(2464 x 1648 px, 72 dpi)
Physicists at Northeastern University and University of California may soon have the evidence they need to unite the four fundamental forces of nature and prove that extra dimensions exist.
Early results from a detector at the South Pole called the "Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array" (AMANDA) suggests that high-energy particles called neutrinos originating from space could serve as probes to a world beyond our familiar three dimensions, according to research published in the current issue of Physical Review Letters.
The research is authored by Luis Anchordoqui, associate research scientist in the Physics Department at Northeastern University; Haim Goldberg, professor in the Physics Department at Northeastern University; and Jonathan Feng, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University of California, Irvine.
AMANDA has so far discovered less than a dozen high-energy neutrinos, but a larger detector with a greater detection rate and energy range called IceCube is currently under construction. This may soon provide high-energy evidence to unite the four fundamental forces using one of the following physics theories; string theory, extra dimensions and supersymmetry.
Such theories have all been developed in recent years to bridge the gap between Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics can be used to unite three of the four fundamental forces; electromagnetism, strong nuclear (which binds atomic nuclei) and weak nuclear (which causes radioactive beta decay). The theory is incompatible with general relativity however, which is generally accepted as an explanation of the fourth force, gravitational.
Uniting the four forces has become the "holy grail" of physics.
Physicists claim that clues to unification of the fundamental forces lie at extreme energies. Using particle accelerators, scientists have shown that at high energies the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces are indistinguishable. For the next generation of accelerators, it has been predicted that at higher energies the strong nuclear force will also become indistinguishable from the weak nuclear and electromagnetic forces.
To probe gravity's connection, scientists have determined that higher energies are needed. High-energy neutrinos offer the chance to explore the link between the fundamental forces without using particle accelerators that need massive energies.
"To find clues to support string theory and other bold, new theories, we need to study how matter interacts at extreme energies," said Anchordoqui.
"Human-made particle accelerators on Earth cannot yet generate these energies, but nature can in the form of the highest-energy neutrinos."
Adding to his comments, Haim Goldberg said that "The neutrinos accelerated in the cosmos to energies unattainable on Earth can detect the 'footprint' of new physics."
More information about AMANDA and IceCube is available at the IceCube
Microsoft VBScript runtime
An exception occurred: 'hz.next'
/_website/pagebase/article.asp, line 281