“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim to be the complete theory of nature.… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
There certainly is a tension between the relativity of simultaneity and non-locality in quantum theory, but it's not strong enough to add… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So we may now pose a question which could be answered only if we have a quantum theory of gravity. What is… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Besides the argument based on the unity of nature, there are problems specific to each theory that call for unification with the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics: Problem 1: Combine general relativity and quantum theory into a single theory that can claim… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Quantum theory, in turn, has its own trouble with infinities. They appear whenever you attempt to use quantum mechanics to describe fields,… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“During the life of a black hole, it will pull in huge amounts of matter, carrying huge amounts of intrinsic information. At… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“In string theory, the situation is very different. The law of motion dictates the laws of the forces. This is because all… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
The revolution which began with the creation of quantum theory and relativity theory can only be finished with their unification into a… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Quantum theory can be described as a new kind of language to be used in a dialogue between us and the systems… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The key question for a quantum theory of gravity is then the following: Can we extend to quantum theory the principle that… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“One can take the colour-electric field as the fundamental entity, and then try to understand the picture of a string stretched between… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So, in the end, the most improbable and hence the most puzzling aspect of space is its very existence. The simple fact… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
A successful unification of quantum theory and relativity would necessarily be a theory of the universe as a whole. It would tell… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“This unification of forces and motion has a simple consequence. In a particle theory, you can freely add all kinds of forces, so there… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an arrow and… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“It is interesting to note that the quantum-mechanical revolution was made by a virtually orphaned generation of scientists. Many members of the generation above… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“In fact, the particle-antiparticle annihilation and the closing of the string is necessary, if the theory is to be consistent with relativity, meaning the… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Every string theory that's been written down says the speed of light is universal. But other ideas about quantum gravity predict the speed of… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Unfortunately, no one has ever successfully postulated a super-symmetry holding between two known particles. Instead, in all the supersymmetric theories the numbers of particles… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
Those who do good science do so because they choose problems that are suited to them. — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“Here's a simplified version of what the Stanford group did. They started with a much-studied kind of string theory-a flat four-dimensional spacetime with a… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“The current crisis in particle physics springs from the fact that the theories have gone beyond the standard model in the last thirty years… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“By the time I began my study of physics in the early 1970s, the idea of unifying gravity with the other forces was as… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“These two discoveries, of relativity and of the quantum, each required us to break definitively with Newtonian physics. However, in spite of great progress… — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
“So the challenge for any quantum theory of gravity is to give us a deeper understanding of Bekenstein's entropy and Hawking's temperature.” — Lee Smolin Copy Share Image
