Daniel Robbins

Articles & Books From Daniel Robbins

Article / Updated 09-14-2023
The multiverse is a theory that suggests our universe is not the only one, and that many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes. A variety of different theories lend themselves to a multiverse viewpoint.Not all physicists really believe that these universes exist.
Article / Updated 04-27-2023
General relativity was Einstein’s theory of gravity, published in 1915, which extended special relativity to take into account non-inertial frames of reference — areas that are accelerating with respect to each other.General relativity takes the form of field equations, describing the curvature of space-time and the distribution of matter throughout space-time.
Article / Updated 04-14-2023
General relativity was Einstein’s theory of gravity, published in 1915, which extended special relativity to take into account non-inertial frames of reference — areas that are accelerating with respect to each other. General relativity takes the form of field equations, describing the curvature of space-time and the distribution of matter throughout space-time.
Article / Updated 02-07-2023
Many physicists feel that string theory will ultimately be successful at resolving the hierarchy problem of the Standard Model of particle physics. Although it is an astounding success, the Standard Model hasn’t answered every question that physics hands to it. One of the major questions that remains is the hierarchy problem, which seeks an explanation for the diverse values that the Standard Model lets physicists work with.
Article / Updated 12-14-2022
For most interpretations, superstring theory requires a large number of extra space dimensions to be mathematically consistent: M-theory requires ten space dimensions. With the introduction of branes as multidimensional objects in string theory, it becomes possible to construct and imagine wildly creative geometries for space that correspond to different possible particles and forces.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Discovered in the 19th century, the electromagnetic force (or electromagnetism) is a unification of the electrostatic force and the magnetic force. In the mid-20th century, this force was explained in a framework of quantum mechanics called quantum electrodynamics, or QED. In this framework, the electromagnetic force is transferred by particles of light, called photons.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
In the wake of 1984’s superstring revolution, work on string theory reached a fever pitch. If anything, it proved a little too successful. It turned out that instead of one superstring theory to explain the universe, there were five, summarized here. And, once again, each one almost matched our world . . . but not quite.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Before string theory introduced the concept of extra dimensions, the fascination with strange warping of space in the 1800s was perhaps nowhere as clear as in the creation of non-Euclidean geometry, where mathematicians began to explore new types of geometry that weren’t based on the rules laid out 2,000 years earlier by Euclid.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
String theory seems to violate the rule of simplicity. In science, one goal is to propose the fewest “entities” or rules needed to explain how something works. In many ways, the history of science is seen as a progression of simplifying the complex array of natural laws into fewer and fewer fundamental laws. Take Occam’s razor, which is a principle developed in the 14th century by Franciscan friar and logician William of Occam.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Though string theorists like to point out that theirs is the most developed theory to unite general relativity and quantum physics (at times they even seem clueless that alternatives exist), sometimes it seems like nearly every physicist has come up with some plan to combine the two — they just don’t have the support that string theorists have.