Quantum gravity: physics’ journey towards a unified theory

Gravity is a concept theorized by Albert Einstein and proven by modern science. After all, space science is one of the fields that invests the most in high-tech detection tools. This force is responsible for maintaining the Earth’s orbit as well as all other orbits of celestial bodies spread throughout the universe.. On our planet, gravity is sufficient to make life as we know it possible.

Since the last century, gravity has been a topic widely addressed by scientists at universities around the world; In fact, understanding this power was vital for sending astronauts on space missions. ‘G force’, which fighter pilots and cosmonauts often experience while on duty, is a term used to describe the measure of gravitational acceleration in the human body.

Like electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force, gravity is considered one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is precisely the force of gravity that gives weight to objects; For example, this is what happens when you pick up a glass and drop it into the air and it breaks as it falls; gravity will pull the glass towards the larger center of the planet, where it will shatter on the ground.

In Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, published in 1915, the concepts of gravity are addressed on a broad scale, as the orbits of cosmic objects are determined by mass and energy. Despite, Science also analyzes force from another perspective; because it is possible to study gravity on extremely small scales in relation to quantum mechanics.

“We are pushing the boundaries of science that could lead to new discoveries about gravity and the quantum world. Our new technique, using extremely low temperatures and devices to isolate particle vibration, will likely prove the way forward for measuring quantum gravity. Science from the University of Southampton (USA) that will reveal these mysteries “Help us uncover more secrets about the structure of the universe, from the smallest particles to the largest cosmic structures,” Tim Fuchs, a fellow scientist, said in a statement about a study on the subject.

What is quantum gravity?

Currently, scientific knowledge allows researchers to discover specific measurements of gravity on planets, stars, and other fairly large objects (even a Formula 1 (F1) car). Doing the same at extremely small scales is still very complicated; For this reason, Quantum gravity was developed to try to explain what happens to this force in the microscopic world.

The goal of scientists is to create a unified theory that explains the gravitational process in both supermassive celestial bodies and tiny particles that cannot be observed with the naked eye. Quarks and muons, for example, are among the smallest particles in nature, but we still don’t know how gravity acts on them.

“If there is no theory [unificada da gravidade]Then the universe is just chaos. This is just random. I wouldn’t even say it would be chaotic or random because these are actually legitimate physical processes,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) theoretical physicist Netta Engelhardt said in a post on the website. space.

In the theory of relativity, Einstein explains that gravity is a curvature of space-time due to the presence of mass and energy. In the case of Earth, its massive core allows for gravity as we know it, but on the Moon the force is much weaker because its natural satellite has much less mass than our planet. For this reason, astronauts had difficulty walking on the lunar surface.

However, it is necessary to find a quantum meaning for this force; This is the only one of the four foundations that needs this explanation. Celestial bodies consist of atoms consisting of electrons and quarks, but to date Science doesn’t know how individual particles on these planets behave with respect to gravity.

In quantum gravity, science interprets the force as a specific particle known as a graviton. The particle may be one of the answers to the effect of gravity on subatomic particles, but it is still only a hypothesis. The actual detection of the graviton may be necessary to unify the theories.

For now, how gravity acts at microscopic levels remains a mystery to science, which is why the quantum gravity field is so important for understanding this phenomenon at subatomic scales. Unfortunately, there is still no complete hypothesis that can explain these effects, but researchers continue to study the issue to create a unified theory.

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