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
Physicists are searching for a theory of quantum gravity because the current laws governing gravity don’t work in all situations. Specifically, the theory of gravity seems to “break down” (that is, the equations become physically meaningless) in certain circumstances. To understand what this means, you must first understand a bit about what physicists know about gravity.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Physicists have found a large number of particles, and one thing that proves useful is that they can be broken down into categories based on their properties. Physicists have found a lot of ways to do this, but here are some of the most relevant categories to string theory. According to quantum mechanics, particles have a property known as spin.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
One of the major criticisms of string theory has to do not with the theory so much as with theorists. The argument is that they are forming something of a “cult” of string theorists, who have bonded together to promote string theory above all alternatives. This criticism, which is at the heart of Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics, is not so much a criticism of string theory as a fundamental criticism of the way academic resources are allocated.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
In physics, time travel is closely linked to Einstein’s theory of relativity, which allows motion in space to actually alter the flow of time. This effect is known as time dilation and was one of the earliest predictions of relativity. This sort of time travel is completely allowed by the known laws of physics, but it allows only travel into the future, not into the past.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Waves (as we usually think of them) move through some sort of medium. If you flick the end of a jump-rope or string, a wave moves along the rope or string. Waves move through the water, or sound waves through the air, with those materials acting as the medium for the wave motion. In classical physics, waves transport energy, but not matter, from one region to another.