The existence of antimatter was predicted by Paul Dirac when he realized his relativistic quantum theory of an electron yielded up twice as many solutions as he thought he needed. Two of the solutions correspond to the spin-up and spin-down orientations of the electron. So what did the other two solutions correspond to? He had … Read more
The Higgs Boson which was tentatively confirmed to exist on 14 March 2013 appears to confirm the existence of the Higgs field. Its discovery is pivotal to the Standard Model and other theories within particle physics because it explains why some fundamental particles have mass when the symmetries controlling their interactions should require them to … Read more
In 1933 Fritz Zwicky a Swiss astronomer, was trying to measure the mass of a galactic cluster using two different methods. First he tried to infer it from the rational speed of the galaxies around the center of the clusters. Just like kids on a merry-go-round have to hold on to avoid being ejected, galaxies … Read more
Before the discovery of Dark Energy cosmologists had two models of how the universe’s expansion would end. In first scenario, there would be enough matter in the universe to slow the expansion to the point where, like the baseball, it would come to a halt and the gravitational forces associated with it would result in … Read more
Both Einstein’s General and Special Theories of Relativity define macroscopic properties of energy/mass in terms of the continuous properties of four dimensional space-time while quantum mechanics defines its microscopic properties in terms of the discontinuous properties of three-dimensional space. However finding a way of conceptually integrating them has proven to be extremely difficult for two … Read more