畫卷

  • two completely separate universes.

    與廣義相對論的大不相同

  • To see the conflict between general relativity

    甚至被認為二者描繪的是

  • And quantum mechanics

    兩個完全不同的宇宙

  • We need to shrink way, way, way down in size.

    要瞭解廣義相對論

  • And as we leave the world of large objects behind

    與量子力學之間的矛盾

  • And approach the microscopic realm,

    我們要變得 很小很小

  • The familiar picture of space In which everything behaves predictably

    在我們離開龐然大物的世界

  • Begins to be replaced by a world

    來到微觀粒子領域時

  • With a structure that is far less certain.

    那幅萬物皆可預知的熟悉宇宙圖畫

  • And if we keep shrinking,

    將逐漸被一個

  • Getting billions and billion of times

    結構極不確定的世界取代

  • Smaller than even the tiniest bits of matter

    如果我們繼續縮小

  • Atoms and the tiny particles inside of them

    變得比最小的物質

  • The laws of the very small, quantum mechanics,

    原子和原子中的微觀粒子

  • Say that the fabric of space becomes bumpy and chaotic.

    還小上幾十億倍

  • Eventually we reach a world

    描述微觀世界的量子力學表示

  • So turbulent that it defies common sense.

    這時空間結構將變得波動而混亂

  • Down here,

    最終我們來到了這個

  • Space and time are so twisted and distorted

    喧囂而又違背常理的世界

  • That the conventional ideas of left and right, up and down,

    在這裡

  • Even before and after, break down.

    時間跟空間被扭曲變形

  • There's no way to tell for certain that I'm here,

    傳統概念中的 左右 上下

  • Or here or both places at once.

    甚至是時間的前後 都不復存在

  • Or maybe I arrived here before I arrived here.

    這個世界裡 無法確定我是在這裡

  • In the quantum world you just can't pin everything down.

    在這裡 還是同時處於兩個地方

  • It's an inherently wild and frenetic place.

    又或者我來這裡之前 已經到了這裡

  • The laws in the quantum world

    在量子的世界裡 沒什麼是確知無疑的

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

    這是個放蕩不羈 難以捉摸的地方

  • And is that surprising?

    量子世界的定律

  • Why should the world of the very small, at an atomic level,

    與我們習慣的定律截然不同

  • Why should that world obey the same kind of rules and laws

    是不是非常令人驚訝

  • that we are used to in our world, With apples and oranges

    為何原子層面的超微觀世界

  • And walking around on the street?

    卻同樣遵守著

  • Why would that world behave the same way?

    這個我們習慣的 有蘋果橙子

  • The fluctuating jittery picture of space and time predicted

    還有人在街上走的世界的規則呢

  • By quantum mechanics

    為何那個世界與我們的世界表現相同

  • is in direct conflict With the smooth, orderly,

    這個時間跟空間劇烈動盪

  • Geometric model of space and time

    由量子力學預言的世界

  • described by general relativity.

    與那個平穩的 有條理的

  • But we think that everything,

    廣義相對論描繪的幾何時空模型

  • From the frantic dance of subatomic particles

    格格不入

  • To the majestic swirl of galaxies,

    但我們認為 宇宙萬物

  • Should be explained by just one grand physical principle,

    從亞原子粒子的瘋狂躍動

  • One master equation.

    到星系的瑰麗漩渦

  • If we can find that equation,

    應該由一套普適的物理學定律解釋

  • How the universe really works at every time and place

    由一個主方程描述

  • Will at last be revealed.

    若我們能找出這個方程

  • You see,

    宇宙在何時何地如何運行的奧秘

  • What we need is a theory

    終將揭曉

  • That can cope with the very tiny and the very massive,

    你知道了

  • One that embraces both quantum mechanics and general relativity,

    我們需要的是一套

  • And never breaks down, ever.

    能在微觀和宏觀通用的理論

  • For physicists,

    一套包含了量子力學和廣義相對論

  • Finding a theory that unites general relativity

    永不崩潰的理論

  • And quantum mechanics is the holy grail,

    對物理學家來說

  • Because that framework would give us a single mathematical theory

    這套合併廣義相對論

  • That describes all the forces that rule our universe.

    和量子力學的理論就像聖盃

  • General relativity describes

    因為這套體系能帶來一套數學理論

  • The most familiar of those gravity.

    可以描述所有規範宇宙的作用力

  • The quantum mechanics describes three other forces.

    廣義相對論描述的是

  • The strong nuclear force

    最為熟悉的作用力 重力

  • That's responsible for gluing protons and neutrons together inside of atoms;

    量子力學則描述另外三種作用力

  • Electromagnetism,

    強核力

  • which produces light, Electricity and magnetic attraction;

    能使質子和中子在原子內結合

  • And the nuclear forces.

    電磁力

  • That's the force responsible for radioactive decay.

    能產生光 電 和磁吸引

  • Every event in the universe

    還有核力

  • From the splitting of a atom, to the birth of a star

    能導致輻射衰變

  • Is nothing more than these four forces into acting with manner

    宇宙中的所有現象

  • Albert Einstein spent the last 30 years Of his life

    從原子的分裂 到恆星的誕生

  • searching For a way to describe the forces Of nature

    都不外乎是這幾種力的相互作用

  • in a single theory,

    阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦 用他最後30年

  • And now string theory may fulfill

    尋找能將自然界的所有作用力

  • His dream of unification.

    用單一理論描述的方法

  • For centuries,

    現在 弦理論也許能夠實現

  • Scientists have pictured the fundamental ingredients of nature

    他理論大統一的夢想

  • atoms and the smaller particles inside of them

    幾個世紀以來

  • As tiny balls or points.

    科學家們把自然界的最基本元素

  • But string theory proclaims

    原子和原子內的微觀粒子

  • That at the heart of every bit of matter

    描繪為是小球體 或小點

  • is a tiny, Vibrating strand of energy called a string.

    但弦理論宣告

  • And a new breed of scientist believes

    一切物質的核心

  • These miniscule strings

    都是微小振動的能量物質 叫做弦

  • Are the key to uniting the world of the large

    新一代的科學家相信

  • And the world of the small in a single theory.

    這些微小弦就是

  • The idea that a scientific theory That we already have in our hands

    將宏觀跟微觀世界用一種理論

  • could answer the most basic questions

    統一起來的關鍵

  • Is extremely seductive.

    這種我們已掌握的科學理論

  • For about 2,000 years,

    可以解決大部分基本問題

  • All of our physics essentially has been based on...

    這十分誘人

  • Essentially we were talking about billiard balls.

    差不多2000年來

  • The very idea of the string is such a paradigm shift,

    所有物理學精髓都基於

  • Because instead of billiard balls,

    我們所謂的桌球理論

  • You have to use little strands of spaghetti.

    弦這個想法 是一次概念的轉換

  • But not everyone is enamored of this new theory.

    不再是桌球

  • So far no experiment has been devised that

    而是一條條意面

  • Can prove these tiny strings exist.

    但並不是所有人都傾心於這個理論

  • And let me put it bluntly.

    目前為止

  • There are physicists and there are string theorists.

    沒有實驗能證明這些微小弦的存在

  • It is a new discipline,

    恕我直言

  • A newyou may call it a tumor

    現在有物理學家 還有弦理論家

  • ——you can call it what you will,

    這是一種新的學說

  • But they have focused on questions

    你可以稱之為"腫瘤"

  • Which experiment cannot address.

    隨你怎麼叫

  • They will deny that, These string theorists,

    但他們關注的問題

  • But it's a kind of physics which is not yet testable,

    無法用實驗證明

  • It does not make predictions that have anything

    弦理論家可能會否認

  • To do with experiments that can be done in the laboratory or

    但這一尚未驗證的物理學分支

  • With observations that could be made in space or from telescopes.

    其所做出的預測

  • And I was brought up to believe, and I still believe,

    與實驗室裡的實驗

  • That physics is an experimental science.

    和望遠鏡的太空觀測 無任何關係

  • It deals with the results to experiments,

    我的所學讓我直到現在仍相信

  • Or in the case of astronomy, observations.

    物理學是一門實驗科學

  • From the start, many scientists thought

    實驗出結論

  • String theory was simply too far out.

    在天文領域 就靠觀察星體

  • And frankly,

    一開始 很多科學家認為

  • The strange way the theory evolvedin a series of twists,

    弦理論太脫離現實了

  • Turns and accidentsonly made it seem more unlikely.

    坦白說

  • In fact, even it's birth has turned something . which goes like this

    這套理論的演化過程

  • In the late 1960s

    異乎尋常 充滿巧合 令人更加難以置信

  • a young Italian physicist,

    就連它的誕生 也成了傳奇

  • Named Gabriele venetian,

    十九世紀六十年代晚期

  • Was searching for a set of equations

    一位年輕的意大利物理學家

  • That would explain the strong nuclear force,

    伽布利耶·威尼采亞諾

  • The extremely powerful glue that

    在尋找一個方程組

  • Holds the nucleus of every atom together

    用來描述強核力

  • Binding protons to neutrons.

    也就是在原子核內

  • As the story goes,

    使每個原子內的質子和中子

  • He happened on a dusty book on the history of mathematics,

    緊密結合的強力膠水

  • And in it he found a 200-year old equation,

    據說某天

  • First written down by a Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler.

    他無意間在一本滿是灰塵的數學史書中

  • Veneziano was amazed to discover

    找到一組200年前的舊方程式

  • that Euler』s equations, Long thought to be nothing More than a mathematical curiosity,

    最先由瑞士數學家萊昂哈德·歐拉寫下

  • Seemed to describe the strong force.

    威尼采亞諾驚訝地發現

  • He quickly published a paper and was famous

    這組被視為數學遊戲的歐拉方程

  • Ever after for this "accidental" discovery.

    竟然似乎能用來描述強核力

  • I see occasionally, written in books,

    他很快發表了一篇論文

  • That, uh, that this model was invented by chance or was, ,

    並因這次意外發現 一舉成名

  • Found in the math book

    我偶然在書裡看到

  • ,,this makes me feel pretty bad.

    這模型是機緣巧合地

  • What is true

    在數學書裡被發現的

  • Is that the function was the outcome of a long year of work,

    這讓我很不高興

  • And we accidentally discovered string theory.

    實際情況是

  • However it was discovered, Euler』s equation,

    伽瑪函數真的是一整年科學研究的成果嗎

  • Which miraculously explained the strong force,

    我們就偶然地發現了弦理論

  • Took on a life of its own.

    不管歐拉方程是怎樣被發現的

  • This was the birth of string theory.

    它奇跡般地解釋了強核力

  • Passed from colleague to colleague,

    展現了其理論價值

  • Euler's equation ended up on the chalkboard

    弦理論就此誕生

  • In front of a young American physicist, Leonard Susskind.

    通過學者間的不斷流傳

  • To this day I remember the formula.

    歐拉方程最終來到一位年輕

  • The formula was...

    美國物理學家面前 李奧納特·蘇士侃

  • And I looked at it, and I said,

    至今我仍記得這個方程

  • "this is so simple even I can figure out what this is."

    它是這樣的

  • Susskind retreated to his attic to investigate.

    我剛看著它時說到

  • He understood that this ancient formula described

    這太簡單了 連我都能弄明白

  • The strong force mathematically,

    蘇士侃躲進自己的閣樓潛心研究

  • But beneath the abstract symbols

    他認識到這個古老的方程

  • He had caught a glimpse of something new.

    從數學角度描述了強核力

  • And I fiddled with it, I moneyed with it.

    而透過抽像的符號

  • I sat in my attic, I think for two months on and off.

    他發現了一些新的東西

  • But the first thing I could see in it,

    我用各種方法不斷擺弄這個方程

  • It was describing some kind of particles

    坐在閣樓裡 思索了將近兩個月

  • Which had internal structure which could vibrate,

    我得出的第一個結論是

  • Which could do things, which wasn't just a point particle.

    這個方程在描述一種粒子

  • And I began to realize that what was being described here was a string,

    這種粒子存在內部結構 它可以震動

  • An elastic string, like a rubber band,

    它有一定功能 而不僅僅是一個點粒子

  • Or like a rubber band cut in half.

    後來我逐漸認識到 方程所描述的是一種弦

  • And this rubber band could not only stretch and contract,

    一種有彈性的弦 如同橡皮圈

  • But wiggle.

    或者是剪斷的橡皮圈

  • And marvel of marvels, it exactly agreed with this formula.

    它不僅能夠伸長和收縮

  • I was pretty sure at that time That I was the only one in the world who knew this.

    還可以搖擺

  • Susskind wrote up his discovery

    更神奇的是 它完全符合這個方程

  • Introducing the revolutionary idea of strings.

    當時我確信 世界上只有我知道這件事

  • But before his paper could be published

    蘇士侃詳細記錄下了他的發現

  • It had to be reviewed by a panel of experts.

    介紹這一革命性的關於弦的構想

  • I was completely convinced that when it came back it was going to say,

    但在發表之前

  • "Susskind is the next Einstein," or maybe even,

    他的論文還需通過專家組的評審

  • "the next Newton." and it came back saying,

    那時我堅信反饋信息一定會是

  • "this paper』s not very good, Probably shouldn't be published."

    "蘇士侃就是下一個愛因斯坦" 甚或是

  • I was truly knocked off my chair.

    "下一個牛頓" 然而事實卻是

  • I was depressed, I was unhappy.

    這篇論文不夠優秀 恐怕不能發表

  • I was saddened by it.

    我真是驚呆了

  • It made me a nervous wreck,

    既傷心又沮喪

  • And the result was I went home and got drunk.

    心裡非常難受

  • As Susskind drowned his sorrows

    這個打擊把我折磨得夠嗆

  • Over the rejection of his far out idea,

    結果我跑回家喝得酩酊大醉

  • It appeared string theory was dead.

    當蘇士侃借酒澆愁

  • Meanwhile, mainstream science

    為他的前衛想法被否定而痛心時

  • Was embracing particles as points, not strings.

    弦理論也宣告死亡

  • For decades,

    當時 主流科學

  • Physicists had been exploring the behavior of microscopic particles

    認為粒子是點 而不是弦

  • By smashing them together at high speeds

    幾十年來

  • And studying those collisions.

    物理學家們對微觀粒子特性的探究

  • In the showers of particles produced,

    都是通過讓粒子高速對撞

  • They were discovering that nature is far richer than they thought.

    並對碰撞進行研究

  • Once a month there'd be a discovery of a new particle:

    而碰撞後大量傾瀉的粒子

  • The rho meson, the omega particle, the b particle,

    讓他們認識到 大自然遠比他們所想複雜

  • The b1 particle, the b2 particle, phi, omega...

    每個月都能發現一種新粒子

  • More letters were used than exist in most alphabets.

    ρ介子 Ω粒子 b粒子

  • It was a population explosion of particles.

    b1粒子 b2粒子 φ Ω

  • It was a time when graduate students

    字母表上的字母已經不夠用了

  • Would run through the halls of a physics building

    那簡直就是粒子界的人口爆炸

  • Saying they discovered another particle,

    那時研究生們常常

  • And it fit the theories. and it was all so exciting.

    在物理系的大廳裡邊跑邊喊

  • And in this zoo of new particles,

    我又發現了一種新的粒子

  • Scientists weren't just discovering building blocks of matter.

    它符合理論設想 這太令人激動了

  • Leaving string theory in the dust,

    在這個新粒子大家庭中

  • physicists made a startling and strange prediction:

    科學家們不僅發現了事物的構成

  • That the forces of nature

    摒棄弦理論的物理學家們

  • Can also be explained by particles.

    還做出了一個奇特而驚人的預言

  • Now, this is a really weird idea,

    自然界的作用力

  • But it's kind of like a game of catch

    也可以通過粒子進行解釋

  • In which the players like me

    這真是一個奇怪的想法

  • And me are particles of matter.

    不過就像傳接球遊戲

  • And the ball we're throwing back and forth

    在遊戲中 像我這樣的選手

  • Is a particle of force.

    還有我 都是物質粒子

  • It's called a messenger particle.

    而我們來回傳遞的球

  • For example, in the case of magnetism,

    就是作用力粒子

  • The electromagnetic forcethis ballwould be a photon.

    稱作媒介子

  • The more of these messenger particles or photons That are exchanged between us,

    用磁性來舉個例子

  • The stronger the magnetic attraction.

    電磁作用的媒介子是光子 就像這個球

  • And scientists predicted

    這種光子媒介子傳遞越頻繁

  • That it's this exchange of messenger particles

    磁性吸引就越大

  • That creates what we feel as force.

    科學家們還預言

  • Experiments confirmed these predictions

    正是這種媒介子的交換

  • With the discovery of the messenger particles for electromagnetism,

    產生了我們所感知到的作用力

  • The strong force and the weak force.

    實驗證實了上述假設

  • And using these newly discovered particles

    還發現了電磁作用中的媒介子

  • Scientists were closing in

    強作用和弱作用媒介子

  • On Einstein's dream of unifying the forces.

    借助這些新發現的粒子

  • Particle physicists reasoned that

    科學家們得以接近

  • If we rewind the cosmic film

    愛因斯坦整合所有作用力的夢想

  • To the moments just after the big bang,

    粒子物理學家稱

  • Some 14 billion years ago

    如果將回溯宇宙歷史到

  • When the universe was trillions of degrees hotter,

    大爆炸發生的時刻

  • The messenger particles for electromagnetism

    也就是大約140億年前

  • And the weak force would have been indistinguishable.

    那時宇宙的溫度比現在高出幾兆度

  • Just as cubes of ice melt into water in the hot sun,

    媒介子產生的電磁力

  • Experiments show that as we rewind

    和弱作用力必定難以區分

  • To the extremely hot conditions of the big bang,

    就像在太陽照射下冰塊會融化

  • The weak and electromagnetic forces meld together

    實驗證明 當我們回到

  • And unite into a single force called "the electroweak."

    大爆炸時期的超高溫度下

  • And physicists believe

    弱作用力和電磁力將溶為一體

  • That if you roll the cosmic film back even further,

    形成一個單一的力 稱為"弱電作用力"

  • The electroweak would unite with the strong force

    並且物理學家們相信

  • In one grand "super-force."

    如果將宇宙膠片回溯到更早

  • Although that has yet to be proven,

    弱電作用力將會和強作用力結合

  • quantum mechanics was able to explain how three of the forces

    形成一個巨大的"超級作用力"

  • operate On the subatomic level.

    儘管這一假設還未被證實

  • And all of a sudden

    量子力學卻能夠解釋這三種力

  • We had a consistent theory of elementary particle physics,

    在亞原子級別是如何運作的

  • which allows us to describe all of the interactions

    突然之間

  • weak, strong and electromagneticin the same language.

    我們有了一種基本粒子物理學的普適理論

  • It all made sense, and it's all in the textbooks.

    我們能用它解釋所有相互作用力

  • Everything was converging

    強作用力 弱作用力和電磁作用力

  • Toward a simple picture of the known particles and forces,

    它都能說得通 並且已經編入了課本

  • A picture which eventually became known

    萬事萬物全部被

  • As the "standard model."

    已知的粒子和作用力簡單表示

  • I think I gave it that name.

    最終人們稱其為

  • The inventors of the standard model, both the name and the theory,

    標準模型

  • Were the toasts of the scientific community,

    這是我起的名字

  • Receiving Nobel prize after Nobel prize.

    標準模型這一名稱和理論的創造者

  • But behind the fanfare was a glaring omission.

    成了科學界的紅人

  • Although the standard model explained three of the forces

    他們獲得了一個又一個諾貝爾獎

  • That rule the world of the very small,

    但榮耀背後卻有一個明顯疏漏

  • It did not include the most familiar force,

    雖然標準模型可以解釋三種

  • gravity.

    規範微觀世界的作用力

  • Overshadowed by the standard model,

    卻不能解釋人們最熟悉的一種力

  • String theory became a backwater of physics.

    引力

  • Most people in our community lost, completely, Interest in string theory.

    被標準模型的光環遮蔽

  • "okay, that was a very nice elegant thing

    弦理論如同物理學界的一潭死水

  • But had nothing to do with nature."

    圈內的多數人對弦理論完全失去了興趣

  • It's not taken seriously by much of the community,

    他們說 是的 它很美很精妙

  • But the early pioneers of string theory are convinced

    但它與自然毫無關係

  • That they can smell reality and continue to pursue the idea.

    學術界對它並不重視

  • But the more these diehards delved into string theory

    但弦理論的先驅者們卻堅信

  • The more problems they found.

    真相就在眼前 並繼續追隨這一理論

  • Early string theory had a number of problems.

    但這些頑固分子陷入弦理論越深

  • One was that it predicted a particle which we know is unphysical.

    就發現越多問題

  • It's what's called a "tachyon,"

    早期的弦理論存在很多問題

  • A particle that travels faster than light.

    其一 它預言了一種不存在的粒子

  • There was this discovery that the theory requires ten dimensions,

    它被稱為快子

  • Which is very disturbing, of course

    是一種運動速度超過光速的粒子

  • Since it's obvious that that's more than there are.

    他們還發現弦理論需要十個維度

  • It had this massless particle

    這很惱人

  • Which was not seen in experiments.

    因為顯然 實際上並不存在那麼多維度

  • So these theories didn't seem to make sense.

    它預言了一個無質量的粒子

  • This seemed crazy to people.

    這無法在實驗中證明

  • Basically, string theory was not getting off the ground.

    所以這理論並不說得通

  • People threw up their hands and said, "this can't be right."

    人們覺得這太瘋狂了

  • By 1973,

    基本上 弦理論在當時毫無進展

  • Only a few young physicists were still wrestling

    人們最終放棄了 他們說"這肯定不對"

  • With the obscure equations of string theory.

    到了1973年

  • One was john Schwarz,

    只有少數年輕物理學家還在糾纏

  • Who was busy tackling string theory's numerous problems,

    弦理論難解的方程

  • Among them a mysterious massless particle

    其中之一是約翰·席瓦茲

  • Predicted by the theory but never seen in nature,

    他忙於解決弦理論不計其數的問題

  • And an assortment of anomalies

    包括神秘的無質量粒子

  • Or mathematical inconsistencies.

    弦理論預言了其存在 現實中卻難覓其蹤

  • We spent a long time trying to fiddle with the theory.

    以及各種反常現象

  • We tried all sorts of ways of making the dimension be four,

    既數學上的不一致性

  • Getting rid of these massless particles

    我們花了很長時間擺弄這一理論

  • And the tachyons and so on,

    用了各種方法將維度減到四個

  • But it was always ugly and unconvincing.

    剔除那些無質量粒子

  • For four years,

    還有快子 等等

  • Schwarz tried to tame the unruly equations of string theory,

    但它仍是一團糟 難以令人信服

  • Changing, adjusting,

    四年來

  • Combining and recombining them in different ways.

    席瓦茲不斷試圖征服這個不羈的方程

  • But nothing worked.

    改變 調整

  • On the verge of abandoning string theory,

    組合 重組 嘗試各種方法

  • Schwarz had a brain storm.

    卻無一奏效

  • Perhaps his equations were describing gravity.

    正當他準備放棄的時候

  • But that meant reconsidering the size

    席瓦茲突發靈感

  • Of these tiny strands of energy.

    說不定此方程是描述引力的

  • We weren't thinking about gravity up 'til that point.

    但這就意味著需要重新考慮

  • But as soon as we suggested that

    這幾股作用力的大小

  • Maybe we should be dealing with a theory of gravity,

    這之前我們一直沒有考慮引力

  • We had to radically change our view of how big these strings were.

    當我們想到

  • By supposing that strings were

    這個理論涉及的很可能是引力時

  • A hundred billion billion times smaller than an atom,

    就需要徹底改變原先對弦大小的認識

  • One of the theory's vices became a virtue.

    假設弦要比

  • The mysterious particle john Schwarz

    一個原子小無數億倍

  • Had been trying to get rid of

    弦理論的一個缺陷反而成了優勢

  • Now appeared to be a graviton,

    約翰·席瓦茲一直試圖

  • The long sought after particle

    剔除的神秘粒子

  • Believed to transmit gravity at the quantum level.

    現在卻成了引力子

  • String theory had produced the piece of the puzzle

    它是人們一直尋找的

  • Missing from the standard model.

    在量子級傳輸引力的粒子

  • Schwarz submitted for publication his groundbreaking new theory

    弦理論解開了這一

  • Describing how gravity works in the subatomic world.

    標準模型理論遺漏的謎題

  • It seemed very obvious to us that it was right.

    席瓦茲發表了他開創性的新理論

  • But there was really no reaction in the community whatsoever.

    描述引力在亞原子世界是如何作用的

  • Once again string theory fell on deaf ears.

    我們都覺得它肯定是對的

  • But Schwarz would not be deterred.

    但是學界卻沒有絲毫回音

  • He had glimpsed the holy grail.

    弦理論再一次遭到忽視

  • If strings described gravity at the quantum level,

    席瓦茲並沒有放棄

  • They must be the key to unifying the four forces.

    他已瞥見聖盃一角

  • He was joined in this quest by one of the only other scientists

    如果弦能夠描述量子級別的引力

  • Willing to risk his career on strings,

    那麼它一定是整合四種力的關鍵

  • Michael green.

    只有一位科學家願意與他合作

  • In a sense, I think, We had a quiet confidence

    甘願以職業生涯為賭注研究弦理論

  • That the string theory was obviously correct,

    他就是麥克·格林

  • And it didn't matter much if people didn't see it at that point.

    實際上當時我們確信

  • They would see it down the line.

    弦理論一定是正確的

  • But for green's confidence to pay off,

    即使人們不認可也無關緊要

  • He and Schwarz would have to confront the fact

    他們最終會明白的

  • That in the early 1980s,

    格林的信念要想最終實現

  • String theory still had fatal flaws in the math

    他和席瓦茲還是要面對現實

  • known as "anomalies."

    在二十世紀80年代早期

  • An anomaly is just what it sounds like.

    弦理論還有一個數學上的致命瑕疵

  • It's something that's strange or out of place,

    被稱為"反常"

  • Something that doesn't belong.

    顧名思義

  • Now this kind of anomaly is just weird.

    表示一種奇怪或錯亂的東西

  • But mathematical anomalies can spell doom for a theory of physics.

    一些本不存在的東西

  • They're a little complicated, So here's a simple example.

    這樣的反常僅僅讓人感到奇怪

  • Let's say we have a theory

    而數學上的反常卻能判一個物理理論死刑

  • In which these two equations

    這有點複雜 我們來舉個簡單的例子

  • Describe one physical property of our universe.

    假設有一個理論

  • Now if I solve this equation over here,

    其中兩個方程都描述了

  • And I find x=1,

    宇宙的同一種物理屬性

  • And if I solve this equation over here and find x=2,

    當我解開這個方程

  • I know my theory has anomalies

    求得x等於1

  • Because there should only be one value for x.

    而我解開這個方程求得x等於2

  • Unless I can revise my equations

    這證明我的理論有反常處

  • To get the same value for x on both sides,

    因為x只能有一個值

  • The theory is dead.

    除非我能修改方程

  • In the early 1980s,

    使x的值保持一致

  • String theory was riddled With mathematical anomalies kind of like these,

    否則這個理論就行不通

  • Although the equations were much more complex.

    二十世紀80年代初

  • The future of the theory depended

    弦理論充滿類似於這樣的數學反常

  • On ridding the equations of these fatal inconsistencies.

    只不過弦理論的方程要複雜的多

  • After Schwarz and green battled the anomalies

    弦理論的未來依賴於

  • In string theory for five years,

    能否去除方程中致命的矛盾

  • Their work culminated

    席瓦茲和格林與弦理論中的反常現象

  • late one night in the summer of 1984.

    持續鬥爭了五年之後

  • It was widely believed that

    在1984年一個夏季的深夜

  • These theories must be inconsistent Because of anomalies.

    他們終於迎來了事業的高峰

  • Well, for no really good reason, I just felt that had to be wrong because

    人們普遍認為

  • I, I felt, 「string theory has got to be right,

    這些理論存在反常 肯定就無法自圓其說

  • Therefore there can't be anomalies."

    但是沒什麼理由 我就覺得這樣說不對

  • So we decided, 「weve got to calculate these things."

    我認為弦理論一定是對的

  • Amazingly it all boiled down to a single calculation.

    所以根本不存在反常

  • On one side of the blackboard they got 496.

    所以我們決定計算這些方程

  • And if they got the matching number on the other side

    神奇的是 最終它被簡化為一個算式

  • It would prove string theory was free of anomalies.

    在黑板的一側他們算出496

  • I do remember a particular moment,

    如果在另一側黑板上得出相同的數字

  • When john Schwarz and I were talking at the blackboard

    就能證明弦理論不存在反常

  • And working out these numbers which had to fit,

    我至今仍記得那個特別的時刻

  • And they just had to match exactly.

    約翰·席瓦茲和我在黑板旁一邊交談

  • I remember joking with john Schwarz at that moment,

    一邊計算數字 它應該符合方程

  • Because there was thunder and lightningthere was a big mountain storm in aspen at that moment

    並且與前一個數字一樣

  • And I remember saying something like, you know,

    我記得當時和約翰·席瓦茲開玩笑

  • "we must be getting pretty close, because the gods are trying

    那時阿斯彭山裡下大暴雨 又打雷又閃電

  • To prevent us completing this calculation."

    我記得自己好像說過

  • And, indeed, they did match.

    我們肯定要成功了 因為上帝正試圖

  • The matching numbers meant the theory was free of anomalies.

    阻止咱們把計算完成

  • And it had the mathematical depth

    結果是 兩個數確實一樣

  • To encompass all four forces.

    相符的數字證明這個理論不存在反常

  • So we recognized not only that the strings could describe gravity

    它同時從數理上

  • But they could also describe the other forces.

    整合了四種作用力

  • So we spoke in terms of unification.

    我們發現弦不僅能解釋引力

  • And we saw this as a possibility of realizing the dream

    還能解釋其他的作用力

  • That Einstein had expressed in his later years,

    因此我們能用統一的術語了

  • Of unifying the different forces in some deeper framework.

    這很可能會使愛因斯坦

  • We felt great.

    晚年的夢想成真

  • That was an extraordinary moment,

    用更睿智的基本理論統一不同的力

  • Because we realized that

    感覺真是棒極了

  • No other theory had ever succeeded in doing that.

    那是一個不尋常的時刻

  • But by now, it』s like crying wolf.

    因為我們意識到

  • Each time we had done something,

    其他任何理論都不曾達到這點

  • I figured everyone's going to be excited, and they weren't.

    不過此刻 就像"狼來了"的故事

  • So I, I figured...by now I didn't expect much of a reaction.

    每次我們有了新的進展

  • But this time the reaction was explosive.

    我以為大家會很興奮 而事實卻相反

  • In less than a year, the number of string theorists

    所以我想 這次我不期待凡響強烈了

  • Leapt from just a handful to hundreds.

    然而這次的反響卻是爆炸性的

  • Up to that moment, the longest talk I'd ever given on the subject

    不到一年 弦理論科學家

  • Was five minutes at some minor conference.

    從少數幾個激增到上百個

  • And then, suddenly, I was invited all over the world

    那時候 我關於這個課題的最長演講

  • to give talks and lectures and so forth.

    是5分鐘 在一個小型會議上

  • String theory was christened

    突然間我收到來自世界各地的邀請

  • "the theory of everything."

    讓我去演講或講座等等

  • In early fall of 1984,i came here, to oxford university,

    弦理論被稱之為

  • To begin my graduate studies in physics.

    "萬物至理"

  • Some weeks after,

    1984年秋初 我來到牛津大學

  • I saw a poster for a lecture by Michael green.

    開始我物理學專業的研究生學習

  • I didn't know who he was,

    幾周後

  • But, then again, I really didn't know who anybody was.

    我看到邁克爾·格林演講的海報

  • But the title of the lecture was something like "the theory of everything."

    我不知道他誰

  • so how could I resist?

    其實那時我誰都不認識

  • This elegant new version of string theory

    演講的主題正是"萬物至理"

  • Seemed capable of describing all the building blocks of nature.

    這我怎能拒絕

  • here is how

    這個優雅新穎的弦理論

  • Inside every grain of sand

    似乎能解釋自然界的一切物質結構

  • Are billions of tiny atoms.

    弦理論是這樣的

  • Every atom is made of smaller bits of matter,

    每一粒細沙內

  • Electrons orbiting a nucleus made of protons and neutrons,

    有數十億的原子

  • Which are made of even smaller bits of matter called quarks.

    每個原子又由更小的物質組成

  • But string theory says this is not the end of the line.

    電子在由質子和中子組成的原子核外運動

  • It makes the astounding claim

    電子由更小的物質組成 稱為夸克

  • That the particles making up everything in the universe

    但弦理論認為這還不是分解終點

  • Are made of even smaller ingredients,

    它令人驚駭的聲明

  • Tiny wiggling strands of energy that look like strings.

    構成天地萬物的粒子

  • Each of these strings is unimaginably small.

    是由更小的物質組成的

  • In fact

    就是一條條如琴弦般 不斷振動的細線

  • If an atom were enlarged to the size of the solar system,

    每根弦小到無法想像

  • A string would only be as large as a tree!

    實際上

  • And here's the key idea.

    假如把一個原子比作太陽系

  • Just as different vibrational patterns

    一條弦的大小只跟一棵樹相當

  • Or frequencies of a single cello string

    核心思想是

  • Create what we hear as different musical notes,

    正如大提琴琴弦

  • The different ways that strings vibrate

    以不同的頻率和方式震盪

  • Give particles their unique properties,

    可以產生不同的音符一樣

  • Such as mass and charge.

    弦的不同的振蕩方式

  • For example, the only difference between the particles Making up you and me

    使粒子具有獨一無二的性質

  • and the particles that transmit gravity and the other forces

    比如質量和電荷量

  • Is the way these tiny strings vibrate.

    例如組成你我的粒子

  • Composed of an enormous number of these oscillating strings,

    和傳導引力及其它作用力的粒子

  • The universe can be thought of as a grand cosmic symphony.

    其唯一差異都是弦不同的振蕩

  • And this elegant idea resolves the conflict

    由無數弦震盪組成

  • Between our jittery unpredictable picture of space on the subatomic scale

    宏偉的宇宙交響曲轟然奏響

  • And our smooth picture of space on the large scale

    這個優雅的理論解決了

  • It's the jitteriness of quantum theory versus

    宇宙在亞原子層面的紛雜易變

  • The gentleness of Einstein's general theory of relativity

    和宏觀層面的平滑穩定之間的矛盾

  • That makes it so hard to bridge the two, to stitch them together.

    量子論的激烈

  • Now, what string theory does,

    與愛因斯坦廣義相對論的平緩之間

  • It comes along and basically calms the jitters of quantum mechanics.

    很難建立起一座橋樑 把兩者統一起來

  • It spreads them out by virtue of

    現在 弦理論做到了

  • taking the old idea of a point particle

    它基本上平息了量子力學的紛雜

  • And spreading it out into a string.

    它的發展借助了

  • So the jittery behavior is there, but it's just sufficiently less violent

    舊的點粒子理論

  • That quantum theory and general relativity stitch together

    並將點發展為一條弦

  • Perfectly within this framework.

    喧囂依舊 但卻不再那麼無規律可尋

  • It's a triumph of mathematics.

    量子論和廣義相對論

  • With nothing but these tiny vibrating strands of energy,

    在這一理論框架內得以完美的結合

  • String theorists claim to be fulfilling Einstein's dream

    這是數學領域的巨大成功

  • Of uniting all forces and all matter.

    僅僅通過微小帶能振動細絲

  • But this radical new theory contains a chink in its armor.

    弦理論家聲稱已經實現愛因斯坦的夢想

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

    統一了所有物質和力

  • At the distances that are being studied.

    但這個激進理論並非天衣無縫

  • No observation can relate to

    沒有實驗能證明

  • these tiny distances or high energies.

    在如此小的空間中發生什麼

  • That is to say, there isn』t no experiment that could be done,

    沒有具體的觀測

  • Nor is there any observation that could be made,

    能證實這種層面或者能量的存在

  • That would say, 「you guys are wrong."

    換句話說 沒有實驗可供驗證

  • The theory is safe, permanently safe.

    也沒有具體的數據

  • Is that a theory of physics or a philosophy?

    來說明"你們是錯的"

  • I ask you.

    這理論很安全 永遠安全

  • People often criticize string theory for saying

    這個理論究竟屬於物理學還是哲學

  • That it's very far removed from any direct experimental test,

    你說呢

  • And it's...surely it's not really, um, um, a branch of physics, for that reason.

    人們經常指責弦理論

  • And I am response to that is simply that

    無法通過直接實驗來驗證

  • They're going to be proved wrong.

    因此 它不能算作物理學的一個分支

  • Making string theory even harder to prove,

    我對此問題的回答很簡單

  • Is that, in order to work, the complex equations require something

    以後會證明你們是錯的

  • that sounds like straight out of science fiction

    使弦理論更難證明的是

  • Extra dimensions of space

    為使其可解 繁雜方程式需要

  • We've always thought, For centuries,

    類似科幻小說杜撰的一樣

  • that there was only what we can see.

    更多空間維

  • You know, this dimension, that one, and another one.

    我們已經思考了幾個世紀

  • There was only three dimensions of space and one of time.

    能看到的還只是這些

  • And people who've said that there were extra dimensions Of space

    僅有的維度

  • have been labeled as,

    三維的空間加一維的時間

  • You know, crackpots, or people who were bananas.

    提出空間擁有更多維度的人

  • Well, string theory really predicts it.

    一直被貼上

  • To be taken seriously,

    傻子或走火入魔的標籤

  • String theorists had to explain

    然而 弦理論預示了更多維度的存在

  • How this bizarre prediction could be true.

    而重點在於

  • And they claim that the far out idea of extra dimensions

    弦理論家必須解釋清楚

  • May be more down to earth than you'd think.

    這個怪誕的預言如何成真

  • Let me show you what I mean.

    並證明他們聲稱的更多維度的構想

  • I'm off to see a guy who was one of the first people

    並不是僅僅空想

  • To think about this strange idea.

    讓我再解釋清楚

  • I'm supposed to meet him at four o'clock at his apartment

    我要去見第一個

  • At fifth avenue and 93rd street, on the second floor.

    思考這個奇怪問題的人

  • Now, in order to get to this meeting,

    約定四點鐘在他家見面

  • I need four piece of this information

    在第五大道93街 二樓

  • One for each of the three dimensions of space

    好 為了此次會面

  • A street, an avenue and a floor number

    我需要四個信息

  • And one more for time, the fourth dimension.

    屬於三維空間的有

  • You can think about these four information in your common experiences

    街道 小巷和樓層數

  • Left-right, back-forth, up-down and time.

    加上時間 第四維

  • As it turns out, the strange idea that

    你可以根據經驗想想這四條信息

  • There are additional dimensions

    前後 左右 上下 加上時間

  • Stretches back almost a century.

    實際上 這個認為

  • Our sense that we live in a universe

    存在更多維度的古怪想法

  • Of three spatial dimensions

    出現在將近一個世紀前

  • Really seems beyond question.

    我們認為我們身處在

  • But in 1919,theodor Kaluza,

    一個三維空間的世界

  • A virtually unknown German mathematician,

    似乎無可爭辯

  • Had the courage to challenge the obvious.

    但在1919年 西奧多·卡魯扎

  • He suggested that maybe, just maybe,

    一個不起眼的德國數學家

  • Our universe has one more dimension

    鼓起勇氣挑戰這個常識

  • That for some reason we just can't see.

    他說可能 僅僅是可能

  • Look. he says here, 「I like your idea."

    我們宇宙還有另外一維

  • So why does he delay?

    出於某種原因我們看不到而已

  • You see, Kaluza had sent his idea

    他說"我欣賞你的想法"

  • About an additional spatial dimension to Albert Einstein.

    可他為何又被拖延呢

  • And although Einstein was initially enthusiastic,

    卡魯扎曾將他的這一想法

  • He then seemed to waver,

    告知阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦

  • And for two years held up publication of Kaluza's paper.

    開始愛因斯坦表現出極大的興趣

  • Eventually, Kaluza's paper was published

    但隨後開始動搖

  • After Einstein decided extra dimensions were his cup of tea.

    但還是花兩年時間幫他出版論文

  • Here's the idea.

    最終 在愛因斯坦認為額外維度僅僅是一廂情願後

  • In 1916,einstein showed that gravity is nothing

    卡魯扎的論文發表了

  • But warps and ripples In the four familiar dimensions of space and time.

    他的想法是這樣的

  • Just three years later,

    在1916年 愛因斯坦稱萬有引力

  • Kaluza proposed that electromagnetism might also be ripples.

    只是在熟悉的四維時空裡的彎曲和波動

  • But for that to be true,

    僅僅三年之後

  • Kaluza needed a place for those ripples to occur.

    卡魯扎提出電磁力可能也是波動

  • So Kaluza proposed an additional hidden dimension of space.

    為了證明其正確

  • But if Kaluza was right, where is this extra dimension?

    卡魯扎需要波動發生的場所

  • And what would extra dimensions look like?

    所以卡魯扎提出空間還隱藏另外一維

  • Can we even begin to imagine them?

    假如卡魯扎是對的 那另外一維在哪裡

  • well, Building upon Kaluza's work,

    又是什麼樣子的呢

  • The Swedish physicist Oskar Klein

    我們能想像出來嗎

  • Suggested an unusual answer.

    基於卡魯扎的理論

  • Take a look at the cables supporting that traffic light.

    瑞典物理學家 奧斯卡·克萊恩

  • From this far away I can't see that they have any thickness.

    給出一個與眾不同的回答

  • Each one looks like a line

    看那些紅綠燈的電纜

  • ——something with only a single dimension.

    這麼遠的距離我看不出它的厚度

  • But suppose we could explore one of these cables

    每條就像細線

  • Way up close,

    僅僅只有一個維度

  • Like from the point of view of an ant.

    但假設我能仔細檢查其中一條電纜

  • Now a second dimension

    近距離得

  • Which wraps around the cable becomes visible.

    就像以螞蟻的角度看去

  • From its point of view,

    出現了第二維

  • The ant can move forwards and backwards,

    我們能看清電纜的表皮

  • And it can also move clockwise and counterclockwise.

    以它的視角

  • So dimensions can come in two varieties.

    螞蟻不僅能前後走動

  • They can be long and unfurled like the length of the cable,

    還能順時針 逆時針走動

  • But they can also be tiny and curled up

    所以維度可以有兩種表現形式

  • Like the circular direction that wraps around it.

    可以像長電纜這樣伸長平鋪

  • Kaluza and Klein made the wild suggestion

    也可以是微小的 捲曲的

  • That the fabric of our universe

    就像環狀包裹的表皮

  • Might be kind of like the surface of the cable,

    卡魯扎和克萊恩大膽假設

  • Having both big extended dimensions, The three that we know about,

    我們宇宙的結構

  • But also tiny, curled up dimensions,

    就像電纜的表皮

  • curled up so tinyBillions of times smaller than even a single atom

    就已知的三維 存在廣泛延伸的維度

  • That we just can't see them.

    也存在微小的 捲曲的維度

  • And so our perception that we live in a universe With three spatial dimensions

    小到比一個原子還小幾十億倍

  • may not be correct after all.

    小到我們看不到

  • We really may live in a universe

    我們關於宇宙是三維立體空間的觀念

  • With more dimensions than meet the eye.

    可能並不是完全正確

  • So what would these extra dimensions look like?

    可能我們真的生活在一個

  • Kaluza and Klein proposed that

    存在比所見更多的維度的宇宙

  • If we could shrink down billions of times,

    那些額外維度是什麼樣子的

  • We'd find one extra tiny,

    卡魯扎和克萊恩認為

  • Curled up dimension located at every point in space.

    如果我們能縮小數十億倍

  • And just the way an ant can explore the circular dimension

    我們就會發現

  • That wraps around a traffic light cable,

    那個微小捲曲的維度 存在於宇宙每個角落

  • In theory an ant that is billions of times smaller

    就像螞蟻在交通燈電纜上的探險一樣

  • Could also explore this tiny, curled up, circular dimension.

    探索這圓形的維度

  • This idea that extra dimensions exist all around us

    理論中把螞蟻縮小了幾十億倍

  • Lies at the heart of string theory.

    當然能發現微小的 捲曲的圓形維度

  • In fact the mathematics of string theory

    這個認為另一維處處存在的想法

  • demand not one,

    就是弦理論的核心

  • But six extra dimensions,

    事實上 弦理論的數學計算

  • Twisted and curled into complex little shapes

    要求不止增加一個維度

  • That might look something like this.

    而要再加六維度

  • If string theory is right we would have to admit

    扭轉捲曲的複雜微型結構

  • That there are really more dimensions out there,

    看起來就像這樣

  • And I find that completely mind-blowing.

    如果弦理論是正確的 我們必須承認

  • If I take the theory as we have it now, literally,

    真的存在更多的維度

  • I would conclude that the extra dimensions really exist.

    這真是神乎其神

  • They're part of nature.

    根據現在已知的理論 我可以毫不誇張的說

  • When we talk about extra dimensions

    額外維度必定存在

  • We literally mean extra dimensions of space

    它們是與生俱來的

  • That are the same as the dimensions of space that we see around us.

    我們在討論額外維度時

  • And the only difference between them

    字面意義上的多維空間

  • Has to do with their shape.

    跟我們平時看到的空間維度是一樣的

  • But how could these tiny extra dimensions,

    唯一的不同

  • Curled up into such peculiar shapes,

    就是它們的形狀

  • Have any effect on our everyday world?

    這些微小的額外維度

  • Well, according to string theory, shape is everything.

    是如何捲曲成的獨特形狀

  • Because of its shape,

    它們對我們的日常生活有什麼影響嗎

  • A French horn can produce dozens of different notes.

    根據弦理論 形狀決定一切

  • When you press one of the keys

    因為它的特殊形狀

  • you change the note,

    法國號能發出很多不同的音符

  • Because you change the shape of the space

    你按下一個鍵

  • Inside the horn where the air resonates.

    你就改變了音符

  • And we think the curled up spatial dimensions In string theory

    因為你改變了內部

  • work in a similar way.

    空氣共振的形狀

  • If we could shrink down small enough To fly into

    我們想像弦理論中捲曲的特殊維度

  • one of these tiny six-dimensional shapes predicted by string theory

    以類似的方式作用

  • We would see how the extra dimensions are

    如果我們能縮小到可以

  • Twisted and curled back on each other,

    進入弦理論預言的微小六維結構裡

  • Influencing how strings,

    就能看到這些額外維度

  • the fundamental ingredients of our universe,

    是如何扭轉彎曲 相互交疊

  • Move and vibrate.

    從而看到弦

  • And this could be the key

    這一構成宇宙基本要素

  • To solving one of nature's most profound mysteries.

    是如何運動和震盪的

  • You see, our universe is kind of like a finely tuned machine.

    這可能是揭開

  • Scientists have found that there are about 20 numbers,

    宇宙深層奧秘之一的關鍵

  • 20 fundamental constants of nature

    我們的宇宙就像一台精密的儀器

  • That give the universe the characteristics we see today.

    科學家們找到20個數字

  • These are numbers like how much an electron weighs,

    自然界的20個基本常數

  • The strength of gravity,

    描述今天我們所見宇宙的性質

  • The electromagnetic force and the strong and weak forces.

    這是電子的質量

  • Now, as long as we set the dials on our universe machine

    萬有引力

  • To precisely the right values for each of these 20 numbers,

    電磁力 強作用力和弱作用力的強度

  • The machine produces the universe we know and love.

    現在只要將宇宙機器的旋鈕

  • But if we change the numbers by adjusting the settings

    調到與這20個數值相同

  • On this machine even a little bit...

    就形成了我們熟知並熱愛的宇宙

  • The consequences are dramatic.

    如果我們通過調整機器設置

  • For example,

    即使對數值做細微的改變

  • If I increase the strength of the electromagnetic force,

    結果將天差地別

  • Atoms repel one other more strongly,

    舉個例子

  • So the nuclear furnaces that make stars shine break down.

    如果我增大電磁力的大小

  • The stars, including our sun, fizzle out,

    原子間的斥力將會增大

  • And the universe as we know it disappears.

    使恆星發光的核熔爐會分裂

  • So what exactly, in nature,

    那些恆星 包括太陽 會消亡

  • Sets the values of these 20 constants so precisely?

    我們所熟知的宇宙也將不復存在

  • Well the answer could be the extra dimensions in string theory.

    那麼到底是自然界的什麼

  • That is, the tiny, curled up,

    如此精確地決定了這20個常數呢

  • Six-dimensional shapes predicted By the theory

    答案也許就是弦理論的額外維度

  • cause one string to vibrate in precisely the right way

    這些微小的 捲曲的

  • to produce What we see as a photon

    由弦理論預言的六維形體

  • And another string to vibrate in a different way

    引起一條弦以一種精確的方式振動

  • Producing an electron.

    從而產生光子

  • So according to string theory,

    另一條弦以另一種精確的方式振動

  • These miniscule extra-dimensional shapes really

    產生了電子

  • May determine all the constants of nature,

    所以根據弦理論

  • Keeping the cosmic symphony of strings in tune.

    這些極小的額外維度的形狀

  • By the mid 1980s,string theory looked unstoppable,

    可能決定了自然界的恆定

  • But behind the scenes the theory was in tangles.

    維持宇宙間絃樂交響曲的和諧

  • Over the years, string theorists had been so successful

    20世紀80年代中期 弦理論的發展勢不可擋

  • That they had constructed not one,

    但在幕後 這理論卻是一團亂麻

  • But five different versions of the theory.

    多年以來 弦理論已經頗為成功

  • Each was built on strings and extra dimensions

    它不再只是單一的

  • But in detail,

    而是形成了五種版本的理論

  • The five theories were not in harmony.

    每個都建立在弦和多維空間的基礎上

  • In some versions, strings were open-ended strands.

    但在細節方面

  • In others they were closed loops.

    這五個理論卻並不統一

  • At first glance,

    有的版本裡 弦是打開的線

  • A couple of versions even required 26 dimensions.

    有的版本則是閉合的環

  • All five versions appeared equally valid,

    一眼看去

  • But which one was describing our universe?

    一些版本甚至需要26個維度

  • This was kind of an embarrassment For string theorists

    每個版本都證據鑿鑿

  • because on the one hand, we wanted to say that this might be it,

    究竟哪個才能正確描述宇宙呢

  • The final description of the universe.

    這個局面對弦理論學家來說有些尷尬

  • But then, in the next breath we had to say,

    因為一方面 我們希望這就是

  • "and it comes in five flavors, five variations."

    對宇宙的終極描述

  • now There's one universe

    而轉念一想

  • you expect there to be one theory and not five.

    "這就有五種風格 五種曲調"

  • So this is an example where more is definitely less.

    而宇宙只有一個

  • One attitude that people who didn't like string theory could take was,

    理論也應該是一個 而不是五個

  • "well, you have five theories, so it's not unique."

    這就是個畫蛇添足的典範

  • This was a peculiar state of affairs,

    一些不贊同弦理論的人會說

  • Because we were looking just

    "已經有5個了 那理論不再唯一"

  • To describe one theory of nature and not five.

    這是種奇怪的局面

  • If there's five of them,

    因為我們只是尋找

  • Well maybe there's smart enough people would find twenty of them.

    描述自然界的一種理論而不是五個

  • Or maybe there's an infinite number of them,

    如果真的存在5個

  • And you're back to just searching around at random for theories of the world.

    更聰明的人就能發現20個

  • Maybe one of these five string theories

    甚至是無數個

  • Is describing our universe

    你就又陷入四處隨機尋找理論的境地

  • on the other hand, which one? and why?

    也許這5個理論中的一個

  • What are the other ones good for?

    能正確描繪我們的宇宙

  • Having five string theories,

    問題是 會是哪個 為什麼

  • even knows big progress, revises the obvious question

    其它理論又在描繪什麼

  • If one of those theories describes our universe

    產生5個弦理論

  • Then who lives in the other four worlds?

    雖然是進步 卻也帶來明顯問題

  • String theory seemed to be losing steam once again.

    如果其中一個描述的是我們的宇宙

  • And frustrated by a lack of progress,

    那另外四個世界居住著誰

  • Many physicists abandoned the field.

    弦理論似乎再次陷入迷霧

  • Will string theory prove to be a "theory of everything"

    裹足不前

  • Or will it unravel into a "theory of nothing?"

    很多物理學家放棄了這一領域

It's a little known secret

第二部 萬物之弦

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