与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S03E05

Part 3 April 19, 2021, 2:45 p.m.

物理学家称其为“暗能量”
Physicists call this "dark energy."
通过宇宙的膨胀速率
From the rate of expansion of the Universe,
人们能测算出真空中含多少暗能量
they can measure how much of it empty space contains.
但是当人们清算那个数据
But when they tallied that number
相较于充满粒子波的宇宙
against how much energy empty space ought to have
所应该蕴含的能量
from all the particle waves filling the Universe,
两者之间存在惊人的不匹配
there was a staggering mismatch.
当你统计本该由真空量子效应
When you calculate the amount of energy
所产生能量的多寡时
that there should be in empty space from quantum effects,
你会得到一个10至120倍大于
you get a number which is 10 to the 120 times larger
加速膨胀的宇宙
than the number that we actually observe
所真实表现出的数值
from the expansion and the acceleration of the Universe.
这是个不正常的数值
And this is an enormous number.
根据他们的统计
According to their calculations,
空间本身应该有足够能量
there should be enough energy in space itself
足以把整个宇宙蒸干
to boil the Universe away.
但是我们在这好好的
But we are still here.
尼尔以及许多其他的同事觉得他们或许知道
Neal and many of his colleagues think they might know
为什么理论和实际之间的差距如此之大
why such a big mismatch exists between theory and observation.
这或许是因为大多数粒子波
It could be that most particle waves
彼此互相抵消了
are canceling each other out.
波的互相抵消
The cancelation of waves
是个很好理解的现象
is a pretty easy phenomenon to understand.
你只需简单设想假设你有一段波
You just simply imagine you have one wave,
它有波峰和波谷
which has peaks and troughs,
然后另一段波，它也有波峰和波谷
and then you have another wave that has peaks and troughs,
当它们相叠加时
and when those waves combine,
假定波峰或波谷在同一位置
if the peaks and troughs are in the same place --
如果两个波峰相遇——它们彼此增强
if I have two peaks in the same place -- they add together.
如果两个波谷相遇
If I have two troughs in the same place,
它们反向叠加增强
they add together negatively.
但是如果波峰和波谷相遇
But if I have one peak and one trough,
它们抵消了，什么都没给我留下
they cancel out, and I'm left with nothing.
这就叫“干涉”
And so this interference,
这种波动互相抵消的现象
this phenomenon of how waves can cancel,
同样会发生在粒子身上
carries over to particles.
尼尔认为有另外一套完整的
Neal thinks there is a whole other set
还未发现的宇宙外粒子
of as-yet-undetected particles out in the Universe,
它们每一个都制♥造♥波动
each creating waves,
我们所知的粒子波于是乎被其抵消
which cancel out the waves from the particles we know.
这种思想被称为超对称
It's an idea known as supersymmetry --
每一个粒子都有其镜像同伴
every particle has a mirror-image partner.
如果我的宇宙允许电子存在
The fact that my Universe allows electrons
那就意味着我必须有创造超电子的可能
means that I should have the possibility of creating selectrons.
同样，如果我有夸克，我就得有超夸克
And if I have quarks, I should have squarks.
那尼尔的超对称同伴就应该是
And Neal's supersymmetric partner should be...
超尼尔
Sneal.
如果你在纽约，你是一名律师
If you're in New York, you're either a lawyer,
你搞金融，或者你是演员，我可不会装
you're in finance, or you're an actor, and I can't act.
但是寻找超尼尔
But finding Sneal
或者其他超对称粒子波
or any other supersymmetric particle wave
却是个令人沮丧的任务
is a frustrating task.
你可以直接寻找他们
You can look for them directly.
你可以间接寻找他们
You can look for them indirectly.
我费尽心机寻找超对称
I have all sorts of ways to look for supersymmetry.
但时至今日
But up to this point,
他们都漂亮的躲过了我们的搜索
it's done an excellent job of hiding from us,
那么究竟是我们即将发现它
so either we're about to find it
还是像我们中很多人想说的那样——它根本就不存在
or I think a lot of us are gonna say it's just not there.
大型强子对撞机到目前为止连超对称粒子的影子都没见到
The LHC has so far seen no sign of supersymmetric particles.
如果它们不存在
If they do not exist,
科学家们将留下一个莫名其妙的困境
scientists will be left with a baffling predicament --
怎么解释为何真空能量
explaining why the energy of empty space
没有把宇宙撕成碎片
is not tearing our Universe to shreds.
然而另有科学家认为
But other scientists believe
真空的灾难性大爆♥炸♥其实是不可避免的
a cataclysmic explosion of nothing is inevitable.
当它可能发生时
And one has worked out
它就会发生
when it might happen.
真空充满宇宙
Empty space fills our cosmos
如同无垠的虚空之海
like a great ocean of nothingness.
但是这所谓的宇宙之水
But the still waters of the Universe
恐怕不会平静太久
may not be tranquil for long.
正如一名科学家所指出的
As one scientist sees it,
暴风雨正在酝酿
a storm may be brewing.
马克斯·泰格马克是麻省理工学院的一名宇宙学家
Max Tegmark is a cosmologist at M.I.T.
不要被他轻松的魅力所欺骗
Do not let his relaxed charm fool you.
他其实忧虑重重
He is deeply troubled.
他的脑子里全是
What is on his mind
有关未来真空的东西
is nothing other than the future of empty space.
空间本身似乎是稳定而永久的
Space itself seems just imminently stable and permanent,
就如同这些高尔夫球
just like these golf balls here.
它们已经被打了有些时日了
Been hitting these around for quite a while now,
而且之后看上去它们还是老样子
and they always look the same afterwards,
但是我怎么就能真正，真正的确定这个材料是稳定的？
but how can I be really, really sure that stuff is stable?
正如高尔夫球最终将归于一团尘埃
Just like the golf ball changed its state into a cloud of dust,
有朝一日空间本身会否也将
could space itself somehow change its state
沧海变桑田？
into something else?
空间因一个快速衰变转换形态
A rapid decay of space into a different state
或许听起来匪夷所思
may sound highly unlikely,
但这并非没有先例
but it is not without precedent.
137亿年前
13.7 billion years ago,
宇宙改变了其基本特性
the Universe shifted its fundamental properties
它的温度也随之下降
and its temperature plummeted.
物理学家称其为“大爆♥炸♥”
Physicists call this the Big Bang.
透过最强力的眼睛
And through Max's eyes,
貌似发现一些异样
there was something fishy about it.
假设我是一条鱼
I pretend I'm a fish.
我一辈子都待在海里
I've spent my whole life in the ocean,
我觉得水就好像是真空
and I think of water as just empty space,
那是因为我就知道这些
'cause that's all I know.
直到有一天
And then one day,
我发现所谓的真空其实是一种物质
I realize that this emptiness is actually a substance.
我是条求知而好奇的鱼
And I am an interested and curious fish,
所以我指出除了我所处的液态水之外
so I figure out in addition to the liquid water, which I'm in,
还有固态——冰——以及气态蒸汽
there is this solid phase -- ice -- and there's steam.
然后我就开始担心万一有一天，你懂的
And then I would start worrying about whether one day, you know,
水要是结冰我也得挂了
my water might freeze and I might die.
事实上我们观测我们所处的空间也是同样的情形
And in exactly the same way we've looked at our space,
我们也意识到空间同样的，也有可能被冻住
realized that it, too, seems to be able to freeze
然后我们就完蛋了
and kill us all.
马克斯认为大爆♥炸♥
Max thinks the Big Bang
并不是宇宙最后一次体验冰冻
was not the last cosmic freeze our Universe will experience,
他对此的证明基于量子力学中
and his proof lies in the mind-bending science
最令人费解的科学
of Quantum Mechanics,
任何事物都不是绝对固定，任何事物都不能永恒持续
where nothing is fixed and nothing can last forever.
量子力学会告诉你
Quantum Mechanics tells you that a particle
粒子不能与固定位置
can never be perfectly still
完美匹配
in a known position.
量子力学也同样告诉你
And Quantum Mechanics tells you that
这不仅适用于原子这样的微观粒子
not just about little things like atoms,
也同样适用于原子构成的宏观物体
but also about big things that are made of atoms,
比如这些高尔夫球
like this golf ball.
这意味着任何东西都不是完全稳定
Which means nothing is completely stable.
这种物体的量子抖动将永无止境
This quantum jiggling of things will eventually,
如果我在这站的时间足够长
if I were to stand here long enough,
只因高尔夫球随机往上那么一丁点
cause the golf ball to just randomly go up a little bit,
然后就直接下降到更低的能量状态
then fall down into a lower energy state.
独自待在球座上，然后经历一个非常微小的变化
Left alone on the tee, there was a very slight chance
这个高尔夫球将隧穿空间
this golf ball will tunnel through space
然后在离地更近的地方实体化
and materialize closer to the ground,