On theories of everything : are physicists actually "lost in math"? - Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 Accéder directement au contenu
Pré-Publication, Document De Travail Année : 2021

On theories of everything : are physicists actually "lost in math"?

Résumé

Even though the march towards unification in physics began in the 17th century with the birth of mathematical physics, the notion of "Theory Of Everything" (TOE) only appeared around the 1980s. A TOE was supposed to unify all the fundamental interactions of nature: electromagnetism, weak interaction, strong interaction and gravitation. However, faced with the limits of most of the attempts (grand unification theory or GUT, string theory, loop quantum gravity, causal fermions systems, causal sets, Garrett Lisi's E8, causal dynamical triangulation, knot theory, ER = EPR ...), some wonder if we should not change the method, especially as logical or philosophical arguments (essential incompleteness of powerful theories, absence of fundamental laws, impossibility of embrassing "everything", essential infinitude of the universe, limited precision of calculations ...) could dissuade from seeking to build a definitive physical theory. More than anything, what is often disputed is the deductive nature of theories and the overuse of mathematics. Against these defeatist opinions, this article tries to rehabilitate the current approach of physicists to which we owe in fact many victories.
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hal-03286062 , version 1 (13-07-2021)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03286062 , version 1

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Daniel Parrochia. On theories of everything : are physicists actually "lost in math"?. 2021. ⟨hal-03286062⟩
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