A new Theory of Quantum Gravity brings Physics closer to the “Theory of Everything”
For decades, the Holy Grail of theoretical physics has been the formulation of a " Theory of Everything ", a single framework capable of describing all the fundamental forces of nature. The main obstacle has always been the incompatibility between gravity, described by Einstein's General Relativity, and the other three fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong), described by quantum field theory (QFT) within the so-called " Standard Model ".
The fundamental discrepancy lies in the very nature of the descriptions. The gravitational field, according to Einstein, is a manifestation of the very structure of reality: spacetime . On the contrary, the fields of the Standard Model are defined in spacetime, associating a value to each of its points. Reconciling these two visions represents a titanic challenge for scientists.
Recently, a team of researchers from Aalto University, led by Mikko Partanen, proposed a radically new perspective on gravity, designed specifically to integrate it with the Standard Model. Their theory, if confirmed, could represent an epochal turning point. The news was made public in a press release .
A New Approach to Gravity
In the Standard Model, the three fundamental forces emerge from specific symmetries in their respective quantum fields. Each force has a distinct pattern of symmetry. To extend such a framework to gravity, Finnish researchers introduced a new mathematical entity: the spacetime dimension field . This field has four symmetries which, applied to every point of spacetime, intrinsically generate the gravitational field.
In other words, gravity would emerge naturally from the symmetries of this spacetime dimension field, similarly to what is observed for the other three forces in the Standard Model.
Preliminary results are promising: the proposed unified theory of gravity appears to provide a coherent framework for all four fundamental forces. A crucial aspect is that the theory has been shown to be renormalizable up to first order . Renormalizability is an essential property for a quantum theory, as it ensures that calculations produce finite, definable values, avoiding the problematic infinities that plague many theories of quantum gravity. In this case, renormalizability appears to apply up to a certain number of terms in the equations, a significant step forward.
Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated that in the classical limit (i.e., without considering quantum effects), their theory reduces to the teleparallel equivalent of General Relativity, a formulation mathematically equivalent to Einstein's theory. This test is crucial, as General Relativity describes gravity very precisely on large scales, from laboratory experiments to black holes. This confirms that the new theory produces results consistent with established observations.
Beyond First Order Terms: Future Perspectives
While still a purely mathematical theory, this research offers a potential solution to the nearly century-old problem of quantum gravity. Proposes a method for reconciling gravity and the Standard Model to ensure physically meaningful results.
“If this work leads to a complete quantum field theory for gravity, then it will ultimately provide answers to very difficult problems such as understanding singularities in black holes and the Big Bang,” the study's lead author, Mikko Partanen of Aalto University, said in a press release.
The researchers' next goal is to extend the validity of their theory beyond first-order terms, aiming to completely eliminate infinities from the calculations.
This theory introduces an innovative perspective on a long-standing problem in physics, suggesting that gravity can be understood as emerging from the symmetries of a field of spacetime dimension, rather than from the curvature of spacetime itself, and all this without introducing arbitrary new parameters.
A step that could redefine our understanding of the universe. The team invites all researchers to try to falsify their theory, or expand it .
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/una-nuova-teoria-della-gravita-quantistica-avvicina-la-fisica-alla-teoria-del-tutto/ on Wed, 07 May 2025 19:29:34 +0000.