Will Einstein be pulled off the altar? Physicists are trying to challenge the throne of relativity

Speaking of scientists, I believe that many people first think of Einstein and Newton, and some people think of photos of Solvay's fifth meeting, a group photo of the most powerful brains in the 20th century.

　　 But today's science building, the foundation is not strong, it can even be said to be crumbling. It is said that more than 2,000 years ago, in the ancient Greco-Roman era, science began to sprout. The greatest achievement at that time was: geocentric theory, people at that time believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Later, Copernicus proposed the heliocentric theory. However, neither the geocentric theory nor the heliocentric theory has a final word. In the end, it was Newton's law of universal gravitation that explained the laws of celestial motion, and classical physics also began to develop.

　　 In the 20th century, Einstein's theory of relativity revolutionized the life of classical physics, but at almost the same time, quantum mechanics also developed. These are the two foundations of the modern physics building. This was originally a good thing, but what I never expected was that scientists discovered that these two theories could not be reconciled at all. So what exactly is going on?

Relativity VS Quantum Mechanics

　　 In Einstein's general theory of relativity, gravity does not exist, and there is no drag force between celestial bodies. The essence of gravity is the distortion of time and space. For example, if the moon revolves around the earth, the space is distorted by the mass of the earth, and the moon is moving against the geodesic line of time and space. The geodesic line here is like a straight line on a two-dimensional plane. You can It is understood as the "ground" that is attached to time and space in motion. In our three-dimensional space, it means that the moon is revolving around the earth. The space-time here refers to the smooth four-dimensional structure.

Einstein’s theory of relativity has been accepted by mainstream science after more than 100 years. This theory predicts the existence of black holes, the existence of gravitational waves, and the phenomenon of gravitational redshift, etc., which were all verified later, which makes love Instein defeated Newton and sat on the throne of physics.

　　 However, quantum mechanics tries to bring down the theory of relativity. In quantum mechanics, there is a very strange theory, that is: the uncertainty principle. This theory tells us that a particle exists in any position at the same time, and only when it is observed will it have a fixed position. In the theory of relativity, space-time refers to a smooth and continuous four-dimensional structure, which is contrary to the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

　　 Not only that, if quantum mechanics and relativity are combined together, contradictions will naturally appear. According to the theory of relativity, mass can distort space-time, and according to quantum mechanics, matter can assume various states. Then the question arises, where exactly will space-time be distorted? Are there multiple distorted space-times, or only one distorted space-time?

String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity Theory

　　 Scientists tried all kinds of ways to combine quantum mechanics and relativity, but they all failed. As a result, some people even put forward a more difficult theory: string theory. Trying to use string theory to solve the contradiction between relativity and quantum mechanics, but with our current technology, it is impossible to verify the correctness of string theory. This is because the theory of string theory believes that the elementary particles in the universe are actually made up of smaller, vibrating strings. The string's vibration is in the 11th dimension, and the string is too small, which exceeds the observation limit of the current observation equipment. , And in the foreseeable future, it will be difficult for us to really build a device that can observe strings. Are there other options?

　　Since string theory may not work, some scientists have begun to find another way and put forward the theory of loop quantum gravity. These scientists believe that time and space are not as smooth and continuous as the theory of relativity says. Time and space should be composed of a series of very small circles. These circles are intertwined with each other, so they seem to be smooth. The scale of the circle is probably the Planck scale, which is only one trillion trillionths of a meter.

　　 However, for the same reason, if we use equipment to observe the space-time described by the theory of loop quantum gravity, it is almost impossible. Astronomers are trying to indirectly prove the correctness of loop quantum gravity theory by observing ultra-long-distance gamma-ray bursts, but the current observation errors are too large to be achieved.

　　 However, scientists have discovered that apart from revising the definition of “space-time” in the theory of relativity, humans seem to have no other way to reconcile the contradiction between quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. From the current point of view, both string theory and loop quantum gravity theory have opportunities. And their common feature negates the "time and space view" of relativity.

　　 Therefore, today's mainstream physics theories are trying to shake Einstein's view of time and space. I believe that in the future, this theory that sits on the throne of physics will be replaced.