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Old 04-16-2003   #2 (permalink)
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Tormod
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General Relativity VS Quantum Theory

It's not correct to say that Euclidean geometry is "wrong". It has worked for two millennia and still holds true in most cases. Euclids book on geometry is one of the most read, cherished, and reproduced books in history!

The "problem" with it is that it is a geometry for points, lines and fields in a 3 dimensional world. Modern physics and mathematics need models that will work in multidimensional space. A simple example is the theorem which states that all angles of a triangle gives a total of 180 degrees. This is of course true on a flat sheet of paper, but if you place the triangle on a sphere, you get more degrees. So you need better ways to explain that.

Relativity theory is not a replacement for Euclidean geometry, but rather builds on other theories which are again based on Euclid and others. See it as an extension, a way to explain our world with more accurate terms, without having to throw Euclid out the window. Euclid got a lot of things right, but the dogma that his theorems were the "only truth" is basically dead.

Now, for the problems with general relativity and quantum physics. General relativity is about everything that is larger than a particle, and how energy and mass behaves in relation to each other, while quantum physics explains the (weird) behavior and construction of the particles, right down to the point where we can no longer see anyting - the fabric of space-time itself.

Maybe we can say that general relativity tries to explain what the world looks like in a 4-d space-time, while quantum physics tries to explain what space-time _is_.

From your post you seem to think that relativity and quantum theory are one and the same. But that is absolutely not true. These are perhaps the two main theoretical achievements of the 20th century! They can both be right, and they can both be wrong. But they are not the same theory.

One of the big issues in trying to unify relativity with quantum physics is how to get gravity into the equations. For a very interesting account of this, read Lee Smolin's "Three roads to Quantum Gravity".

I can't get your link to work right now, maybe the site is down. But my answer to your question is basically, "there is no such thing as an accurate theory" and "Quantum Theory and General Relativity are two theories, not one".

Did that help at all?

Tormod


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