【轉貼】破解愛因斯坦難題

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嬉皮衝浪手 破解愛因斯坦難題

愛因斯坦窮其一生仍無法解答的物理難題，可能被一個窮困衝浪手破解了。卅九歲的葛瑞
特．李希十四日在「新科學家」網站發表題為「一個超簡單的萬物理論」學術論文，嘗試
解答愛因斯坦生前始終無法找出答案的「大統一理論」，令物理界大為驚豔。

英國每日電訊報十四日報導，李希的研究嘗試為高能物理學中最廣泛運用的「標準模型理
論」提出一個全新解釋概念。藉由分析數學界長久以來的難題「Ｅ８」，李希宣稱揭開構
成宇宙間粒子和作用力關係的基礎。

已經運用卅年以上的標準模型理論中有四種作用：強相互作用、弱相互作用、電磁相互
作用以及重力相互作用，其中重力相互作用一直未被學術界發現，如今被李希找出來了。
愛因斯坦生前試著用大統一理論解釋標準模型中三種力的作用，但未能成功，標準模型
理論本身缺乏重力相互作用也是它未能成為定律的一大缺陷。

李希擁有聖地牙哥加州大學的理論物理學博士學位，畢業後卻「不務正業」，沒有到大學
任職。一年中大半時間他都待在夏威夷衝浪、當登山嚮導或造橋工人，睡在帳篷裡，冬季
時則到內華達州的太浩湖畔山上玩滑雪板。「當窮人的感覺很差，」他說：「當你得為自
己和女友下個月的棲身之處傷腦筋時，還想一窺宇宙奧秘，實 在很難。」

不過，天才的腦袋不會因時空或身分受限，好比愛因斯坦正式跨足理論物理學領域時，
也當了一陣子專利技術員。李希發表的論文使物理學家為之驚艷，他在文中提出的粒子物
理學研究，理論基礎並不複雜，甚至不需要用到高等數學或四度空間以上的概念。

加拿大滑鐵盧大學教授斯莫林說：「這大概是我這麼多年以來看過的大統一理論模型中最
棒的了，雖然外界看他可能只是個愛衝浪的傢伙，但我相信他一定也花了很多時間和心血
做研究。」

喬治亞理工學院的教授法蘭克斯坦也盛讚李希的論文：「他的論文中有許多非常好的想
法，這不可能只是巧合，他的確在物理學上有傑出的發現。」

也有學者對李希的研究成果冷靜以對，認為他的論文最大缺陷是充滿實驗性的假設。他的
論點是否成立，未來必須用實驗證明。位於瑞士日內瓦附近的大型強子對撞器明年預計啟
用，將可檢驗李希的理論。

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/4099167.shtml

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

By Roger Highfield, Science EditorAn impoverished surfer has drawn up a
new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics,
which as received rave reviews from scientists.

Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends
most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide
and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt).

In winter, he heads to the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he
snowboards. "Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the
secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and
your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."

Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by
the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly
complex mathematics.

Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and
three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial
dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to
test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using
the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near
Geneva next year.

Although the work of 39 year old Garrett Lisi still has a way to go to
convince the establishment, let alone match the achievements of Albert
Einstein, the two do have one thing in common: Einstein also began his
great adventure in theoretical physics while outside the mainstream
scientific establishment, working as a patent officer, though failed to
achieve the Holy Grail, an overarching explanation to unite all the particles
and forces of the cosmos.

Now Lisi, currently in Nevada, has come up with a proposal to do this. Lee
Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most
compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he says.

"Although he cultivates a bit of a surfer-guy image its clear he has put
enormous effort and time into working the complexities of this structure
out over several years," Prof Smolin tells The Telegraph.

"Some incredibly beautiful stuff falls out of Lisi's theory," adds David Ritz
Finkelstein at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. "This must be
more than coincidence and he really is touching on something profound."

The new theory reported today in New Scientist has been laid out in an
online paper entitled "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" by
Lisi, who completed his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1999 at the
University of California, San Diego.

He has high hopes that his new theory could provide what he says is a
"radical new explanation" for the three decade old Standard Model, which
weaves together three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the
electromagnetic force; the strong force, which binds quarks together in
atomic nuclei; and the weak force, which controls radioactive decay.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml