Quantum Mechanics

In Nature there are fundamentally 4 forces namely the

strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force,
electromagnetic force and the gravitational force.
Strong force is responsible for gluing together protons and
neutrons in an atom, while the weak force is responsible
for the decay of radioactive particles. The electromagnetic
force acts between charged particles and is the
combination of all magnetic and electrical forces. The
gravitational force is responsible for keeping our feet glued
to the earth, the revolution of the earth around the sun,
etc.
General Relativity is the modern theory of gravity, which
describes the space time continuum as the fabric of the
cosmos (information on general relativity is provided
further in the activity.)
Whereas, Quantum Mechanics successfully describes the
behaviour of elementary particles and the other three
forces of the universe
These forces can further be understood by obtaining
information on quantum field theory.
Quantum Field Theory
Quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that
combines classical mechanics, special
relativity and quantum mechanics. It states that all particles
are excitations in their underlying fields. It means that each
elementary particle has its own field. A field can be
visualized as a grid or graph in space. Each point in this
graph has a particular value. For example, let’s talk about
the electron and its field. Imagine a graph in space, with
each point having a value of zero. Note that, having zero
value does not mean that the field does not exist. Now as
an electron passes through this electron field, the point on
the field at which the electron is at that particular moment
has a non-zero value. This means that an electron is a
particle travelling in the electron field. This theory is not
limited to electrons but to all the elementary particles, like
photons and quarks. The photon is an excitation in the
electromagnetic field, the up quark is an excitation in the
up quark field, so on and so forth.
Thus, everything we see around us are excitations in
various fields. In quantum mechanics the probability of the
presence of a particle at a particular place can be calculated
mathematically.

General Relativity
Isaac Newton born in 1862 in Lincolnshire, England,
changed the face of scientific research by bringing the full
force of mathematics to the surface of physical inquiry. One
of his profound works includes the universal force of
gravity. We are much familiar of the force of gravity in our
daily lives. It keeps us and other objects fixed to the surface
of the earth. Gravity keeps the air we breathe from
escaping into the outer space. Further, the moon is kept in
orbit around the earth, or the earth around the sun due to
the gravitational force.
Before Newton there was no understanding that an apple
falling to the earth was a result of the same physical
principle of that keeps the planets revolving around the
sun. Newton declared that absolutely any object exerts a
gravitational force of attraction on absolutely any other
objects. He went much further than qualitative explanation
and formulated equations that mathematically describe the
force of gravity.
F = Gm1m2
r2

Newton’s theory of gravity was lacking in one important

respect. Although it can be used to make predictions on
how things will work under the influence of gravity, it offers
no insight on what gravity is. That is, why does one object,
for example ; the sun influence the earth’s motion, millions
of miles away? By what means does Gravity execute its
mission? This was an issue that Newton himself was very
well aware of. But he was unable to provide and
explanation as to why gravity works. Instead in his book
‘Principica’ he left this problem to the consideration of the
readers.
In 1907 Albert Einstein, after his breakthrough in the
special theory of relativity, set out to understand the
mechanism of gravity. After puzzling over this problem for
more than 10 years he reached a startling conclusion. He
realized that space and time isn’t static as Newton
predicted. Space and time are not two different entities,
but rather they are intimately bound together, and this is
called as ‘Spacetime’. Spacetime is dynamic, it could bend,
warp and curve. Thus we can imagine spacetime as a
flexible fabric. If you were to roll a ball on a stretched out
piece of cloth it would travel a straight path, but if you
were to place a heavy, massive object in the centre of the
cloth it would warp the fabric around it, and thus if the ball
was to be rolled again, instead of travelling along a straight
path it would travel along a circular path. The massive
object in the visual can be compared to the sun, and the
stretched out cloth to spacetime. Thus when the sun warps
spacetime, the earth tends to orbit it in a circular path as
space itself has been curved. This, Einstein realized is how
gravity works. This theory is termed as the general theory
of relativity. Einstein also proved this theory
mathematically.
It is important to note that the analogy of space time as a
stretched out cloth is two- dimensional, but in reality space
is 3 dimensional. The 2d visual has been used for easier
understanding.

Incompatibility of Quantum Mechanics and General

Relativity.
General Relativity and Quantum mechanics are two of our
most successful theories in physics. But the issue is that
they are incompatible. General Relativity, as seen earlier,
describes a continuous spacetime as the fabric of the
cosmos. Spacetime incorporates the three dimensions of
space – up and down, left and right, forward and backward,
and the fourth dimension of time. Quantum mechanics on
the other hand explains the behaviour of elementary
particles and the mechanism of the other 3 fundamental
force. It is theorised that energy at the subatomic level can
only be released and absorbed in discrete indivisible units
called quanta. This means electrons have fixed orbits
around the nucleus as the enegy comes in discrete
amounts. When the electron gets excited or de-ecxited,
they will absorb or emit a specific quanta of energy, which
will mean they will leap from one orbit to another orbit
without travelling the empty space in between. This is
called the quantum leap. In essence they are place where
the electron will likely be and other places they won’t. In
quantum mechanics the other three forces are described as
quantum fields with discontinuous excitations unlike the
smooth space time continuum of spacetime. This is where
the smooth verses chunky incompatibility of qm and gr
arises. Gr requires space to be described as smooth
whereas qm describes it as chunky and choppy.