This Way to the Universe

by Michael Dine 2022

Book Review by Ray Herrmann

The author presents collection of interesting facts and properties of our universe:

• Sizes:
    • The size of an atomic nucleus is about 3 x 10 exp-14 cm. Whereas the size of an atom is about 10 exp-8 cm. (10,00 times larger!)
    • The Proton has a size about the size of an atomic nucleus (10-13 cm). Predicted half-life 10 exp+31 to 10 exp+33 years (much longer than the age of our universe).
    • The Top Quark is over 10,000 times more massive than the electron.
    • The strength of charge force between an electron and a proton is 10 exp+43 times the Gravity force.
    • Masses with "size" are probably composed of internal parts (Quarks). And the atomic nucleus is probably an assortment of these particles rather than discrete Protons and Neutrons.
    • A 60 watt incandescent light bulb emits about 10e+18 photons per second
• Properties:
    • Protons are repelled by their like (+) force, so then what holds all of them together in the nucleus?
    • Electron Spin seems to be along the axis of motion (as with the photon).
    • Bosons (like Higgs particle Discovered in 2012) have no spin. Higgs has no directionality (unlike e/m fields).
    • When one tries use quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle to calculate the mass of Higgs particle, one gets a nonsensical result. But it is more reasonable if one assumes that Higgs actually has a size.
    • The "Higgs Field" is a scalar field (unlike e/m fields) meaning that it has no directionality.
    • Neutrinos have a small mass and can change type as they travel. How Neutrinos get their mass points to a region about 10 exp-14 times smaller than an atomic nucleus.
    • A cubic meter of the Universe has about a half-billion microwave photons, and the chance of finding a proton or neutron (called baryons) there is 1/10.
    • Free Neutrons are radioactive with a half-life of about 11 minutes (decay into proton, electron and a neutrino).
    • There appears to be about 5 times more Dark Matter than observed matter.
    • As Black Holes accumulate mass, their Event Horizon increases. They also give off energy at the horizon when virtual particle-pairs form while one escapes as the other falls inward.
• The Universe:
    • Looking back from today's Universe, expansion suggests that the early universe was very small.
    • The Universe is over 13 billion years old (across), weights about 10 exp+52 Kg with a mass about 10e+78 atoms.
    • When Universe was 3 minutes old, it was doubling in size ievery 15 minutes, which is a long time compared to proton or neutron collisions.
    • Since the "Big Bang" the expansion has been slowing (at 150 yrs old, it was 10,000 times larger. than it was at 3 minutes old.) The early universe grew by 10 times every 10 exp+33 seconds (during Inflation).
    • Ten Years after Big Bang, the temperature was about 10,000,000 K (thus, a Plasma of ions and electrons).
    • The origin of some inhomogeneity in the universe is due to quantum mechanics and the Uncertainty Principle (which means one can't know precisely the value of the Inflation Field and the rate it is changing at any given point in Space-time).
    • Stars and Galaxies started forming about 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
    • The Cosmological Constant is a term arbitrarily added to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to regulate (fit) the expansion of the Universe to measured values. (its value may be +or -).
    • General Relativity breaks down at small regions, where Quantum Mechanics excels.
    • Gravity Waves are expected when masses (or energies) accelerate (and slightly "jiggle" anything they pass by).
    • The LIGO Graviton detectors are made of perpendicular metal tubes 4 km long. Expected passing gravitons stretch or shrink these tubes about 10 exp-18 cm (about 100,000 times smaller than an atomic nucleus). Two units were built (in Washington & in Louisiana). Events are expected to produce over 10 exp+20 gravitons. Some have been detected.

The Anthropic Principle says the Laws of Nature are what they are because these laws are what's necessary for the existence observers of Life.

Main String Theories: Have 26 Dimensions (25 space {if one is a tachyon} + 1 of time) or 10 dims (9 space + 1 of time). But maybe the extra Dims (beyond space & time) are "curled up" into tiny circles where their effects are essentially unobservable.

String Theories can model most particles of the Standard Model, but do not have the feature of Parity Violation that we observe. And the probability interpretation of Quantum Mechanics can't be sustained.

Constants in String Theories come from "couplings" of parts, so they seem artificial, whereas in the Standard Model, the constants are measured (not fitted).