Theory of everything

A theory of everything (TOE) is a theory of theoretical physics and mathematics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena. Initially, the term was used with an ironic connotation to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, a great-grandfather of Ijon Tichy — a character from a cycle of Stanis?aw Lem's science fiction stories of 1960s — was known to work on "General Theory of Everything" (Polish: "Ogólna Teoria Wszystkiego"). Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify the theories of the four fundamental interactions of nature.

Where the Standard Model comes up short

The Standard Model of physics is among the most successful theories in history, but it fails to explain everything. It doesn't explain the origins of the universe before the big bang. There are 18 arbitrary constants and several dozen elementary particles in the Standard Model. Why are there so many? The Standard Model also fails to explain over 90% of the apparent mass-energy of the universe. The existence of dark matter and dark energy, although never observed directly, is all but guaranteed if current theory is correct.

Related Topics:
Standard Model - Everything - Big bang - Elementary particles - Dark matter - Dark energy

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Why is so much of the universe invisible? What is the state of matter within a black hole? Is spacetime curved, or is it flat? How many dimensions of space and time are there? What is the origin of matter and energy? What is the reason for them at all? Is there a most fundamental particle? What happens beyond Planck scales? Why is momentum quantized? Is the speed of light the fastest speed in the universe? These are among the many questions left unanswered by the most modern theories in physics. A successful TOE would explain each of these questions and provide solutions to every situation which could exist in the universe.

Related Topics:
Black hole - Spacetime - Dimensions - Space - Time - Matter - Energy - Fundamental particle - Planck scales - Speed of light

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