Investigating the Fabrics of the Universe

What types of things lie in the microscopic realm, and what can they tell us about our living world? Well, as a physics major, I tend to ask these questions almost every day, speculating about the fundamental truths of it all. For example, many of you look for the ingredients of your favorite meals in cooking books. As a student studying physics, I’m often in the same place, but instead, I use textbooks to figure out the workings of the Universe.

For this post, I will attempt to take you, the reader, on a quick journey. A philosophical journey to be exact into the world of the unknown. A place in which the society at large does not go into. And to be precise, I mean the fabrics of the Universe. This blog post will leave you with questions, not answers. But hopefully, questions that inspire curiosity.

A Quick Scenery

Day in, day out, our hearts beat second by second. There is this stream of constant stretching and contracting, almost an eloquent behavior that our tissues endure. By zooming into this piece of life, we would then come across a human cell. Not one, nor hundreds, but billions. Each one of these living cells aid in the stretching and contracting that is almost everlasting.

To this end, we come to notice that cells are made out of molecules, atoms, and then an infinite number of subatomic particles that endlessly dance to specified rules. That is, they follow the laws of physics. Each of the provisions of gravity, electricity, magnetism, and quantum all forcefully control how the limitless number of particles behave. These forces are filled with the language of mathematics just so these particles can understand them. Similar to how English grammar helps us obey the laws of enforcement.

There are 36 different types of subatomic particles. Surprisingly, a proposition called string theory may help us understand what they are each made of. By going deeper into such a particle, we come to notice bundles of energy. More like vibrating strings that harmonize eloquent music through the fabrics of space and time.

These strings like those in a guitar can vibrate at different rates, which of course, cause different sounds. Whether the musical note is a B♭ or an F♯ it will determine a specific type of subatomic particle. Electrons, protons, neutrons, and more can, therefore, be described by how fast these strings vibrate. Our hearts in the essence of it all has been theorized as a harmonic symphony which creates everything we will ever meet, touch, love. In the reality of it all, can this be the fabrics of our Universe?

Reflections

As an undergraduate student, I cannot fully answer this question. Neither can the top-notch string theorist of today’s world come to an agreement. Sir Isaac Newton, the father of classical mechanics and calculus, stated in his world-known book, Principia that “absolute space in its own nature, without relation to anything external, remains always similar and immovable. Absolute true, and mathematical time of itself, and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external.” In other words, he is describing that space in itself is eloquently moving undisturbed as an eternal constitute of our Universe. It may be the case that this could be the exact framework of our world. Only time can help us take the steps forward to answer this question. As the immersible amount of knowledge in science continues to grow in the decades to come, we may very well unlock the true nature of it all.