Humanity has known four basic interactions in nature such as gravitational interaction, electromagnetic interaction, strong interaction and weak interaction. Gravity can be described by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, electromagnetic interaction by Maxwell's equations, and strong interaction by quantum chromodynamics (strong interaction appears in the nuclei composed of protons-neutrons interaction), as well as weak interaction is described by electroweak theory (radioactive decay, such as beta decay, of unstable elements is caused by weak interaction). One of the goals of theoretical physics is to find a theoretical framework, that is, the unified theory, which can explain these four basic interactions.
Why should we unify different theories? The unified theories expressing different physical phenomena frequently emerged in the development history of physics, and each enables us to have a deeper understanding of nature. For example, it is believed that electricity and magnetism are different natural phenomena, but a set of equations proposed by Maxwell can describe both of phenomena in a unified way, indicating that electricity and magnetism are same from the perspective of essence. It means that electricity can generate magnetism and vice versa, laying a solid foundation for the development of motors, generators and radio communications.
Current studies in theoretical physics show that standard model of particle physics can explain weak and strong interactions, but they are still relatively independent and fail to unify in essence. In addition, gravitational interaction is distinct from other three interactions. Because the general relativity theory describing gravity is a classical theory based on space-time geometric dynamics rather than a theory of quantum. Therefore, it has been a goal of theoretical physicists to explore a theory of quantum for gravity and integrate the weak interaction, strong interaction and gravitational interaction. Einstein attempted several times to seek one in the rest of his life in search of unified theory but failed. Over the past decades, theoretical physicists have proposed the superstring theory, which can be regarded as the unified theory to some extent. However, there is no final conclusion on this issue.
After proposal of unified field theory by Einstein one hundred year ago, Wu Yueliang, an Academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Universe-Taiji Laboratory of Gravitational Waves of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dean of School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences of Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, completed the systematic research of theFoundation of Hyperunified Field Theory, blazing new trails to unveil composition and symmetry, and basic interactions of nature. Wu's research also contributes to explaining the essence of spacetime and gravity, and the origin of matter and the universe, which is an innovative attempt for unified field theory.
The Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theory abandons the previous ideas since Einstein published general relativity theory. It starts with the concepts of matter and motion rather than the concepts of symmetry, spacetime and geometry. In other words, it means that nature is composed of fundamental building blocks that have intrinsic structures in constant motion, and their movements are simple and regular. In order to realize the integration of concepts of matter and motion in physics,The Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theoryadvances the principle of maximum relevance motion and the principle of quantum entanglement qubit motion, and it together with scaling theory and gauge invariance theory have been the foundation of hyperunified field theory by taking quantum field theory and the principle of path integral action of classical physics as its formal system.
In line with the basic material field and the concept of motion, the basic guiding principles for establishing hyperunified field theory based on existing physical phenomena and experiments was put forward in theThe Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theory. It solves a series of basic scientific problems that have been unresolved in the basic theoretical physics through detailed physical analysis and theoretical deduction and induction. The questions include Why are the fundamental building blocks in nature in form of spin-one-half fields? What is the basic symmetry of nature and its form? What is the basic attribute of space-time and its appearance? How is the dimension of space-time in nature determined? Why is time different from space and time is one dimension model? Why does generations of leptons and quarks exist in nature? Why is the world we observed a four-dimensional space-time universe? Whether the four basic interactions found in nature can be defined by a unified symmetry? What is the essence of gravity and its description by the hyperunified symmetry? What is the nature and structure of space-time? How do we understand the origin and evolution of the universe? How did the early inflation of the universe take place? What are the attributes of dark matter? Does its existence imply new interactions in nature? What is the essence of dark energy? Does its presentation stem from new interactions in nature? Why is today's universe characterized by parity symmetry failure? Why does asymmetry appear between matter and antimatter? Whether the unified description of the basic laws of physics is described by the concepts of matter and motion? What will the concepts of energy, space-time, geometry and the universe be defined?
Academician Wu Yuelianghas his relevant research results written into two papersThe Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theory I-Fundamental Building Blocks and Symmetry in NatureandThe Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theory II-FundamentalInteractions in Nature and Universe Evolution,and published in the International Journal of Modern Physics (IJMPA Vol.36, No.28) as Special Issue on the Foundation of the Hyperunified Field Theory (301 pages in total) (https://www.worldscientific.com/toc/ijmpa/36/28). Two papers were also published on arXiv in preprint.https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.05404. https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.11078.
In addition, he was invited to the 2020 and 2021 Autumn Conference of the Chinese Physical Society and the 28th International Conference on Supersymmetry and the Unification of Fundamental Interactions (SUSY2021) to give presentations on relevant work.
·The Foundation of Hyperunified Field Theory and Opportunities for a New Scientific Revolution:
(https://www.koushare.com/video/videodetail/16871)
·The Foundation of Unified Field Theory and Space Gravitational Wave Detection:
(https://indico.cern.ch/event/875077/contributions/4488999/)
The above research work is supported by relevant national funds, including major project of Gravitational Wave Detection of the National Key R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Key Project of Research on Physical Problems Related to Gravitational Waves of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Key Projects Related to Attributes of Dark Matter, as well as Theoretical Physics Special Fund Project, Multi-Wavelength Gravitational Wave Universe Research-Taiji Pre-research Project of the Pilot Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Strategic Pilot Projects in Space Science Gravitational Wave Detection and Taiji Project of the Strategic Pilot Projects in Space Science.
Source/Taiji Laboratory
