Universal Forces (String Theory stuff)

[rainwing]

So according to String Theory, there are four forces:

Gravity
Electromagnetism
Strong Nuclear Force
Weak Nuclear Force

I got that part. But where do things like chemical reactions (food to energy, fusion to energy, heat and light) or kinetic reactions (collision to motion) fit in?

Do these four forces not describe every force in the universe (and instead describe only molecular energy, or only planetary force)? Or do things like friction, energy and so on actually fit in somewhere with these forces? Or is this one big misunderstanding with apples and oranges, two foods which I single-handedly give a bad rap on a daily basis? 8)

Thank you,
Chris

[journyman161]

All interactions, including chemical, inertial etc. are all described by interactions of the various forces. Gravity is the weakest of them, so much so it is a bit of a mystery force.

You need to keep in mind these are labels to describe forces we don't yet know exist - the forces have been thought of to explain how things work if things are as they are theorised to be! We are finding new things all the time & the theory may yet prove to be inadequate. Quantum theory shook things up, lack of a reasonably behaved gravity also makes theorists nervous & string theory is causing yet another revision of things.

[rainwing]

Thanks for the primer!

I like how the forces can be tied together into an easy acronym like SWEG.

"Why'd you eat the last cookie?"
"SWEG made me do it."

Chris

[journyman161]

Well it's all a bit theoretical yet - for example, linking electrical & magnetic as one force because they seem closely related... and yet they have such different effects.

Given we don't have any explanation yet for even the ones we use so much in our daily lives, we need to keep in mind that our ideas of them are strictly theory & may not resemble reality. (& if you're aware of the holographic universe & quantum threads, even reality may not resemble reality... *grins*)

[Chris]

Well it's all a bit theoretical yet - for example, linking electrical & magnetic as one force because they seem closely related... and yet they have such different effects.

Given we don't have any explanation yet for even the ones we use so much in our daily lives, we need to keep in mind that our ideas of them are strictly theory & may not resemble reality. (& if you're aware of the holographic universe & quantum threads, even reality may not resemble reality... *grins*)

Electrical and magnetic forces are combined due to supersymmetry i.e. they are the same force, but as the energy levels of the universe fell after the big bang, they branched off. Supersymmetry unites these forces.

Hey, Chris!! What you been up to lately? How's moderating for AP working out? Missed you.

[Chris]

Hey, Chris!! What you been up to lately? How's moderating for AP working out? Missed you.

I've sent you a pm :wink:

[journyman161]

Electrical and magnetic forces are combined due to supersymmetry i.e. they are the same force, but as the energy levels of the universe fell after the big bang, they branched off. Supersymmetry unites these forces.Yeeeessss... but we still don't have the supersymmetry particles & the Higgs Boson is strangely missing... Also, if they were the same, what made one become magnetism & the other electric force? Edward Leedskalnin seems to have had answers to this problem but his ideas (as far as we know of them) fall a bit short of uch esoterica.

And Standard Cosmology is still only a theory in progress. Inflation is just a name for a theorised event that seems to be necessary to make the math work - if any of these things are even a little different to how we think they might have been we have big mysteries indeed.

Personally I like the idea that supersymmetry is a part of the holographic Universe idea - that the requirements to make it work are actually 'out there' in the 'real' universe & what we have here is just a shadow of them.