[Dean's World] Dave Price: Can This Possibly Be Right?

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Can This Possibly Be Right?
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1168281344.shtml


   In addition to the well-known [1]string/M theory and somewhat lesser
   known [2]loop quantum gravity, there is another barely-known theory
   that purports to combine gravity and quantum mechanics and has
   recently begun to receive some attention. It was initially developed
   in the 1950s in isolation by Burkhard Heim, using obscure but
   apparently valid mathematics, and is called [3]Heim theory. A few
   years ago, the theory was resuscitated and extended by Walter
   Dröscher and Jochem Häuser, and in 2004 a [4]presentation based on
   the theory was awarded a prize from the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight
   Technical Committee for the best paper presented that year.
   While it seems to have some unresolved issues, Heim theory has the
   unique attribute of predicting the particle masses using only
   fundamental constants, which implies that some of its basic tenets may
   at least warrant serious examination, as this is something neither of
   the prevailing theories can currently do.
   What's really shocking, though, is that Heim theory may, according to
   proponents, also predict the direction and magnitude of the
   [5]apparent gravitomagnetic force detected by ESA, which if true would
   seem to be a truly extraordinary achievement. Not being a physicist,
   it's hard for me to follow the math involved, but perhaps an astute
   Dean's World commenter will be able to shed some light on how accurate
   that claim is.
   The next couple years could be very interesting, perhaps even a
   watershed moment in human technological development. The [6]LHC is
   expected to turn up the Higgs boson if it exists (Heim theory says it
   does not), and scientists at Berkely are trying to replicate the ESA
   results. You can help with the LHC effort by [7]donating your
   computer's spare processing time.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
   2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_quantum_gravity
   3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heim_theory
   4. http://proceedings.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=APCPCS000746000001001430000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes
   5. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1143235878.shtml
   6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider
   7. http://lhcathome.cern.ch/