The Mystery of Dark Matter
Michio Kaku on May 28, 2010, 5:27 PM
This blog post is an extension of my thoughts on dark matter which I previously spoke about in my Big Think interview entitled “A Brief History of Sexism in Science”. It seems now that every month, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is breaking another energy record.
Just last week (May 19th @ 5:20 a.m.) two 3.5 TeV proton beams were successfully circulated in the LHC for the first time. This is the highest energy yet achieved in a particle accelerator. The LHC's energy dials aren't redlining quite yet and it's operating at about 50% of their expected operational levels of colliding beams at 7 TeV apiece. We believe that the LHC is actually powerful enough to create dark matter in the laboratory and we think that it could be matter hovering just above us, in another dimension. Imagine two parallel sheets of paper with us living on the bottom sheet and the other sheet of paper is a galaxy that is hovering just above us. We can't necessarily see it because light passes beneath this other galaxy, so in a sense it’s just invisible. But, we now believe that gravity freely travels between these two sheets of paper. So, the galaxy would appear to be massive because it would have gravity but it’s invisible. This is exactly what dark matter is and it’s much more plentiful than ordinary matter. You and me, we are the exceptions (atoms are the exceptions to the rule). The idea that the universe is made entirely of atoms (which we were all taught in school) is a rule that is now a bit outdated and needs to be changed. Wikipedia explains dark matter as "inferred to exist from gravitational effects on visible matter and background radiation, but is undetectable by emitted or scattered electromagnetic radiation. Its existence was hypothesized to account for discrepancies between measurements of the mass of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the entire universe made through dynamical and general relativistic means, and measurements based on the mass of the visible "luminous" matter these objects contain". The discovery of dark matter is going to answer questions we have been asking ourselves for decades and it may in fact be discovered in the next few years with the help of the LHC.
There is of course a great deal of unanswered questions that start to pop up about gravity as well. Many people still ask me if we even have a complete understanding of what gravity even is. My answer to that is gravity is a bit harder to understand than the other forces even though it's everywhere. It's the invisible force that holds us to the floor and keeps us from drifting into outer space. It is the means by which objects with mass attact one another. Gravity however doesn’t behave like any of the other quantum forces and it's a bit of an odd-ball. To really quantize gravity and make it as easily explained as light or the nuclear force, you have to introduce an even higher theory way beyond the realm of Einstein's existing framework. We now believe we have a strong candidate for that higher theory which we think is string theory. We are now convinced that string theory will finally give us a clear description of gravity and it's properties. Gravity is a force just like Einstein said, the bending of space and time and we have all heard the example of a bowling ball on a waterbed. But then how do you marry it with the other quantum forces? You could marry it with the other forces because gravity would essentially become a vibration just like all the other forces under the framework of string theory. So, that being said - All the forces could in a sense, be different vibrations of the string. In fact, if you look at the first octave of the superstring - Einstein’s entire theory is essentially part of the first octave. The theory is eloquent but the problem is that it's a double edged sword - It either explains everything or it doesn't.
So, one of the goals of the Large Hadron Collider is the possibility to create dark matter and this feat would be absolutely incredible, shaking the foundations of science. We know now that dark matter has weight and mass but it has no charge so therefore if you were to hold it in your hand, it would be ghostlike. It would actually filter through your hand, through the floor, through the crust of the earth all the way to the other side in a never ending cycle. The reason why it would simply oscillate back and forth is because the gravity field of the earth would be enough to pull it back not allowing it to escape into outer space. We now think that the earth is moving in a wind of dark matter and it’s traveling through our bodies as we speak but it’s very difficult to detect. Another theory states that dark matter may be a higher vibration of the string and we, for example are the lowest vibration (the lowest octave) of tiny little rubber bands vibrating everywhere. But a string can twang and you can have higher vibrations of a rubber band and we think that these higher octaves (vibrations) are dark matter.
The LHC gives us hope that the mysteries of dark matter will finally be unraveled. If the LHC can eventually create dark matter, quantum physicists will be a step closer to proving the validity of the supersymmetry model and give us a better explanation of the Universe we live in. The discovery may happen tomorrow or it may happen a decade from now so in the meantime - Keep your fingers crossed..
بقلم البرفوسيور ميشوكاكو
ترجمة : ايمان عبدو
Michio Kaku on May 28, 2010, 5:27 PM
This blog post is an extension of my thoughts on dark matter which I previously spoke about in my Big Think interview entitled “A Brief History of Sexism in Science”. It seems now that every month, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is breaking another energy record.
Just last week (May 19th @ 5:20 a.m.) two 3.5 TeV proton beams were successfully circulated in the LHC for the first time. This is the highest energy yet achieved in a particle accelerator. The LHC's energy dials aren't redlining quite yet and it's operating at about 50% of their expected operational levels of colliding beams at 7 TeV apiece. We believe that the LHC is actually powerful enough to create dark matter in the laboratory and we think that it could be matter hovering just above us, in another dimension. Imagine two parallel sheets of paper with us living on the bottom sheet and the other sheet of paper is a galaxy that is hovering just above us. We can't necessarily see it because light passes beneath this other galaxy, so in a sense it’s just invisible. But, we now believe that gravity freely travels between these two sheets of paper. So, the galaxy would appear to be massive because it would have gravity but it’s invisible. This is exactly what dark matter is and it’s much more plentiful than ordinary matter. You and me, we are the exceptions (atoms are the exceptions to the rule). The idea that the universe is made entirely of atoms (which we were all taught in school) is a rule that is now a bit outdated and needs to be changed. Wikipedia explains dark matter as "inferred to exist from gravitational effects on visible matter and background radiation, but is undetectable by emitted or scattered electromagnetic radiation. Its existence was hypothesized to account for discrepancies between measurements of the mass of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and the entire universe made through dynamical and general relativistic means, and measurements based on the mass of the visible "luminous" matter these objects contain". The discovery of dark matter is going to answer questions we have been asking ourselves for decades and it may in fact be discovered in the next few years with the help of the LHC.
There is of course a great deal of unanswered questions that start to pop up about gravity as well. Many people still ask me if we even have a complete understanding of what gravity even is. My answer to that is gravity is a bit harder to understand than the other forces even though it's everywhere. It's the invisible force that holds us to the floor and keeps us from drifting into outer space. It is the means by which objects with mass attact one another. Gravity however doesn’t behave like any of the other quantum forces and it's a bit of an odd-ball. To really quantize gravity and make it as easily explained as light or the nuclear force, you have to introduce an even higher theory way beyond the realm of Einstein's existing framework. We now believe we have a strong candidate for that higher theory which we think is string theory. We are now convinced that string theory will finally give us a clear description of gravity and it's properties. Gravity is a force just like Einstein said, the bending of space and time and we have all heard the example of a bowling ball on a waterbed. But then how do you marry it with the other quantum forces? You could marry it with the other forces because gravity would essentially become a vibration just like all the other forces under the framework of string theory. So, that being said - All the forces could in a sense, be different vibrations of the string. In fact, if you look at the first octave of the superstring - Einstein’s entire theory is essentially part of the first octave. The theory is eloquent but the problem is that it's a double edged sword - It either explains everything or it doesn't.
So, one of the goals of the Large Hadron Collider is the possibility to create dark matter and this feat would be absolutely incredible, shaking the foundations of science. We know now that dark matter has weight and mass but it has no charge so therefore if you were to hold it in your hand, it would be ghostlike. It would actually filter through your hand, through the floor, through the crust of the earth all the way to the other side in a never ending cycle. The reason why it would simply oscillate back and forth is because the gravity field of the earth would be enough to pull it back not allowing it to escape into outer space. We now think that the earth is moving in a wind of dark matter and it’s traveling through our bodies as we speak but it’s very difficult to detect. Another theory states that dark matter may be a higher vibration of the string and we, for example are the lowest vibration (the lowest octave) of tiny little rubber bands vibrating everywhere. But a string can twang and you can have higher vibrations of a rubber band and we think that these higher octaves (vibrations) are dark matter.
The LHC gives us hope that the mysteries of dark matter will finally be unraveled. If the LHC can eventually create dark matter, quantum physicists will be a step closer to proving the validity of the supersymmetry model and give us a better explanation of the Universe we live in. The discovery may happen tomorrow or it may happen a decade from now so in the meantime - Keep your fingers crossed..
بقلم البرفوسيور ميشوكاكو
ترجمة : ايمان عبدو
اسرار المادة المظلمة
عمود هذا البلوج " هو امتداد لأفكاري عن المادة المظلمة التي تحدثت عنها سابقاً في مقابلة بالتفكير الأكبر لقبتها بـ " تاريخ الجنس المختصر في العلوم " ويبدو ذلك الآن كل شهر .. الهادرونات الكبيرة المتصادمة تكسر رقما قياسيا آخر في الطاقة ..
في الأسبوع الماضي ( 19 مايو/ في الخامسة وعشرون دقيقة صباحاً ) حزم أشعة البروتون انتشرت بنجاح في التصادم لأول مرة .. وهذه تعد أعلى طاقة أنجزت في مسرع الجسيمات .
ان الطاقة التي ديرت لم تصبح بطانتها حمراء بعد تماما .. وهي تعمل على نحو 50% من تجاربها العاملة المتوقعة لاصطدام الحزم المشعة في 7 للقطعة الواحدة .
ونحن نعتقد أن هذا التصادم هو في الواقع طاقة هائلة تكفي لإحداث المادة المظلمة في المعامل كما نعتقد انه من الممكن أن يكون الأمر فقط تكوين للمادة المتأرجحة فوقنا ..
في الأبعاد الأخرى .. تخيل ورقتين متوازيتين .. ونحن نعيش على الورقة السفلية من الورقة والورقة الثانية هي المجرات التي تدور فوقنا .. لذلك ندرك بأنها غير مرئية .. ونحن نعتقد الآن أن الجاذبية تتحرك بين هذه الورقتين بحرية .. لذا تبدو المجرة ضخمة وستكون لها خطورة كبيرة لكنها غير مرئية ..
هذه بالضبط المادة المظلمة وهي أكثر من المواد المألوفة ..أنا وأنت استثنينا(الذرات المستثناه من القاعدة ) الفكرة أن الكون مصنوع تماما من الذرات ( أي التي كنا ندرسها في المدرسة ) تلك هي القاعدة القديمة بعض الشيء والتي تحتاج إلى تغيير ..
تشرح وكبيديا المادة المظلمة بأنها " تدل على وجود بقايا الجاذبية واضحة على المادة و الخلفية الإشعاعية ، لكن لا يمكن الكشف عنها بواسطة الأشعة الكهرومغناطيسية المنبعثة أو المتفرقة . ووجودها يفترض لحساب التباين بين قياسات كتل المجرات ومجموعة المجرات والكون بأكمله عبر الدينامكية ووسائل النسبية العامة .. والقياسات التي تعتمد على الكتل المرئية " المضيئة " التي تحتويها هذه الكتل .
و لاكتشاف هذه المادة المظلمة الذهاب لإجابات الأسئلة التي كنا نسألها أنفسنا لعقود ، وربما في الحقيقة تكون قد اكتشفت في السنوات القليلة القادمة بالمساعدة مع المصادم ..
هناك بالطبع كمية هائلة من الأسئلة التي تبدأ في الظهور عن الجاذبية أيضاً . مازال العديد من الناس يسألوني لو نحن أيضا لدينا الفهم الكامل لماهية الجاذبية .. إجابتي لهذا أن فهم الجاذبية أكثر صعوبة من القوى الأخرى بالرغم من أنها موجودة في كل مكان .. تلك هي القوى التي تحتجزنا وتحفظنا من الانجراف في الفضاء الخارجي . . ومن الوسائل التي تهدف لجذب الكتلة الواحدة مع الأخرى ..
لكن الجاذبية لا تتصرف مثل أي قوة كمية أخرى . وأنها قليلا من الكرة .. ولتثبت قيمة الجاذبية بلغة ميكانيكا الكم حقا وتكون واضحة وسهلة مثل الضوء أو القوة النووية
يجب إدخال طريقة نظرية ابعد من إطار نظرية اينشتاين القائمة ، ونحن نعتقد الآن أن لدينا مرشح قوي لتلك النظرية العالية التي نعتقد بأنها نظرية الأوتار .. نحن الآن مقتنعين بنظرية الأوتاربأنها ستعطيننا أخيراً تصويرا واضحاً للجاذبية وهي خاصية مميزة .. الجاذبية هي فقط قوة كما قال اينشتاين ، والانحناء من المكان والزمان .. لقد سمعنا جميعنا مثال كرة البولينق على اللوح المموج .. لكن كيف إذا يتم التزاوج مع قوة الكم الأخرى ؟
تستطيع التزواج مع القوى الأخرى لأن الجاذبية أساسا لتصبح اهتزازاً تاما مثل جميع القوى الأخرى تحت اطار نظرية الأوتار كذلك الذي يقال .. جميع القوى تستطيع إلى حدا ما لتكون اهتزازات مختلفة الأوتار ..
في الواقع لو نظرتم إلى الاوكتاف الأول من الأوتار الفائقة – نظرية اينشتاين الكاملة هي جزء أساسي من الأوكتاف الأول .. النظرية بليغة لكن المشكلة هي أنها سلاح ذو حدين ـ إما تفسر كل شيء أو لا ـ .
لذا واحد من أهداف إنشاء تصادم الهدرون الضخم "إمكانية خلق المادة المظلمة" وهذا الانجاز سيكون مدهشاً وسيهز قواعد العلوم . كما نحن نعلم الآن أن المادة المظلمة هي وزن وكتلة لكنها ليست شحنة لذلك لو كنت تمسكه في يدك ، سيكون كالشبح الخيال . وهو ينفذ بالتأكيد من خلال يديك .. من خلال قاع الأرضية .. وخلال قشرة الأرض طوال الطريق بجانب الأخرى في دائرة لا تنتهي ..
السبب بكل بساطة تذبذبها جيئة وذهاباً لأن حقل جاذبية الأرض سيكون كافيا لجذبها مرة أخرى ولا يسمح لها بالفرار للفضاء الخارجي . .نحن الآن نعتقد بأن الأرض تتحرك في الريح من المادة المظلمة و أنها مسافرة عبر أجسادنا ونحن نتكلم ولكن من الصعب جدا اكتشافها ..
تنص النظرية الأخرى أن المادة المظلمة ربما هي أعلى اهتزازات الأوتار ونحن على سبيل المثال أدنى اهتزاز من الأربطة المطاطية الصغيرة جدا يتذبذب في كل مكان ، لكن الوتر يستطيع أن يرن ويستطيع أن يكون أعلى من ذبذبات الشريط المطاطي كما نحن نعتقد أن هذه " الذبذبات " هي المادة المظلمة .
المصادم يعطينا الأمل في أن أسرار المادة المظلمة يمكن حل لغزها ..
فلو استطاع المصادم في آخر الأمر خلق المادة المظلمة ، علماء فيزياء الكم سوف يكونوا
في خطوة أقرب لإثبات صحة النموذج الفائق و يعطونا أفضل تفسير للكون الذي نعيش فيه ..
هذه الاكتشافات قد تحدث غداً أو ستحدث خلال عشر سنوات من الآن أوحتى في غضون ذلك
