2008 Woodie Awards
Bubbles give insight into universe
Issue date: 5/1/08
Zulkowski and his advisor cannot draw pictures of these spaces, but they can set up curves that connect points in them using equations. "We don't know if a curve exists, we just know about its length," Zulkowski said.
In fact, the researchers are able to set up not just one, but an entire set of curves, which then becomes a sequence. If a shortest distance exists, this sequence of curves should converge on a solution.
"We need to prove that the sequence becomes a terminal curve which becomes the shortest connection, the geodesic," he said. This sounds fairly simple up to now, but modern mathematicians only have two "toys" to play with: a distance function between two points and simple knowledge about the length of the least distance.
This is not a whole lot considering that they deal with something so far beyond human perception. "Our basic objective is to say as much as we can with the little knowledge we have," Zulkowski said.
"In our moments with high self-confidence we say that success in our work could lead to the connection between quantum physics and general relativity," Zulkowski said.
Currently general relativity, the physics of large objects, does not comply with quantum physics, the physics of small objects. Why should they? Because it would make sense to get the same answers no matter how large or small the numbers being plugged in are.
General relativity assumes that mass and the subsequent mutual attraction between massive bodies are created through the curvature of space. This idea was one of Albert Einstein's greatest contributions to physics.
This is where Zulkowski's research comes in: Mathematicians like him try to gain an understanding of what the curvature looks like. This has been possible for about a hundred years, ever since Einstein formulated his famous equations.
But now, mathematicians take another feature into account when dealing with the curvature being important for general relativity: the quantum hypothesis. The latter assumes that space and time come in fixed portions Â- that they are discrete.
In fact, the researchers are able to set up not just one, but an entire set of curves, which then becomes a sequence. If a shortest distance exists, this sequence of curves should converge on a solution.
"We need to prove that the sequence becomes a terminal curve which becomes the shortest connection, the geodesic," he said. This sounds fairly simple up to now, but modern mathematicians only have two "toys" to play with: a distance function between two points and simple knowledge about the length of the least distance.
This is not a whole lot considering that they deal with something so far beyond human perception. "Our basic objective is to say as much as we can with the little knowledge we have," Zulkowski said.
"In our moments with high self-confidence we say that success in our work could lead to the connection between quantum physics and general relativity," Zulkowski said.
Currently general relativity, the physics of large objects, does not comply with quantum physics, the physics of small objects. Why should they? Because it would make sense to get the same answers no matter how large or small the numbers being plugged in are.
General relativity assumes that mass and the subsequent mutual attraction between massive bodies are created through the curvature of space. This idea was one of Albert Einstein's greatest contributions to physics.
This is where Zulkowski's research comes in: Mathematicians like him try to gain an understanding of what the curvature looks like. This has been possible for about a hundred years, ever since Einstein formulated his famous equations.
But now, mathematicians take another feature into account when dealing with the curvature being important for general relativity: the quantum hypothesis. The latter assumes that space and time come in fixed portions Â- that they are discrete.
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