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  • "The Elegant Universe", hosted by Brian Greene.

    《優雅的宇宙》 主持 布萊恩·格林

  • Based on "The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene.

    根據布萊恩·格林著作 《優雅的宇宙》

  • Welcome to the 11th dimension

    第三部 歡迎來到第11維時空

  • Imagine that we were able to control space

    想像一下 我們可以控制空間

  • Or control time.

    或時間

  • The kinds of things that we'd be able to do

    就可以做很多

  • Would be amazing.

    歎為觀止的事情

  • I might be able to go from here...

    我也許能從這裡

  • To here...

    到這裡

  • To here...

    再到這

  • To here...

    或者到這

  • And over to here in only an instant.

    轉瞬間又到這

  • Now,we all think that this kind of trip

    我們都認為這樣的旅行

  • Would be impossible.

    不可能實現

  • And it probably is.

    事實也許如此

  • But in the last few years,

    但在最近幾年

  • Our ideas about the true nature of space and time

    我們的時空觀

  • Have been going through some changes.

    有了不少的改變

  • And things that used to seem like science fiction

    以前在科幻小說中才有的東西

  • Are looking not-so-far-fetched.

    似乎不再遙不可及

  • It's all thanks to a revolution in physics

    這要歸功於一個物理學上的革命

  • Called "string theory,"

    "弦理論"

  • Which is offering a whole new perspective

    弦理論提供了個嶄新的視角

  • On the inner workings of the universe.

    來看待宇宙的內在運行機理

  • String theory holds out the promise that

    弦理論給我們提供了這樣一種前景

  • We can really understand questions of

    它使我們相信我們真的可以

  • Why the universe is the way it is

    從最基本層面上弄清楚

  • At the most fundamental level.

    宇宙為什麼是這樣的

  • String theory is really the wild west of physics.

    弦理論是物理學上的未知領域

  • This is an area of theoretical physics

    屬於理論物理的範疇

  • Which is so radically different from

    從根本上不同於

  • Anything that's been before.

    任何以往的研究

  • This radical new theory starts with the simple premiss

    這個激進的理論有一個前提

  • That everything in the universe,

    即宇宙萬物

  • The earth,these buildings,

    地球 這些建築

  • Even forces like gravity and electricity,

    甚至像引力和電力這樣的力

  • Are made up of incredibly tiny,

    都是由極其微小的

  • Vibrating strands of energy called "strings."

    號稱"弦"的帶能振動細絲組成

  • And small as they are,

    儘管弦很小

  • Strings are changing everything

    卻改變著一切

  • We thought we knew about the universe,

    我們對宇宙的認知

  • Especially our ideas about the nature of space.

    尤其是對空間本質的認識

  • To see how,let's first shrink all of space

    為了看個究竟 我們首先把整個空間

  • To a more manageable size.

    縮小到一個易於觀察的大小

  • Imagine that the whole universe consisted of nothing

    把整個宇宙想像成

  • More than my hometown,manhattan.

    我的家鄉曼哈頓

  • So now,just one borough of new york city

    那麼 紐約市的一個區

  • Makes up the entire fabric of space.

    就構成了整個空間結構

  • And just for kicks,

    好玩起見

  • Let's also imagine that I'm the ceo of a large corporation

    把我想像成華爾街

  • With offices on wall street.

    一家大公司的經理

  • And because time is money,

    時間就是金錢

  • I need to find the quickest route from my apartment,

    我得找到最快路線

  • Here in upper manhattan to my offices in lower manhattan.

    從北曼哈頓公寓趕到南邊的辦公室

  • Now,we all know that the shortest distance

    眾所周知 兩點之間

  • Between two points is a straight line,

    直線距離最短

  • But even if there's no traffic

    即使一路暢通

  • -A bit of a stretch even in our imaginary manhattan-

    這在我們想像中的曼哈頓也難達到

  • It'll still take us some amount of time to get there.

    這段路也要花掉不少時間

  • By going faster and faster,

    隨著速度越來越快

  • We can reduce the travel time.

    可減少路上的時間

  • But because nothing can go faster than the speed of light,

    但因為沒什麼可比光速更快

  • There is a definite limit to how much time

    這段路可省的時間

  • We can cut from our journey.

    是有限的

  • This manhattan universe fits with an old,

    這個曼哈頓型的宇宙

  • Classical vision of space,

    符合古老經典的空間觀

  • Basically a flat grid that's static and unchanging.

    本質上就是靜止不變的平面網格

  • But when Albert Einstein looked at the fabric of space,

    但阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦眼中的空間結構

  • He saw something completely different.

    是完全不同的

  • He said that space wasn't static;

    他認為空間不是靜態的

  • It could warp and stretch.

    而是可彎曲和拉伸的

  • And there could even be unusual structures of space

    甚至存在非常規的空間結構

  • Called "wormholes."

    叫做"蟲洞"

  • A wormhole is a bridge or tunnel

    蟲洞是連接空間不同區域的

  • That can link distant regions of space,

    橋或隧道

  • In effect,a cosmic shortcut.

    實質上 是個宇宙捷徑

  • In this kind of universe,

    在這樣的宇宙中

  • My commute would be a new yorker's dream.

    我的通行路徑是每個紐約人的夢想

  • But there is a hitch, to create a wormhole,

    但製造這麼個蟲洞有個問題

  • You've got to rip or tear a hole in the fabric of space.

    得在空間結構中撕裂或扯開個洞

  • But can the fabric of space really rip?

    但空間結構真的能被撕裂嗎

  • Can this first step toward

    形成蟲洞的第一步

  • Forming a wormhole actually happen?

    真的能實現嗎

  • Well,you can't answer these questions

    餓著肚子

  • On an empty stomach.

    可沒法回答這些問題

  • Turns out that by looking at my breakfast

    通過觀察我的早餐

  • --coffee and a doughnut--

    咖啡和甜甜圈

  • We can get a pretty good sense of

    可以對弦理論關於

  • What string theory says

    空間結構是否可撕裂的答案

  • About whether the fabric of space can tear.

    有個更好的認識

  • Imagine that space is shaped like this doughnut.

    把空間想像成這個甜甜圈的形狀

  • You might think that it would be very different

    你也許認為這個空間與

  • From a region of space shaped like this coffee cup.

    形狀如咖啡杯的空間完全不同

  • But there's a precise sense

    但事實恰巧是

  • In which the shape of the doughnut

    甜甜圈形狀的

  • And the coffee cup are actually the same,

    和咖啡杯形狀的實質上是一樣的

  • Just a little disguised.

    只是有些隱晦

  • You see,they both have one hole.

    瞧 他們都有個洞

  • In the doughnut it's in the middle

    甜甜圈的洞在中間

  • And in the coffee cup it's in the handle.

    咖啡杯的洞在手柄上

  • That means we can change the doughnut

    這就意味著可以把甜甜圈

  • Into the shape of a coffee cup and back again

    變成咖啡杯 再變回來

  • Without having to rip or tear the dough at all.

    而不需要撕裂或扯開甜甜圈

  • Okay,but suppose you want to change the shape

    但如果想把甜甜圈

  • Of this doughnut into a very different shape,

    變成完全不同的形狀

  • A shape with no holes.

    比如沒有洞的形狀

  • The only way to do that is to tear the doughnut like this

    唯一的方法是像這樣撕扯開甜甜圈

  • And then re-shape it.

    再改變其形狀

  • Unfortunately,according to Einstein's laws,

    遺憾的是 根據愛因斯坦的理論

  • This is impossible.

    這是不可能的

  • They say that space can stretch and warp,

    愛因斯坦的理論認為空間可以拉伸和彎曲

  • But it cannot rip.

    但不能撕裂

  • Wormholes might exist somewhere fully formed,

    蟲洞也許現成的就在某個地方

  • But you could not rip space to create a new one,

    但你不能在曼哈頓或別處

  • Over manhattan or anywhere else.

    撕開空間 製造出一個蟲洞

  • In other words,I can't take a wormhole to work.

    換句話說 我無法穿過蟲洞去工作

  • But now string theory is giving us

    不過現在弦理論提供了

  • A whole new perspective on space,

    一個嶄新的視角來看待空間

  • And it's showing us that Einstein wasn't always right.

    也證明了愛因斯坦不總是對的

  • To see how,

    為了一探究竟

  • Let's take a much closer look at the spatial fabric.

    讓我們近距離觀察空間結構

  • If we could shrink down

    我們如果能

  • To about a millionth of a billionth of our normal size,

    縮小千萬億倍

  • We'd enter the world of quantum mechanics,

    進入統治原子運轉的

  • The laws that control how atoms behave.

    量子力學世界

  • It's the world of light and electricity and everything else

    這是個光 電和所有一切都在

  • That operates at the smallest of scales.

    最小級別運作的世界

  • Here,the fabric of space is random and chaotic.

    這裡 空間的結構是隨機無序的

  • Rips and tears might be commonplace.

    撕裂和扯開就不足為奇了

  • But if they were,

    但如果是這樣的話

  • What would stop a rip in the fabric of space

    又是什麼阻止了空間結構的撕裂

  • From creating a cosmic catastrophe?

    避免了宇宙大災難

  • Well,this is where the power of strings comes in.

    這就得說起弦的力量

  • Strings calm the chaos.

    弦避免了混亂

  • And as a single string dances through space,

    一個弦在空間運動時

  • It sweeps out a tube.

    軌跡是管狀的

  • The tube can act like a bubble that surrounds the tear,

    這些管狀物像氣泡一樣環繞在破裂處周圍

  • A protective shield with profound implications.

    形成重要的保護層

  • Strings actually make it possible for space to rip.

    弦的存在使得空間裂開成為可能

  • Which means that space is far more dynamic

    這就意味著空間比愛因斯坦所想的

  • And changeable than even Albert Einstein thought.

    要更加充滿活力和難以琢磨

  • So does that mean that wormholes are possible?

    這是不是說蟲洞是可能存在的

  • Will I ever be able to take a stroll on Everest,

    我能不能在珠穆朗瑪峰漫步

  • Grab a baguette in Paris

    到巴黎拿條法棍麵包

  • And still make it back to new york in time

    仍然能及時趕回紐約

  • For my morning meeting?

    開晨會呢

  • It would be kind of cool,

    那該有多酷

  • Though it's still a very distant possibility.

    但這種可能仍遙不可及

  • But one thing that is certain

    但可以肯定的是

  • Is that string theory is already showing us

    弦理論已經告訴我們

  • That the universe may be a lot stranger

    宇宙也許比我們想像的

  • Than any of us ever imagined.

    更加神秘莫測

  • For example,string theory says we're surrounded

    例如 弦理論指出我們周圍充斥著

  • By hidden dimensions,

    不可見的維度

  • Mysterious places beyond the familiar

    那些神秘的地方超出了

  • Three-dimensional space we know.

    我們所熟悉的三維空間

  • People who've said that

    認為空間存在著

  • There were extra dimensions of space,

    另外維度的人

  • Have been labeled as,you know,crackpots

    曾被冠名空想家

  • Or people who are bananas.

    或瘋子

  • I mean,what,do you think there are extra dimensions?

    我說 開玩笑 你竟然認為有另外的維度

  • Well,string theory really predicts it.

    然而 弦理論的確預測了它們的存在

  • What we think of as our universe

    我們想 我們的宇宙

  • Could just be one small part of something much bigger.

    可能只是更大的東西的一小部分

  • Perhaps we live on a membrane,

    也許我們生活在一個膜上

  • A three-dimensional membrane

    一個在更高維度的空間裡

  • That floats inside higher dimensional space.

    漂浮的三維膜上

  • There could be entire worlds right next to us,

    也許在我們週遭 有很多完整的世界

  • But completely invisible.

    但完全不可見

  • These other worlds would,in a very literal sense,

    從很淺層的理解上來說 這些其他的世界

  • Be,be parallel universes.

    可能是相互平行的

  • This isn't a particularly exotic or,or strange notion.

    這不是什麼天方夜譚的想法

  • No wonder physics students are lining up

    難怪學物理的學生都蜂擁而至

  • To explore the strange world of string theory.

    來探索弦理論的奇妙世界

  • String theory is very active.

    弦理論研究很活躍

  • Things are happening. there are a lot of people doing it.

    不斷有進展 有很多人致力於此

  • Most of the young kids,given the choice,

    大部分是年輕人 讓他們選擇

  • At a ratio of something like ten to one,

    十之八九的人

  • They will go into string theory.

    都會選擇弦理論

  • But strings weren't always this popular.

    但弦不總是這麼受到追捧

  • The pioneers of string theory struggled for years,

    弦理論的先驅們掙扎了很多年

  • Working alone on an idea that nobody else believed in.

    獨自置身於沒人相信的理論研究

  • Here is generalized, For decades,

    總體上 數十年來

  • Physicists believed that the tiniest bits inside an atom

    物理學家認為原子內最小的基本粒子

  • Were point particles.

    是點粒子

  • Flying around the outside were the electrons,

    圍繞原子核旋轉的是電子

  • And inside were protons and neutrons

    原子核內部的是質子和中子

  • Which were made up of quarks.

    是由夸克組成的

  • But string theory says that what we thought

    但弦理論認為

  • Were indivisible particles are actually tiny,

    我們以為不可見的粒子

  • Vibrating strings.

    實際上是振動的弦

  • It's nothing really mystical. it's a really tiny string.

    沒什麼神秘的 只是很小的弦

  • It either closes in to its little circle or it has end points

    要麼是閉弦 要麼是開弦

  • But it's just a little string.

    總之都是很小的弦

  • In the 1980s,the idea caught on,

    到了20世紀80年代 這理論變得流行起來

  • And people started jumping on the string bandwagon.

    人們爭先恐後加入到弦的研究中來

  • Well,the fact that

    事實上

  • Suddenly all these other people were working in the field

    忽然很多人投入到一個領域的研究中

  • Had its advantages and its disadvantages.

    有利有弊

  • It was wonderful to see

    因為很多人的投入

  • How rapidly the subject could develop now,

    使得這一學科得以快速發展

  • Because so many people were working on it.

    是件非常美妙的事

  • One of the great attractions of strings is their versatility.

    弦的吸引人之處在於它的多樣性

  • Just as the strings on a cello can vibrate

    正如大提琴上的琴弦

  • At different frequencies,

    以不同頻率振動

  • Making all the individual musical notes,

    產生不同的音符

  • In the same way,

    同理

  • The tiny strings of string theory

    弦理論中的微小的弦

  • Vibrate and dance in different patterns,

    以不同模式振動和舞蹈

  • Creating all the fundamental particles of nature.

    產生了自然界的最基本的粒子

  • If this view is right,then put them all together

    如果這一觀點沒錯 那麼把這些弦放在一起

  • And we get the grand and beautiful symphony

    就奏出一曲宏大美妙的交響樂

  • That is our universe.

    這就是我們的宇宙

  • What's really exciting about this

    真正令人興奮的是

  • Is that it offers an amazing possibility.

    它提供了一種極為神奇的可能性

  • If we could only master the rhythms of strings,

    如果我們能掌握弦的韻律

  • Then we'd stand a good chance of explaining all the matter

    那我們就極有可能能解釋自然界

  • And all the forces of nature,

    從最小的亞原子粒子

  • From the tiniest subatomic particles

    到外太空星系的

  • To the galaxies of outer space.

    所有物質和作用力

  • This is the potential of string theory,

    這就是弦理論的潛力

  • To be a unified "theory of everything."

    成為統一的"萬物至理"

  • But,at first sight,in our enthusiasm for this idea,

    但乍一看來 我們對這種理念的熱情

  • We seem to have gone too far.

    似乎有點過了

  • Because we didn't produce just one string theory,

    因為我們不僅提出了一種弦理論

  • Or even two

    或是兩種

  • We somehow managed to come up with five.

    我們提出了五種理論

  • Five different string theories,

    五種不同的弦理論

  • Each competing for the title of the theory of everything.

    都在競爭著萬物至理的頭銜

  • And if there's going to be a

    如果存在一個

  • "the fundamental theory of nature,"

    "自然界的基本理論"

  • There ought to be one of them.

    應該是其中的一種

  • I suppose a number of string theorists thought,

    我想很多弦理論家在想

  • "ah,that's fantastic. that's wonderful."

    "太棒了 太好了"

  • And maybe one of these will end up being the right theory

    也許其中一個最終成為正確的理論

  • Of the world." and yet,

    然而

  • There must have been a little nagging voice

    在腦海中會有一個聲音

  • At the back of the head that said,

    不斷地問

  • "well,why are there five?"

    為什麼是五個呢

  • With five competing players,

    有五個相互競爭者

  • The stage of string theory was looking a little crowded.

    弦理論的舞台顯得有些擁擠

  • The five theories had many things in common.

    這五種理論有許多共同點

  • For example,they all involved vibrating strings,

    例如 他們都與振動的弦有關

  • But their mathematical details appeared

    但他們在數學上的詳細表達

  • To be quite different.

    卻完全不同

  • Frankly,it was embarrassing.

    坦率的說 這有些讓人費解

  • How could this unified theory of everything

    這種適用於一切事物的理論

  • Come in five different flavors?

    怎麼會有五種不同版本

  • This was a case where more was definitely less.

    這真是多一事不如少一事

  • But then something remarkable happened.

    然而 奇跡出現了

  • This is Ed Witten.

    這位是愛德·威滕

  • He's widely regarded as one of

    他被認為是現在

  • The world's greatest living physicists,

    世界上最偉大的物理學家之一

  • Perhaps even Einstein's successor.

    甚至是愛因斯坦的接班人

  • Ed Witten is a very special person in the field.

    愛德·威滕是這一領域的特殊人才

  • He clearly has a grasp,

    他無疑

  • Particularly of the underlying mathematical principles,

    對基本數學原理

  • Which is far greater than most other people.

    有著超乎常人的理解

  • Well,you know,we all think we're very smart;

    你知道 我們都認為自己很聰明

  • He's so much smarter than the rest of us.

    可他比我們還要聰明得多

  • In 1995,string theorists from all over the world

    1995年 世界各地的弦理論學者

  • Gathered at the university of southern california

    聚集在南加州大學

  • For their annual conference.

    召開了他們的年會

  • Ed Witten showed up at strings 95 and rocked their world.

    愛德·威滕在會上發表的理論震驚了弦學界

  • I was really trying to think of something

    我一直想為那屆學會

  • That would be significant for the occasion.

    找一個意義深遠的話題

  • And actually,since five string theories was too many,

    實際上 五種弦理論太多了

  • I thought I would try to get rid of some of them.

    我認為我可以試著去掉一些

  • To solve the problem,

    為了解決這個問題

  • Witten constructed a spectacular new way

    威滕開闢了一條驚人的新思路

  • Of looking at string theory.

    用來審視弦理論

  • Ed announced that he had thought about it,

    愛德稱他已經思考過

  • And moreover,he had solved it.

    並且還找出了解決方案

  • He was going to tell us the solution

    他告訴我們從每一個維度

  • To every string theory in every dimension,

    解決每一個弦理論的方法

  • Which was an enormous claim,

    這是一個重要聲明

  • But coming from Ed it was not so surprising.

    但它出自愛德之口並不使人吃驚

  • The atmosphere was electric because,

    當時的氣氛很振奮人心

  • All of a sudden,string theory,

    突然間 弦理論

  • Which had been going through a kind of doldrums,

    在經歷了停滯不前之後

  • Was given an incredible boost,a shot in the arm.

    猶如注射了興奮劑 獲得了強勁的動力

  • Ed Witten gave his famous lecture.

    愛德·威滕做了他的著名演講

  • And he said a couple of words that got me interested...

    他還沒講幾句 我就被吸引了

  • And for the rest of the lecture...

    至於之後的演講

  • I got hooked up on the first few words that he said,

    我因為完全沉浸在他前面講的內容中

  • And completely missed the point of his lecture.

    所以根本沒有聽進去

  • I remember I had to give the talk after him,

    我記得我在他之後發言

  • And I was kind of embarrassed to.

    這使我很尷尬

  • Ed Witten just blew everybody away.

    愛德·威滕征服了所有人

  • Ed Witten blew everybody away

    愛德·威滕征服了大家

  • Because he provided a completely

    因為他為弦理論

  • new perspective on string theory.

    提出了一個全新的觀點

  • from this point of view,

    按照這個觀點

  • We could see that there weren't really five different theories

    我們發現並不是真的有五個不同的理論

  • Like reflections in a wall of mirrors,

    就好像在一排鏡子中的映像

  • What we thought were five theories

    我們認為的五種理論

  • Turned out to be just five different ways of looking

    原來只是對同一事物的

  • at the same thing.

    五種不同的看法

  • String theory was unified at last.

    弦理論終於被統一了

  • Witten's work sparked a breakthrough so revolutionary

    威滕在研究上的革命性突破

  • That it was given it's own name,"M-theory,"

    被命名為"M理論"

  • Although no one really knows what the M stands for.

    然而沒有人知道M代表什麼

  • Aah,what is the M for?

    M代表什麼

  • M-theory.

    M理論

  • M-theory.

    M理論

  • M-theory.

    M理論

  • M-theory.

    M理論

  • The M-theory.

    M理論

  • M-theory is a theory...

    M理論是一種

  • I don't actually know what the M stands for.

    我其實不清楚M代表什麼

  • Well,the M has...

    M是

  • I've heard many descriptions.

    我聽說過很多種說法

  • Mystery theory,magic theory...

    神秘理論 魔法理論

  • It's the mother theory.

    是母理論的意思

  • Matrix theory.

    母體理論

  • Monstrous theory? I don't know what it...

    超級理論 我不知道它是什麼

  • I don't know what Ed meant.

    我不知道愛德的本意

  • M stands for magic,mystery or matrix,according to taste.

    M代表魔法 神秘或母體 隨你喜歡

  • I suspect that the "M" is an upside down "W" for "Witten."

    我懷疑M是威滕字母W的倒寫

  • Some cynics have occasionally suggested

    一些嘲笑挖苦的人有時說

  • That M may also stand for "murky,"

    M代表混沌

  • Because our level of understanding of the theory is,

    因為我們對這一理論的認識水平

  • In fact,so primitive.

    實際上還很原始

  • Maybe I shouldn't have told you that one.

    也許我不應該告訴你那個說法

  • Whatever the name,it was a bombshell.

    不管什麼名字 這是個爆炸性事件

  • Suddenly everything was different.

    突然間一切都不同了

  • There was a lot of panic,if you like,

    當你意識到大事發生了

  • Realizing that big things were happening,

    你會驚慌失措

  • And all of us not wanting to get left behind

    在這場弦理論的革命中

  • In this new revolution of string theory.

    我們都不想落後

  • After Witten's talk,there was renewed hope

    威滕的演講讓人們又有了希望

  • That this one theory could be the theory

    希望這個理論就是

  • To explain everything in the universe.

    解釋宇宙萬物的理論

  • But there was also a price to pay.

    但這同樣需要代價

  • Before M-theory,

    在M理論之前

  • Strings seemed to operate in a world with 10 dimensions.

    弦被看做在10維的時空中運動

  • These included one dimension of time,

    這包括了時間的一個維度

  • The three familiar space dimensions,

    和熟悉的空間三維

  • As well as six extra dimensions,

    還有六個額外的維度

  • Curled up so tiny that they're completely invisible.

    它們捲曲的太小以至於完全無法看到

  • Well,we think these extra dimensions exist

    我們認為那些額外的維度是存在的

  • Because they come out of the equations of string theory.

    因為它們是由弦理論方程算出來的

  • Strings need to move in more than three dimensions.

    弦需要在多於三個的維度中運動

  • And that was a shock to everybody,

    這讓所有人震驚

  • But then we learned to live with it.

    但我們學著去適應它

  • But M-theory would go even further,

    但M理論更進一步

  • Demanding yet another spatial dimension,

    提出了另一個空間維度

  • Bringing the grand total to 11 dimensions.

    使得總共加起來有11維

  • We know that there would have to be 11 dimensions

    我們知道要有11維度

  • For this theory to make sense.

    才能使這個理論合理

  • So there must be 11 dimensions.

    所以必須有11維度

  • We only see three plus one of them.

    我們只看到其中的3加1個

  • How is that possible?

    這怎麼可能呢

  • For most of us,it's virtually impossible

    對大多數人來說描繪出

  • to picture the extra,higher dimensions:

    額外的更高維度是根本不可能的

  • I can't. and it's not surprising.

    我不能 這並不奇怪

  • Our brains evolved sensing just

    我們大腦的感官只能

  • The three spatial dimensions of everyday experience.

    感受平時的三維空間

  • So how can we get a feel for them?

    那我們是如何感知它們的呢

  • One way is to go to the movies.

    一種方式就是去看電影

  • We're all familiar with the real world

    我們對現實世界中的

  • Having three spatial dimensions

    三維空間很熟悉

  • That is,anywhere I go,I can move left-right,

    也就是我去的任何地方

  • Back-forth,or up-down.

    從左到右從前到後 還有上下移動

  • But in the movies,things are a bit different.

    但在電影中就有些不同了

  • Even though the characters on a movie screen

    儘管螢幕上看起來人物是處於三維空間

  • Look three-dimensional,they actually are stuck

    而實際上他們被限制在

  • In just two dimensions.

    二維空間中

  • There is no back-forth on a movie screen,

    因為螢幕沒有前後之分

  • That's just an optical illusion.

    這其實是一種視錯覺

  • To really move in the back-forth dimension,

    要真正的前後移動

  • I'd have to step out of the screen.

    我就得跳出螢幕了

  • And sometimes moving into a higher dimension

    有時進入更高的維度

  • Can be a useful thing to do.

    是很有用處的

  • So dimensions all have to do with

    所以維度是與你可以移動的

  • The independent directions in which you can move.

    獨立方位有關

  • They're sometimes called "degrees of freedom."

    它們有時被稱作"自由度"

  • The more dimensions or degrees of freedom you have,

    你所擁有的維度或自由度越多

  • The more you can do.

    你就能做得更多

  • That's right.

    沒錯

  • And if there really are 11 dimensions,

    如果11維度真的存在

  • Then strings can do a lot more,too.

    那麼弦也可以做得更多

  • People found,fairly soon,

    人們很快發現

  • That there were objects that lived in these theories,

    在這一理論下確實存在某些物體

  • Which weren't just strings,

    不僅僅是弦

  • But were larger than that.

    而是比弦更大的物體

  • They actually looked like membranes or surfaces.

    它們看起來就像薄膜或面

  • The extra dimension Witten added

    威滕增加的額外維度

  • Allows a string to stretch into something like a membrane

    使單根弦延伸成薄膜成為可能

  • Or a "brane" for short.

    或者簡稱為"膜"

  • A brane could be three-dimensional or even more.

    膜可以是三維的也可以是更多維的

  • And with enough energy,

    給它足夠的能量

  • A brane could grow to an enormous size,

    一個膜可以變得巨大無比

  • Perhaps even as large as a universe.

    甚至跟宇宙一樣大

  • This was a revolution in string theory.

    這是弦理論的一次革命

  • String theory has gotten much more baroque.

    弦理論越來越帶有巴洛克風格

  • I mean now there are not only strings,

    我是說現在不僅有弦

  • There are membranes.

    還有薄膜

  • People go on calling this string theory,

    人們一直稱它為弦理論

  • But the string theorists are not sure

    但弦學家們卻已經不敢確定

  • It really is a theory of strings anymore.

    它還是不是關於弦的理論了

  • The existence of giant membranes and extra dimensions

    巨大薄膜與額外維度的存在

  • Would open up a startling new possibility,

    會產生一個令人震驚的新的可能

  • That our whole universe is living on a membrane,

    那就是我們的宇宙存在於

  • Inside a much larger,higher dimensional space.

    一個更大更高維空間裡的膜上

  • It's almost as if we were living inside...a loaf of bread?

    幾乎就像住在一塊麵包裡

  • Our universe might be like a slice of bread,

    我們的宇宙就像是一片麵包

  • Just one slice,in a much larger loaf that

    只是物理學家稱為"主體"的

  • Physicists sometimes call the "bulk."

    一大塊麵包中的一片

  • And if these ideas are right,

    如果這些想法是正確的話

  • The bulk may have other slices,other universes,

    就會有與我們相鄰的

  • That are right next to ours,

    其他片即其他宇宙的存在

  • In effect,"parallel" universes.

    也就是平行宇宙

  • Not only would our universe be nothing special,

    不僅我們的宇宙不再是特殊的

  • but we could have a lot of neighbors.

    而且還會有很多鄰居

  • Some of them could resemble our universe,

    它們中有些會與我們的宇宙相似

  • They might have matter and planets and,who knows,

    可能擁有物質和星球 誰知道呢

  • Maybe even beings of a sort.

    或許還有生命

  • Others certainly would be a lot stranger.

    其它的則可能很不一樣

  • They might be ruled by completely different laws of physics.

    它們可能有著截然不同的物理法則

  • Now,all of these other universes would exist

    那些其它的宇宙可能存在於

  • within the extra dimensions of M-theory,

    M理論的額外維度裡

  • dimensions that are all around us.

    也就是我們周圍的維度

  • Some even say they might be right next to us,

    有人甚至說它們就在我們的身邊

  • Less than a millimeter away.

    不足一毫米之遙

  • But if that's true,why can't I see them or touch them?

    但如果那是真的 為什麼我看不到摸不著

  • If you have a brane living in a higher dimensional space,

    如果一個膜存在於一個高維空間中

  • And your particles,your atoms,cannot get off the brane,

    並且你的粒子和原子不能擺脫這層膜

  • It's like trying to reach out,but you can't touch anything.

    那就像你伸出雙手卻摸不到任何東西

  • It might as well be on the other end of the universe.

    也可能在宇宙的另一端

  • It's a very powerful idea because if it's right

    這是個舉足輕重的想法 因為如果正確

  • It means that our whole picture of the universe is clouded

    就意味著我們對宇宙的整體認識

  • By the fact that we're trapped on just a tiny slice

    因為我們被困在高維宇宙的一小片中

  • Of the higher dimensional universe.

    而被蒙蔽了

  • It is a powerful idea,especially because it may help solve

    這是個極好的想法 尤其是它可以

  • One of the great mysteries of modern science.

    幫我們解決現代科學中的一大謎團

  • It has to do with gravity.

    那就是引力

  • It's been more than 300 years

    自從艾薩克·牛頓如故事中所講的那樣

  • Since Isaac Newton came up with the universal law of gravity,

    從樹上掉下來的蘋果得到啟發

  • Inspired,as the story goes,

    發現地心引力的普適法則以來

  • By seeing an apple fall from a tree.

    已經過去了300多年

  • Today,it seems obvious that gravity is a powerful force.

    如今 引力的強大顯而易見

  • It would seem to most people

    大多數人認為

  • That gravity is a very important force,it's very strong.

    引力很強很重要

  • It's very hard to get up in the morning,stand up,

    早上艱難的起床 費力的站起來

  • And when things fall they break because gravity is strong.

    物體掉落會摔破都是它強大的表現

  • But the fact of the matter is that it's not strong.

    但事實並非這樣

  • It's,it's really a very weak force.

    它其實是一股很弱的力

  • Gravity pulls us down to the earth,

    引力把我們吸在地球上

  • And keeps our earth in orbit around the sun.

    並使地球繞太陽公轉

  • But in fact,we overcome the force of gravity all the time.

    但事實上我們一直都在克服引力

  • It's not that hard. Even with the gravity of the entire earth

    這其實並不難 即使是整個地球的引力

  • Pulling this apple downward,

    把這個蘋果向下拉

  • The muscles in my arm can easily overcome it.

    我們手臂的肌肉依然可以輕鬆戰勝它

  • And it's not just our muscles that put gravity to shame.

    而且不僅是我們的肌肉讓引力蒙羞

  • Magnets can do it,too,no sweat.

    磁體也可以毫不費力的做到

  • Magnets carry a different force,

    磁體運用的是不同的力

  • The electromagnetic force.

    電磁力

  • That's the same force behind light and electricity.

    它就是產生光和電的力

  • It turns out that electromagnetism is much,much stronger

    其實電磁力要比引力

  • Than gravity.

    強大很多

  • Gravity,in comparison,is amazingly weak.

    相比較而言引力實在弱小太多

  • How weak?

    多麼弱呢

  • The electromagnetic force is some thousand billion,

    電磁力要比引力強一萬億

  • Billion,billion,billion times stronger.

    億億 兆億倍還多

  • That's a one with 39 zeroes following it.

    也就是1後面有39個零

  • The weakness of gravity

    引力的弱小

  • Has confounded scientists for decades.

    困擾了科學家們好幾十年

  • But now,with the radical world of string theory,

    但現在 用膜和額外維度

  • Filled with membranes and extra dimensions,

    充實過的弦理論

  • There's a whole new way to look at the problem.

    提供了一個全新的視角來看這個問題

  • One way of approaching the question of

    一種分析引力為什麼

  • Why gravity is so weak compared to all the other forces,

    比其它力弱得多的方法

  • Is to turn the question completely on its head,

    是把這問題倒過來看

  • And say,"no,actually gravity isn't very weak.

    應該說 不對 引力實際上並不弱

  • Compared to all the other forces,

    只是與其它力相比

  • It just appears to be weak."

    顯得弱

  • It may be that gravity

    或許引力

  • Is actually just as strong as electromagnetism,

    實際上與電磁力一樣強大

  • But for some reason,we can't feel its strength.

    只是由於某種原因我們感受不到

  • Consider a pool table,a very large pool table.

    想像一個很大很大的檯球桌

  • Think of the surface of the pool table

    將它的檯面

  • As representing our three-dimensional universe,

    設想為我們的三維世界

  • Although it is just two-dimensional,

    雖然它只是二維的

  • And think of the billiard balls

    將檯球

  • As representing atoms and other particles

    設想為組成宇宙的

  • That the universe is made out of.

    原子和其它粒子

  • So here's the wild idea:

    這就是那個瘋狂的想法

  • The atoms and particles that make up stuff

    構成我們世界萬物的

  • In the world around us will stay on our particular membrane,

    原子和粒子停留在這層膜上

  • Our slice of the universe just as the billiard balls

    我們這片宇宙就像檯球

  • Will stay on the surface of the pool table

    呆在檯面上

  • ——unless you're a really bad pool player.

    除非你技術太差

  • But whenever the balls collide,

    但是每當球發生碰撞

  • There is something that always seeps off the table,

    總會有些東西從球檯上發出

  • Sound waves. That's why I can hear the collision.

    這就是聲波 所以我可以聽到撞擊聲

  • Now,the idea is that gravity might be like the sound waves,

    我們認為引力就像是聲波

  • It might not be confined to our membrane.

    它能突破我們的膜

  • It might be able to seep off our part of the universe.

    它似乎可以擴散出我們這個宇宙

  • Or think about it another way.

    或者換一種想法

  • Instead of pool tables,let's go back to bread.

    我們從檯球桌回到麵包上來

  • Imagine that our universe is like this slice of toast.

    想像我們的宇宙就像這片吐司

  • And that you and me,and all of matter

    所有的物質包括你和我

  • ——light itself,everything we see

    還有光 我們所能看到的一切

  • Is like jelly.

    就像果醬

  • Now jelly can move freely on the surface of the toast,

    果醬可以在麵包上自由移動

  • But otherwise,it's stuck,

    但另一方面 它被困住了

  • it can't leave the surface itself.

    它無法自己離開表面

  • But what if gravity were different?

    如果引力是不同的呢

  • What if gravity were more like cinnamon and sugar?

    如果引力更像糖肉桂會怎樣呢

  • Now,this stuff isn't sticky at all,

    這種東西一點也不粘

  • So it easily slides right off the surface.

    所以很容易從表面滑落

  • But why would gravity be so different from everything else

    那為什麼引力與其他我們所知道的東西

  • That we know of in the universe?

    如此不同呢

  • Well,turns out that string theory,or M-theory,

    弦理論或M理論

  • Provides an answer.

    給了我們答案

  • It all has to do with shape.

    是形狀所致

  • For years,

    多年來

  • We concentrated on strings that were closed loops,

    我們一直關注的是像橡皮圈一樣

  • Like rubber bands.

    呈閉環的弦

  • But after M-theory,we turned our attention to other kinds.

    M理論的提出使我們開始關注其它種類

  • Now we think that everything we see around us,

    現在我們認為周圍的一切

  • Like matter and light,is made of open-ended strings,

    像光和物質都是由開環弦組成

  • And the ends of each string

    所有弦的末端

  • Are tied down to our three-dimensional membrane.

    都束縛在三維的膜上

  • But closed loops of string do exist,

    而閉環弦也確實存在

  • And one kind is responsible for gravity.

    其中一種就是產生引力的原因

  • It's called a graviton.

    稱為引力子

  • With closed loops, there are no loose ends to tie down,

    閉環的弦沒有末端可以連接膜

  • So gravitons are free to escape into the other dimensions,

    所以引力子可以自由穿梭於其它的維度

  • diluting the strength of gravity

    稀釋了引力的強度

  • And making it seem weaker than the other forces of nature.

    使它看起來比其他的自然力弱

  • This suggests an intriguing possibility.

    這就提出了一個有趣的可能

  • If we do live on a membrane

    倘若我們真的生活在膜上

  • And there are parallel universes on other membranes near us,

    而且附近其它膜上還有平行宇宙

  • We may never see them,

    我們也許永遠看不見它們

  • But perhaps we could one day feel them through gravity.

    但或許有一天我們能通過引力感覺到它們

  • If there happens to be intelligent life

    如果恰巧有智慧生命

  • On one of the membranes,

    生存在一個膜上

  • Then this intelligent life might be very close to us.

    那麼這一智慧生命可能會離我們很近

  • So theoretically,and purely theoretically,

    所以理論上講 單純從理論出發

  • We might be able to communicate with this intelligent life

    我們可以通過交換強引力波

  • By exchanging strong gravity wave sources.

    和這一智慧生命進行交流

  • So who knows?

    誰知道呢

  • Maybe someday we'll develop the technology

    也許有一天我們會發明這種技術

  • And use gravity waves

    利用引力波

  • to actually communicate with other worlds.

    與其它世界真正的交流

  • Ay-yoo-ya.

    你好

  • Yes,hey,it's brian. how you doing?

    嘿 我是布萊恩 最近可好

  • I told you never to call me during "the simpsons!"

    跟你說了別在我看《辛普森一家》時打來

  • We don't really know if parallel universes

    我們並不真正知道平行宇宙

  • Could have a real impact on us.

    是否對我們真有影響

  • But there is one very controversial idea,which says

    但是現在有個頗具爭議的理論

  • They've already played a major role.

    號稱它們早已影響至深

  • In fact,it gives them credit for our existence.

    事實上 它把我們的存在歸功於它們

  • As the classic story goes,

    正如經典理論所描述

  • The vast universe we see today was once extremely small,

    我們今日所見廣大宇宙曾經很微小

  • Unimaginably small.

    無法想像的微小

  • Then,suddenly,it got bigger ——a lot bigger

    突然間 在所謂宇宙大爆炸的戲劇變化中

  • ——during the dramatic event known as the big bang.

    它開始變大 變得非常大

  • The big bang stretched the fabric of space

    大爆炸拉伸了空間的構架

  • And set off the chain of events that brought us

    引發了一連串變化 從而給我們帶來

  • To the universe we know and love today.

    今日我們熟知和熱愛的宇宙

  • But there's always been a couple of problems

    但是關於宇宙大爆炸理論

  • With the big bang theory.

    總是有很多問題

  • First,when you squeeze the entire universe

    首先 當你將整個宇宙

  • Into an infinitesimally small,

    擠壓成體積無限小

  • But stupendously dense package,

    但是密度無限大的一包時

  • At a certain point,

    在某種程度上

  • Our laws of physics simply break down.

    我們的物理法則就完全不再適用

  • They just don't make sense anymore.

    它們不再具有意義

  • The formulas we use start giving answers

    我們所使用的公式開始給出

  • That are nonsensical. we find total disaster.

    無意義的答案 我們徹底失敗

  • Everything breaks down,and we're stuck.

    一切均被顛覆 我們陷入了困境

  • And on top of this,there's the bang itself.

    此外 還有爆炸本身

  • What exactly is that?

    那究竟是什麼

  • That's actually a problem.

    問到點子上了

  • The classic form of the big bang theory

    大爆炸理論的經典形式

  • Really says nothing about what banged,

    實際上沒有告知任何關於什麼爆炸了

  • What happened before it banged,

    在爆炸之前發生了什麼

  • Or what caused it to bang.

    或者什麼導致了爆炸的訊息

  • Refinements to the big bang theory do suggest explanations

    大爆炸理論的核心確實解釋了爆炸

  • For the bang,but none of them turn the clock back completely

    但卻沒能把時光完全倒回到

  • To the moment when everything started.

    萬物起源的時刻

  • Most people come at this with the naive notion

    多數人對此有天真的想法

  • That there was a beginning

    認為時空

  • ——that somehow space and time emerged from nothingness

    無緣無故地從虛無中產生

  • Into somethingness.

    形成存在

  • Well,I don't know about you,but I don't like nothing.

    我不知道你怎麼想 但我不喜歡虛無

  • Do I really believe that the universe was a big bang

    我真的相信宇宙是大爆炸

  • Out of nothing? And I don't -I'm not a philosopher,

    從虛無中產生的嗎 我不是哲學家

  • So I won't say. But I could imagine to a philosopher,

    所以我不想說 但可以想像對哲學家來說

  • That is a problem.

    這是個難題

  • But to a physicist,I think,it's also a problem.

    但對於物理學家 我認為也是個難題

  • Everyone admits there are problems.

    所有人都承認有問題

  • The question is: "Can string theory solve them?"

    問題是 弦理論可以解決它們嗎

  • Some string theorists have suggested that the big bang

    一些弦理論學家認為大爆炸

  • Wasn't the beginning at all,

    根本不是起源

  • That the universe could have existed long before even forever.

    宇宙可能由來已久甚至一直就是這樣

  • Not everyone is comfortable with the idea.

    不是所有人都對此認同

  • I actually find it rather unattractive

    實際上我覺得去研究

  • To think about a universe without a beginning.

    一個沒有起源的宇宙是多麼乏味

  • It seems to me that a universe without a beginning

    對我來說一個無起源的宇宙

  • Is also a universe without an explanation.

    就相當於一個無法解釋的宇宙

  • So what is the explanation?

    那麼解釋是什麼呢

  • What if string theory is right,

    如果弦理論是正確的呢

  • And we are all living on a giant membrane

    那麼我們就全生活在

  • Inside a higher dimensional space?

    更高維空間裡的巨大的膜上嗎

  • One of the ideas in string theory

    弦理論的一種主張

  • That was particularly striking to me,

    十分吸引我的注意

  • And suggested perhaps a new direction for cosmology,

    它也許提出了宇宙學的新方向

  • Is the idea of branes and the idea of branes moving

    就是膜和膜在額外空間裡

  • In extra dimensions.

    運動的想法

  • Some scientists have proposed that the answer

    一些科學家認為

  • To the big bang riddle lies in the movements

    大爆炸之謎的答案存在於

  • Of these giant branes.

    這些巨大膜的運動中

  • It's so simple. Here's a brane on which we live,

    這很簡單 這是我們生活的膜

  • And here's another brane floating in the higher dimension.

    這是另一個在更高維度裡漂浮的膜

  • There's absolutely nothing difficult about imagining

    可以毫無困難的想像

  • That these collide with each other.

    兩者之間會發生碰撞

  • According to this idea,some time before the big bang,

    根據此觀點 在大爆炸之前的某個時候

  • Two branes carrying parallel universes

    兩個攜帶平行宇宙的膜

  • Began drifting toward each other,

    開始朝彼此漂移

  • Until...

    直到

  • All of that energy has to go somewhere.

    所有的能量釋放到別處

  • Where does it go? It goes into the big bang.

    釋放到哪裡去了呢 釋放到大爆炸中

  • It creates the expansion that we see,

    它創造了我們看見的膨脹

  • And it heats up all the particles in the universe,

    加強了宇宙中粒子在這個大的活躍的

  • In this big, fiery mass.

    質量體中的活動

  • As if this weren't weird enough,

    如果這還不足為奇的話

  • the proponents of this idea make another radical claim:

    此理論的推崇者提出了一個更激進的論斷

  • The big bang was not a special event.

    大爆炸並非特殊事件

  • They say that parallel universes could have collided,

    他們認為平行宇宙在過去

  • Not just once in the past,

    不止一次的碰撞

  • But again and again

    而是反反覆覆

  • ——and that it will happen in the future.

    而且也會發生在未來

  • If this view is right,there's a brane out there right now,

    如果此理論正確 現在就有一張膜

  • Headed on a collision course with our universe.

    朝著我們的宇宙撞來

  • So another collision is coming,

    所以另一個碰撞要來臨了

  • And there'll be another big bang.

    另一個大爆炸也即將發生

  • And this will just repeat itself

    而這個過程也將不斷的

  • For an indefinite period into the future.

    在未來的某個不確定時間重演

  • It's an intriguing idea.

    這是個有趣的想法

  • Unfortunately,there are a few technical problems.

    遺憾的是 存在一些技術性問題

  • Well,that was a very ingenious scenario

    那是個非常有創意的假設

  • That arose naturally within string theory.

    它的本質源於弦理論

  • However,the good old problems creep back in again.

    但是 老問題又回來了

  • The fact is we don't really know what happens

    我們根本不知道當兩個膜相撞時

  • When two branes collide.

    到底發生了什麼

  • You can wind up with the same situation we had

    和大爆炸遇到的情況一樣

  • With the big bang;the equations don't make sense.

    方程失去了意義

  • They have to make a lot of assumptions in their models,

    他們在這個模型中要做很多假設

  • And I don't think they've really solved the problem

    我不認為他們真的解決了弦理論中

  • Of the big bang in string theory.

    大爆炸的問題

  • If string theory is the one true theory of the universe,

    如果弦理論真的成立

  • It will have to solve the riddle of the big bang.

    它就能解決大爆炸之謎

  • And there's a lot of hope

    有很多期待

  • That someday string theory will succeed.

    希望弦理論會成功

  • But for now,there's also a lot of uncertainty.

    但是現在 還是有很多不確定因素

  • As promising and exciting the theory is,

    儘管這理論很有前途也很令人振奮

  • We don't entirely understand it.

    但我們還未完全理解它

  • It's as if we've stumbled in the dark into a house,

    就好像在黑暗中我們誤闖入一棟房子

  • Which we thought was a two bedroom apartment

    我們本以為是套兩間房的公寓

  • And now we're discovering is a nineteen-room mansion

    現在發現是至少有19間房的別墅

  • ——at least. And maybe it's got a thousand rooms,

    也許有上千間房間

  • And we're just beginning our journey.

    我們的探索之旅才剛開始

  • So how sure are we that the universe is the way

    所以我們有多確定宇宙就如

  • That string theory describes it?

    弦理論描述的一樣呢

  • Is the world really made up of strings and membranes,

    世界真是由弦和膜

  • Parallel universes and extra dimensions?

    還有平行宇宙和額外維度構成嗎

  • Is this all science or science fiction?

    這些全是科學還是科幻

  • Well,the question we often ask ourselves

    當我們求解方程時

  • As we work through our equations is,

    我們常問自己的問題是

  • "Is this just fancy mathematics,

    這僅僅是空想的數學

  • Or is it describing the real world?"

    還是它真的描述了客觀世界

  • These exercises in our imagination of mathematics are all,

    我們想像中的這些數學理論

  • at the end of the day,subjected to a single question:

    最終被歸結到一個問題上

  • "Is it there in the laboratory? Can you find its evidence?"

    可以實驗驗證嗎 能夠找到證據嗎

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

    弦理論和弦理論學家確實面臨難題

  • How do you actually test string theory?

    你到底如何驗證弦理論

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

    如不能像驗證其他正常理論一樣證實它

  • It's not science,it's philosophy,

    這就不是科學 而是哲學

  • And that's a real problem.

    這是問題的關鍵

  • Strings are thought to be so tiny,

    弦被認為是如此之微小

  • Much smaller than an atom,

    比原子還要小很多

  • That there's probably no way to see them directly.

    以至於可能沒有辦法直接看到它們

  • But even if we never see strings,

    但是即使我們看不到弦

  • We may someday see their fingerprints.

    可能有一天我們可以看到它們的指紋

  • You see,if strings were around

    你看 如果弦是圓形的

  • At the beginning of the universe

    在宇宙伊始

  • When things were really tiny,

    當萬物還是非常微小之時

  • They would have left impressions

    它們可能會在它們的周圍

  • Or traces on their surroundings.

    留下痕跡或蹤跡

  • And then, after the big bang,

    於是 在大爆炸之後

  • When everything expanded,

    當一切開始擴張時

  • Those traces would have been stretched out

    這些蹤跡可能跟其他物質

  • Along with everything else.

    一起被拉伸

  • So,if that's true,

    所以 如果這是真的

  • We may someday see the tell-tale signs of strings

    我們可能某天會在星球的某個地方

  • Somewhere in the stars.

    看到傳說中弦的蹤跡

  • But even here on earth

    即使在地球上

  • There's a chance we can detect evidence of strings.

    我們仍有機會探測到弦的跡象

  • This pasture in Illinois serves as command central

    這個伊利諾伊州的牧場被用作是

  • For a lot of this research.

    許多類似實驗的指揮中心

  • Well,actually,the real work happens underground

    實際上 真正的工作是在地下進行

  • Where the hunt is on for evidence supporting string theory,

    那裡正開展為弦理論包括額外維度

  • Including extra dimensions.

    尋求證據的探索

  • Not too many years ago,

    不久之前

  • People who talked about large extra dimensions

    那些談論大額外維度的人

  • Would have been considered crackpots,to put it lightly.

    坦白說 會被視為狂想家

  • But all that has changed,thanks to string theory.

    但是多虧了弦理論 一切都發生了改變

  • This is fermilab,and right now,

    這裡是費米實驗室 目前

  • It's our best hope for proving that extra dimensions are real.

    這是證實額外維度真實性的最大希望

  • Fermilab has a giant atom smasher.

    費米實驗室有巨大的核粒子加速器

  • Here's how it works:

    它是這樣工作的

  • Scientists zap hydrogen atoms with huge amounts of electricity

    科學家們用大量電流轟擊氫原子

  • Later,they strip them of their electrons

    然後 他們剝去氫原子的電子

  • And send the protons zooming around

    讓質子沿著牧場地下

  • A four mile circular tunnel

    4英里長的圓形隧道

  • Beneath the prairie.

    高速運動

  • Just as they're approaching the speed of light,

    當它們速度接近光速時

  • They are steered into collisions with particles whizzing

    它們會被引導與反向運動的粒子

  • In the opposite direction.

    進行碰撞

  • Most collisions are just glancing blows,

    大多數碰撞都只不過是擦肩而過

  • But occasionally there's a direct hit.

    但是偶爾會有正碰發生

  • The result is a shower of unusual subatomic particles.

    結果會產生許多異常的亞原子粒子

  • The hope is that among these particles

    科學家期望在這些粒子之中

  • Will be a tiny unit of gravity,the graviton.

    發現微小的引力單元 也就是引子力

  • Gravitons,according to string theory,are closed loops,

    引子力 根據弦理論是閉環弦

  • So they can float off into the extra dimensions.

    所以它們能夠漂進額外維度

  • The grand prize would be a snapshot of a graviton

    最大的收穫是獲得引力子

  • At the moment of escape.

    在逃逸時刻的快照

  • And then the graviton goes to the extra dimension,

    既而引子力進入額外維度

  • And then it shows in the detector by its absence.

    然後探測器偵測到它的消失

  • You see it by its absence.

    你在它消失時才能看見它

  • Unfortunately,

    遺憾的是

  • Fermilab hasn't yet "seen" the vanishing graviton.

    費米實驗室沒能"看到"消失的引子力

  • And the pressure is on,

    壓力隨之而來

  • Because another team is hot on the same trail.

    因為另一團隊正如火如荼進行同樣的實驗

  • Four thousand miles away,

    四千英里開外

  • On the border of france and switzerland,

    在法國和瑞士交界處

  • A lab called cern

    名為歐洲核研究委員會的實驗室

  • Is constructing an enormous new atom smasher.

    正在建造巨大的新型核粒子加速器

  • When it's finished,

    當它竣工時

  • It will be seven times more powerful than fermilab's.

    將會比費米實驗室的強大七倍

  • There's a great sense of urgency that

    我們倍感危機

  • Every minute has to count,but eventually,cern,

    分秒必爭 但最終歐洲核研究委員會

  • Our rival laboratory,will frankly blow us out of the water.

    我們的競爭對手 將毫無懸念的戰勝我們

  • Cern will blow fermilab out of the water,

    歐洲核研究委員會將會擊敗費米實驗室

  • Not only in the search for extra dimensions,

    不僅在探索額外維度上

  • But other wild ideas.

    還在證實其他前沿的想法上

  • At the top of the "to do" list for both labs

    在兩個實驗室任務列表的開始

  • Is the hunt for something called "supersymmetry,"

    都是尋求名為"超對稱性"的物質

  • That's a central prediction of string theory.

    這是弦理論的核心預測

  • And it says,in a nutshell,

    簡言之 它指出

  • That for every subatomic particle we're familiar with,

    對於我們所熟知的每個亞原子粒子

  • Like electrons,photons,and gravitons,

    例如電子 光子和引力子

  • There should also be a much heavier partner

    都應該有更重的叫做"超對稱粒子"的伴隨粒子

  • Called a "sparticle," which so far no one has ever seen.

    然而目前還沒有人看見過

  • Now,because string theory says sparticles should exist,

    因為弦理論認為超對稱粒子應該存在

  • Finding them is a major priority.

    找到它們便成為首要任務

  • So,it's a big discovery to find supersymmetry.

    所以尋找到超對稱性將是巨大的發現

  • That's,that's a humongous discovery and,

    那將是重大的發現

  • And I think it's a bigger discovery to find supersymmetry

    而且我認為發現超對稱性

  • Than to find life on mars.

    比在火星上發現生命的意義更為重大

  • If we were to hear tomorrow that

    如果我們明天聽說

  • Supersymmetry was discovered,

    超對稱性被發現了

  • There would be parties all over the planet.

    整個地球都會狂歡

  • The problem is,if they exist,

    問題是 如果它們存在

  • The sparticles of supersymmetry are probably incredibly heavy,

    超對稱性粒子可能會非常重

  • So heavy that they may not be detected

    以至於利用今天的粒子加速器

  • With today's atom smashers.

    還無法發現它們

  • The new facility at cern will have the best chance,

    歐洲核研究委員會的新設備一旦建成

  • Once it's up and running in several years,

    並且運轉幾年時間 很有可能成功

  • But that won't stop the folks at fermilab

    但是這不會阻止費米實驗室的人們

  • From trying to find them first.

    嘗試率先找尋到它們

  • The competition is,is friendly and fierce at the same time.

    競爭是友好的 同時也是激烈的

  • We're competing like bad dogs,essentially.

    就像惡狗搶食一樣

  • It has always been like that,and it will always be like that.

    一直如此 將來也會如此

  • We have to make sure that we don't make any mistakes,

    我們要確定不犯錯誤

  • That we do absolutely the best we can do at these experiments

    在實驗中竭盡我們的全力

  • And take advantage of what is really

    利用好這個

  • One of the great golden opportunities for discovery.

    探索發現的黃金機會

  • If we do find sparticles,it won't prove string theory,

    如果我們能找到超粒子 也不會證實弦理論

  • But it will be really strong circumstantial evidence

    但是這必將間接證明

  • That we're on the right track.

    我們是在正確的道路上前行

  • Over the next 10 to 20 years,

    未來的十到二十年

  • The new generation of atom smashers

    新一代核粒子加速器

  • Is sure to uncover surprising truths

    必定會揭示關於我們宇宙本質的

  • About the nature of our universe.

    令人驚訝的真相

  • But will it be the universe predicted by string theory?

    宇宙會如同弦理論所闡釋的一樣嗎

  • What if we don't find sparticles? or extra dimensions?

    如果沒能找到超粒子或額外維度怎麼辦

  • What if we never find any evidence

    如果不能發現任何證據

  • That supports this weird new universe filled with

    證實這充滿膜和微小振動的弦的

  • Membranes and tiny vibrating strings?

    新奇的宇宙呢

  • Could string theory,in the end,be wrong?

    弦理論 最終會是錯誤的嗎

  • Oh yes,it's certainly a logical possibility that

    對 當然邏輯上有這種可能

  • We've all been wasting our time for the last twenty years

    我們浪費了過去二十年的時間

  • And that the theory is completely wrong.

    最終發現理論完全錯誤

  • There have been periods of many years

    曾經有很多時候

  • Where all of the smart people,all of the cool people,

    那些聰明優秀的人

  • Were working on one kind of theory,

    一直在研究某種理論

  • Moving in one kind of direction,

    朝著一個方向前進

  • And even though they thought it was wonderful,

    即使他們認為前景很美好

  • It turned out to be a dead end.

    但最終還是走進死胡同

  • This could happen to string theory.

    這也可能發生在弦理論上

  • Even though there's no real evidence yet,

    即使現在沒有真憑實據

  • So much of string theory just makes so much sense;

    這麼多的弦理論都有其道理

  • A lot of us believe it's just got to be right.

    我們當中很多人堅信它是正確的

  • I don't think it's ever happened

    我不認為

  • That a theory that has the kind of mathematical appeal

    像弦理論這樣有如此數學基礎的理論

  • That string theory has turned out to be entirely wrong.

    最終是完全錯誤的

  • I would find it hard to believe that that

    我很難相信

  • Much elegance and mathematical beauty

    這麼多美妙的想法和精彩的計算

  • Would simply be wasted.

    僅僅只是種徒勞

  • I don't really know how close we are to the end.

    我不知道我們離結束還有多遠

  • You know,are we almost there in having the complete story?

    我們即將揭曉故事的全部嗎

  • Is it going to still be another ten years? nobody knows.

    還需要另外一個十年嗎 沒人知道

  • But I think it's going to keep me busy for a long time.

    但是我相信這會讓我忙上很長一陣

  • We have been incredibly lucky.

    我們真的很幸運

  • Nature has somehow allowed us

    自然界已經允許我們

  • To unlock the keys to many fundamental mysteries already.

    去解答許多的基礎謎題

  • How far can we push that?

    我們能走多遠

  • We won't know until we,until we try.

    不嘗試我們怎麼會知道

  • A century ago,some scientists thought

    一個世紀以前 一些科學家認為

  • They had pretty much figured out the basic laws of the universe.

    他們已經瞭解了宇宙的基本法則

  • But then einstein came along

    但是愛因斯坦的出現

  • And dramatically revised our views of space

    戲劇般地顛覆了我們對空間

  • And time and gravity.

    時間以及引力的看法

  • And quantum mechanics unveiled the inner workings

    量子力學揭開了原子和分子

  • Of atoms and molecules,

    內部運動的神秘面紗

  • Revealing a world that's bizarre and uncertain.

    向人們展現了一個變化多端的奇異世界

  • So,far from confirming that we had sorted it all out,

    所以 我們離弄清所有的真相還很遙遠

  • The 20th century showed that

    20世紀告訴我們

  • Every time we looked more closely at the universe,

    每當我們對宇宙的瞭解更進一步

  • We discovered yet another unexpected layer of reality.

    便會出乎意料地發現客觀世界的另一層面

  • As we embark on the 21st century,

    值此21世紀之際

  • we're getting a glimpse of what may be the next layer:

    我們下一步的任務已經隱隱在望

  • Vibrating strings,sparticles,parallel universes

    振動的弦 超粒子和平行宇宙

  • And extra dimensions.

    以及額外維度

  • It's a breathtaking vision

    前景是激動人心的

  • And in a few years,experiments may begin to tell us

    幾年後 實驗也許會告訴我們

  • Whether some of these ideas are right or wrong.

    這些理論是對還是錯

  • But,regardless of the outcome,we'll keep going,

    但是無論結果如何 我們將繼續前行

  • Because,well,that's what we do.

    因為這就是我們的使命

  • We follow our curiosity. we explore the unknown.

    我們跟隨好奇心 探索未知世界

  • And a hundred or a thousand years from now,

    千百年後 今日的宇宙學說

  • Today's view of the cosmos may look woefully incomplete,

    可能會不幸地被認為是不完整的

  • Perhaps even quaint.

    甚至是荒唐的

  • But undeniably,the ideas we call string theory

    但是不可否認 我們稱之為弦理論的想法

  • Are a testament to the power of human creativity.

    是人類創造力的見證

  • They've opened a whole new spectrum of possible answers

    它們為回答古老的問題

  • To age-old questions.

    提供了全新的答案

  • And with them,we've taken a dramatic leap

    有了它們 在對優雅的宇宙的全面探尋中

  • In our quest to fully understand this elegant universe.

    我們已經邁出了一大步

"The Elegant Universe", hosted by Brian Greene.

《優雅的宇宙》 主持 布萊恩·格林

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