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We are in the middle of a golden era of exploration. Particle physicists are probing the smallest distances; cosmologists are looking at the very end of the universe. All are looking for answers to fundamental questions. What is matter made of? Are there extra dimensions? What is the nature of space and time? What can we learn from our past and future? Presentation by Prof Dr Robbert Dijkgraaf at TEDxAmsterdam
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The Unknown Universe
Robbert Dijkgraaf
Very impressive, dearcolleague.
But does it also workin theory?
Galileo’s `Book of Nature’
Galileo Galilei
The Book of Nature“The universe cannot be read
until we have learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it
is written. It is written in mathematical language, and
the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures,
without which means it is humanly impossible to
comprehend a single word.”
“The universe cannot be read until we have learned the
language and become familiar with the characters in which it
is written. It is written in mathematical language, and
the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures,
without which means it is humanly impossible to
comprehend a single word.”
“If all mathematics disappeared today,physics would be set back
exactly one week.”
“That was the weekthat God created the world.”
Anonymous Mathematician
Anonymous MathematicianRichard Feynman Richard Feynman
“To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to
the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature ... If you want to learn about nature,
to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in.”
CosmosRelativity
ParticlesQuantum
The Universe
Curvature of Space-Time
Mass
The Quantum World
Black Box
?in uit
in uit
Black Box
?
Hair
Anomalous magnetic moment of the electron 1,0011596521859 ± 0,0000000000038
Standard Model
u
u
u
d
d
d u
u
u
d
d
d
e
e
Grand Unified Theory?
Dark MatterDark Matter
StrongForce
WeakForce
ElectroMagnetism Gravity
Ener
gy G
eV
Unification 1015
1010
105
1
Space-Time Foam
Planck length 10-35 m
Max Planck
}Planck length
The Hierarchy
3510 m 510 m 2510 m
Hubble Scale(largest)
“Life”Planck Scale(smallest)
The Unbearable LightnessOf Gravity
Why is every electron exactly the same?
NATURE’SELECTRONFACTORY
e
There is onlyone electron in the universe!
John Wheeler
Richard Feynman
time
Space-Time
++
++
+
-
-- -
--
time
Virtual Particles
time
Vacuum Fluctuations
time
Vacuum Fluctuations
Dark Energy
73% dark energy73% dark energy
Weight of the Universe
23% dark matter 23% dark matter 4% known matter 4% known matter
Dark Knowledge
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