I read Stephen Hawking’s most recent book, “The Grand Design” (co-authored by Leonard Mlodinow), and highly recommend it, particularly to those who have never read a Hawking non-fiction before.  My only negative comment is that the book is short.  Even a slow reader like me can complete it in just a few hours.  Hawking, the rock-star physicist that he is, always leaves me wanting more.

“The Grand Design” was not well-received by religious groups, as it points out that God is not necessary for the universe to exist.  This comes as no surprise, as religious groups are particularly displeased whenever arguments are based on observation and reason. 

Hawking methodically dances between philosophy and physics throughout the book’s eight chapters.  The ongoing theme throughout is that modern physics is difficult to appreciate by non-physicists (and physicists too) because it is not observable in our every day experience.  Modern physics hides from us well, in the extremely small, mind-bogglingly large, and blindingly fast.

Classical physics was far simpler to derive than quantum physics because we interact with it every day.  Someone who has never taken a physics course can appreciate the classical laws, whether it is through collisions in sport, vibrations of a string, or the path taken by a projectile.

If quantum physics does not sit well with you, you are not alone – in fact, you are in excellent company.  Albert Einstein was not comfortable with quantum physics, as it claims that there are infinite possible outcomes for any particular scenario (and God does not play Yahtzee). 

Though not noticeable on our scale, the randomness predicted by quantum physics can and has been observed on the microscopic scale.  As Hawking points out, no theories in history have been put to the test more than those of Heisenberg and Feynman.  Through decades of rigorous testing, quantum theories have never been disproven.

What really surprised me in “The Grand Design” was Hawking’s current view of a single unified theory for physics.  For decades, the goal for top physicists has been to connect Einstein’s general relativity and quantum physics into one single theory that explains everything in the universe.  Many have been trying to fit both concepts into what has been called ‘string theory’.  As complex as string theory is, Hawking explains now that the real picture is far more complex (oh, great).

String theory represents a potential unified theory for our particular universe.  Hawking believes that something called M-theory is what we should begin to ponder.  M-theory suggests that as a given scenario can take multiple possible paths, our universe is just one of many (M) possible universes, each with its own unique laws.  This notion is far from the one that leading physicists had been championing in recent years (that one unified theory will be soon be found). 

Hawking’s M-theory is somewhat of a back-to-the-drawing-board scenario for modern physics.  Upon reflection, this is just as well, as modern physics has come to a bit of a standstill as of late. 

Now, as if the mysteries of one universe were not enough to blow one’s mind, we are asked to consider those of many universes.  If you are curious, Hawking believes there are 500 of them.  So, even when a working unified theory is found for our universe, physicists will be asked to sharpen their pencils and move on (1 down, 499 to go).

Hawking’s most recent work, and M-theory in particular, gives much credence to a Christopher Hitchens quote: “Through advances in science, we find that we know less and less about more and more.”

In the Waves Physics course that I teach, the students regularly enter the lab to perform a fairly rudimentary experiment that aims to prove a certain law introduced during a lecture.  Today, for example, the students will be playing with thin, converging lenses, and proving that the image of an object may be real or virtual, depending on whether the object is located inside or outside the focal length of the lens.  This simple Optics experiment involves light, but it surprises my students to learn that man, even today, with all its fancy gadgets, does not know the true nature of light. 

We know a lot more about light than our ancestors did two hundred years ago.  We know that it behaves like an electromagnetic wave, travelling through the void of space at about 300,000 km/s.  Light was Albert Einstein’s lifetime muse, and led to his most important discoveries: special relativity, E = mc², and general relativity.  Einstein was disturbed by quantum physics, and wished to quantify light without it.  Today, physicists are struggling to connect Einstein’s general relativity to the accepted, but incomplete study of quantum physics.  They wish to develop a “Unified Theory,” or, one equation for everything.  In order to do so, they need to find and determine the behaviour of all of the elementary particles that make up the matter in the Universe.

Although the Universe is composed of the elements in the periodic table, these elements are not elementary particles.  An elementary particle, by definition, is not composed of smaller building blocks.  All atoms are composed of protons, neutrons and electrons.  Scientists today believe that electrons are elementary particles, but do not believe that protons or neutrons are.  Today, thirty-eight countries and three thousand scientists are working together, wishing to study the dozens of theoretical elementary particles, like those that may comprise a proton, by means of the most expensive Physics experiment ever developed: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC). 

Built in 2008, one hundred metres below the surface in Geneva, a circular pipe, two inches in diameter, and twenty-seven kilometres long, contains particles that are accelerated by magnets to nearly light speed in opposing directions.  The inevitable collisions of these particles have an inherent high energy density associated with them.  The energy is so great, that mass is created as a result of them.  How much mass is created?  E/c² kilograms are synthesized, as predicted by Einstein.  What does this mass consist of?  It consists of elementary particles, which seem to come from nowhere.  In fact, they do come from nowhere: it is believed that the Universe expands freely over time.  With this in mind, the Big Bang may be viewed as a natural occurrence.  At the LHC site, a one-billion-dollar camera, the ATLAS Detector, takes 3D pictures at a specific location along this pipe where collisions are orchestrated.  The camera is designed to detect elementary particles that are created due to the collisions.  The ATLAS is the size of a six-storey building.  The camera is at the current forefront of engineering technology, but will no doubt come standard with the iphone 6.

By studying these photographs and understanding the particles involved in the collisions, physicists are beginning to extend their understanding of life’s building blocks.  If we learn more about the building blocks, we can learn more about the nature of life during the early stages of the Big Bang, and answer important questions, like what is dark matter composed of?  The world’s most prominent physicist, Stephen Hawking, believes that we may develop a Unified Theory during the twenty-first century.  If this comes to fruition, it will be man’s crowning achievement to that point.  It will be the final answer to “What is the Universe?” and “How does the Universe behave?”  The unified theory may become common knowledge to the public, taught in High Schools across the Planet.  Then, the public can, with a more solid foundation to stand upon, ask the most compelling question of all, “Why?”

Before getting ahead of ourselves, we must examine the current state of the LHC experiments.  Nine days into operation, the LHC had to be shut down for maintenance.  Some magnets were repaired and others were replaced.  Today, the experiment is operating smoothly at 50% of its maximum designed capability.  To date, the greatest detected collisions have generated 7 TeV (seven million million electron-volts).  Many collisions have been photographed, and many elementary particles have been observed, though in an incomplete sense.  That is to say that while such particles have left an “energy trail,” they have not been observed in an up close static sense.  Thus far, the experiment results have agreed with current theories in quantum mechanics.  In about two years, the LHC will be run at its maximum capacity.  Higher energy collisions will likely allow physicists to observe never-before-seen particles.  If you are a physicist involved in research today, the LHC site is the place to be.

In addition to being a very expensive project (ten billion dollars to construct, and a massive monthly electric bill to operate), the LHC is one of the most ambitious and intriguing projects currently ongoing.  By comparison, the lens lab that I am helping my students conduct today feels more than a little dull.  Still, these budding science students need to start somewhere.  The physicists of tomorrow will be working with the Large Hadron Collider and other groundbreaking experiments.

It is interesting that our most important discoveries may come from smashing stuff together.  It is quite a leap from our ancestors smashing two rocks together and observing the sound. It is also rather telling that the LHC, our coolest project ever, is buried one football field length below the surface.  It is akin to a squirrel burying its most treasured nut.  The choice to bury it was made out of feasibility, as a 27 km track above the surface near any civilization would interfere with roadways and be unnecessarily exposed to the outdoor elements.  Still, its location has a certain irony.  It appears that the maker of our Universe has hidden its most compelling secrets very well.  It follows that our search for answers, our attempt to unravel life’s mysteries, should be spearheaded in a remote and hidden location.  Man may yet uncover what truly lies below the surface.