与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S02E04

Part 4 April 19, 2021, 2:35 p.m.

是正确的
is correct,
一个并不需要直接看到微小的弦的办法
a way that does not require seeing tiny strings directly.
乔·泡钦斯基是世界上
Joe Polchinski is one of the world's
首席弦理论家之一
leading string theorists.
和许多物理学家一样
Like many physicists,
他走进大自然以获得灵感
he draws inspiration from being close to nature.
真是太棒了走出去来到大自然来到山区
It's great to get out here in nature in the mountains
来做一点思考
to think about things a bit.
你登上高处
When you get to the top of a climb,
你就会豁然开朗
you really get a much bigger picture.
乔或许
Joe has probably
更深入地探究弦理论的原理
delved deeper into the workings of string theory
甚于其它任何人在此过程中他意识到
than anyone else, and in doing so, he realized
有关键的东西消失在了数学中
something crucial was missing from the math.
我们知道大自然的基本模块必定是
So, we know that the basic building blocks of nature
很小很小的
have to be really small,
小于我们所见过的任何东西
smaller than anything we've ever seen --
或许是相当地小
probably a whole lot smaller.
因此如果这些模块是弦的话那么要知道
So, if these building blocks are strings, you know,
它们是难以捉摸的
they're very elusive.
我们怎么知道它们的存在呢？
How do we know that they're there?
所以说它极具挑战
And so it's challenging.
我们曾做过一个计算
And there was this one calculation we would do,
数学给我们的答案
and the answer that the math was giving us
并没有匹配我们曾以为的
wouldn't match up with the physical picture
物理图像
we thought we had.
原来问题在于
It turned out that the problem was
弦本身并不充分
the strings themselves were not enough.
数学告诉我们的是有另一种东西
What the math was telling us was there was another kind of thing,
有另一种对象在图像中
another sort of object in the picture.
1995年经过多年工作后
In 1995, after many years of work,
乔以自己的方式通过恼人的数学
Joe made his way through the torturous math
发现了弦的源头
and discovered the source of strings.
他称这些东西为“缔膜”
He called these objects D-branes.
我们大老远远足到这里
So we're out here on this nice hike out here in nature,
我们看到了这个漂亮的蜘蛛网
and we've got this beautiful spider web,
这是某些概念的一个很好的模型
which is a nice model for some of these ideas.
所以说缔膜是这些高维对象
So D-branes are these higher-dimensional objects.
它们可以使二维的三维的甚至更多♥维♥的
They can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or even more.
这个蜘蛛网是二维的一张薄片
And this spider web is two-dimensional, a sheet,
就像一张纸它可以伸缩弯曲
and like a sheet, it can flex and bend
同样蒂膜也可以伸缩弯曲
the way D-branes can flex and bend.
现在这并不是理想的模型
Now, it's not a perfect model
因为这张网粘在了两根树枝之间
because this web is stuck between these two branches,
然而蒂膜却可以延伸无尽头
but the D-branes can go on forever.
它们可以是宇宙规模
They could be of cosmic size,
从宇宙的一侧一直延伸到另一侧
stretching from one side of the Universe to another.
你不妨仔细看看
And if you look close,
你可以看到有小虫子粘在上面
you see that there are these little bugs stuck to it
同样弦也粘在蒂膜上
the way strings get stuck to a D-brane.
在乔的理论里蒂膜可以取上
In Joe's theory, D-branes could take on
九个维度中的任何维度
any of the nine dimensions
这些维度存在于弦理论的数学中
that exist in the mathematics of string theory.
我们整个宇宙可以是三维的膜
Our entire Universe could be a three-dimensional brane,
大块的空间全都是弦
a block of space to which all the strings,
我们宇宙中的物质都粘在上面
all the matter in our Universe is stuck.
现在你看到了膜的作用
Now you have the branes doing what they do,
你会发现极有可能
and you find that very possibly
维度可能远远大于我们的想象
the dimensions could be much larger than we thought about,
大得足以看到粒子加速器
large enough to see particle accelerators,
大得足以可以让我们看到其效果
large enough to maybe have effects on what we see
在天体物理学里在某些我们从太空中所看到的物理学里
in astrophysics, in some of the physics we see from space.
多亏了乔的发现
Thanks to Joe's discovery,
全世界的科学家充满了新的希望
scientists around the world are fueled with fresh hope
他们可能很快就能发现额外的维度
that they may soon detect extra dimensions.
如果你我所有的星星宇宙间所有的星系
If you, me, every star, every galaxy in the cosmos
都是粘在三维的膜上的话
is stuck on a three-dimensional brane,
那么第四维度
then a fourth dimension
就不必是原子的一小部分了
wouldn't have to be a tiny fraction of an atom.
它可要大多了
It could be much bigger.
发现额外的维度
The discovery of extra dimensions
将是科学史上
would be one of the biggest breakthroughs
最大的突破之一
in the history of science.
但它也可能带来灾祸
But it might also spell disaster.
因为证明它们存在的实验
Because the experiment that proves they exist
也可能会创造出地球上的黑洞
might also create a black hole here on Earth.
1609年伽利略透过他的望远镜
In 1609, Galileo peered through his telescope
窥视到了木星的卫星
and spied the moons of Jupiter.
他发现了那四个小小的光点
His discovery of those four tiny points of light,
肉眼看不见
invisible to the naked eye,
从而改变了我们对自己的世界的理解
changed our understanding of our world.
额外的空间维度
Extra dimensions of space
将远比伽利略的卫星更难看到
will be much harder to see than Galileo's moons,
但一旦我们发现它们的话那将改变我们
but if we discover them, it will change our understanding
对整个宇宙的理解
of the entire Universe.
这件精妙的平衡设备
This piece of delicately balanced equipment
有可能是发现第四维的装置
could be the device that discovers the fourth dimension.
它位于华盛顿大学的地下室
It sits in a basement at the University of Washington
属于这个人的
and belongs to this man.
埃里克·阿德尔伯格与一个小组一道
Eric Adelberger, along with a small team,
花了最近十年的时间
has spent the last decade
来观察这台扭秤的来回扭动
watching this torsion balance twist back and forth,
希望它能昭然若揭
hoping it reveals evidence
证明存在超过三个以上的维度
that there are more than three dimensions.
引力确实是个惊人的故事
Gravity is really an amazing story.
它是物理学家所认识的
It was the first of the fundamental forces
首个基本力
that the physicists learned about.
牛顿有他的引力理论
Isaac Newton had his theory of gravity,
它在太阳系里屡试不爽
which has been tested very well in the solar system.
但它在很短的距离上的测试
But it's not really been tested very well at all
非常不佳
at very short distances.
短距离
And the short distances
全都停留在理论上
are now where all the theoretical action is,
可以这么说
so to speak.
埃里克需要测量的力道
The forces Eric needs to measure
极其微弱
are incredibly weak.
尽管实验室在地下
Even though the lab is underground,
但他的数据还是屡遭破坏有交通高峰时刻的火车
his data is frequently marred by trains, rush-hour traffic,
乃至高空飞行的飞机
even airplanes flying miles overhead.
我们所测量的力道确实极其微小
The forces we're measuring are really extraordinarily tiny.
为了有点概念你不妨设法将一张邮票
To get some idea, if you could cut a postage stamp
切成万亿小片
into a trillion little pieces somehow
设法称重其中的一片
and could weigh one of those little pieces somehow,
那种力道就是我们要测量的
that's the kind of forces that we're measuring.
如果引力在很小的距离上偏离牛顿定律
If the force of gravity deviates from Newton's laws
那将是一个警示信♥号♥♥
at very small distances, it would be a telltale sign
有额外的微型维度存在
that an extra microscopic dimension exists.
这是埃里克直接掌握的原则
It's a principle Eric knows firsthand
来自他在实验室外的酷爱
from his passion outside the lab
照料着另一套微妙的东西
tending another set of delicate objects.
理解其的好方法就是这里的类比
A nice way to understand this is this analogy
引力在不同维度间传播的方式
between the way gravity spreads out
引力在不同维度间传播的方式
in varying number of dimensions
与水流在不同维度间的流动方式
and the way flow of water spreads out
与水流在不同维度间的流动方式
in varying number of dimensions.
我们这里有一个源源不断地水流
We got a steady stream of water
从顶部的两个口子流出
that flows out of these two outlets at the top,
落在管道里并被限制在一个维度里
and it falls into a channel and is confined in one dimension.
它沿着一个维度流下
And it runs down along the one dimension,
我们将一个管道乘以二还有另一个管道
and we've made one channel twice as long as the other channel.