Physics’ greatest mystery: Michio Kaku explains the God Equation | Big Think

MICHIO KAKU: What is the mind of God that Albert Einstein pursued for 30 years of his life? Einstein wanted an

equation

that unified gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the two nuclear forces. He wanted to unify the four forces into a single theory. The theory of everything, the God Equation. My name is Professor Michio Kaku. I am a professor of theoretical

physics

at the City University of New York and author of the recent book "The God Equation: The Search for the Theory of Everything." Leonard Euler, one of the great mathematicians in the history of humanity, found an

equation

that summarized the fundamental constants of mathematics.

One plus e to the power of i pi is equal to zero. People call it the Mathematical Equation of God. Now, of course, the God Equation is useless as a practical application, but let's now

think

about a God Equation for

physics

. Physics is quite useful. When Newton discovered the mechanics of moving objects and gravity, he helped lay the foundation for the Industrial Revolution. And then Maxwell and Faraday put electricity and magnetism together to give us the electromagnetic force. The electrical revolution of dynamos, generators and light bulbs. And now we have e equals mc-squared, which helped pave the way for the nuclear force.

Every time a force collapsed, the history of humanity changed. And now we want to unite all this in the God Equation, fulfilling Einstein's original dream. The God Equation, like the God Equation in Mathematics, should unify the basic concepts of physics into a single equation. Now, what are these basic concepts? Relativity and quantum theory. The problem is that quantum theory does not mesh well with general activity. View Einstein's general activity is based on smooth surfaces. Quantum theory is based on breaking things down into particles. This is the opposite of Einstein's philosophy that smooth curves represent spacetime. That's why it's so difficult.

It is no exaggeration to say that the

greatest

minds of the entire human race have made proposals for this grand final theory of everything. Each was shown to be anomalous or divergent. So far, there is only one theory that has survived all the challenges: string theory, which is what I do for a living. Now, what is string theory? From a distance, an electron looks like a point. The neutrino is another point. The quark is another point. We have all these dot particles. How many dot particles? Hundreds of them. But string theory says that if you can look inside the heart of an electron, you'll see that it's a rubber band.

A tiny vibrating string, very similar to a guitar string. There are an infinite amount of vibrations and that is why we have subatomic particles. Each of the subatomic particles corresponds to a different set of vibrations of an elastic band. String theory allows particles to rotate relative to each other, turning electrons into neutrinos and neutrinos into quarks, and the theory remains the same. That is the symmetry of the rope and that is why it is so powerful. A simple idea that encapsulates the entire universe. Now, my personal view is that string theory is probably the only mathematically consistent theory.

All theories are mathematically inconsistent. What does that mean? It means that if you prove it hard enough, you can prove that two plus two equals five. Therefore the theory is wrong. So far, with string theory, two plus two always equals four. Perhaps it is the only theory where two plus two equals four. By the way, there are many objections to string theory. The biggest objection is that you can't prove it. But we are getting closer to being able to prove it. This theory of everything blows your mind. It allows for the presence of perhaps time machines, wormholes, the universe before the Big Bang, parallel universes, the multiverse, things outside the twilight zone.

Can you go back in time and meet your parents before you were born? Can you travel faster than the speed of light through a wormhole? We do not know. That's why we need string theory. - Get smarter and faster with new videos every week from the world's top

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