与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S02E04

Part 6 April 19, 2021, 2:35 p.m.

如果引力集中在另外的大楼里
If gravity is concentrated at the other building,
我们没准就只得到了引力的尾巴
we might only get a tail end of gravity.
这或许能够解释
It might be that that could explain
为何引力对我们如此微弱
why gravity is so weak for us.
引力自♥由♥流动在我们的膜与
Gravitons flow freely between our brane
跨越第四维的膜之间
and the one that's across the fourth dimension.
但那个平行世界里的引力很强
But the gravity in that parallel world is so strong,
它将空间压缩成我们世界的空间的
it compresses space
万亿万亿倍小
trillions upon trillions of times smaller than ours.
这两个膜世界之间的空间被扭曲了
The space between these two brane worlds is warped.
在引力从致密引力的膜
As gravitons move
传向我们的膜的过程中
from the dense-gravity brane to our brane,
它们扩散了其力道越来越微弱了
they spread out, and their force gets far weaker.
东西得到了重整
Things get rescaled
随着你从额外维度里的走入另一个维度
as you go from one place in an extra dimension to the other.
所以东西在这里会非常重
So whereas things might be extremely heavy here,
它们在这里会成倍成倍地轻
they could be exponentially lighter here,
这就自然而然地解释了为什么引力会如此微弱
which would naturally explain why gravity is so weak.
莉莎·蓝道尔的扭曲第四维的想法
Lisa Randall's idea of a warped fourth dimension
把我们从平行宇宙里分离了出来
separating us from a parallel Universe,
在那里引力和其它自然力是一样强的
where gravity is just as strong as the other forces of nature,
引起了物理界的轰动
has set the world of physics alight.
回到日内瓦的大型强子对撞机
Back at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva,
粒子束很快就会撞击在了一起
the beams will soon be smashing together
有足够的力量来产生粒子
with enough force to produce particles
那将会证明这个弯曲的维度的存在
that could prove this warped dimension really exists.
若这个想法是对的
Well, if this idea is right,
你实际上就能让粒子
you would actually be able to make particles
基本具有其它维度里的动能
that essentially have momentum in another dimension.
现在我们无法看到其它维度
Now, we don't see that other dimension.
我们所看到的是效果就好像粒子具有质量
What we see is the effect as if the particle had mass,
这质量结果恰恰就是质量
and the mass turns out to be the right mass
它能够产生于大型强子对撞机的能量中
that it can be produced at the energies
但愿如此
of the Large Hadron Collider, we hope.
现在任何一天都或许会有新闻来自瑞士阿尔卑斯山
Any day now, news may come from the Swiss Alps
世界根本不同于
that the world is fundamentally different
我们一直以为的那样
from the way we've always imagined it.
然而有一个更大的扭曲
But there is one more twist to this epic hunt
针对这个扭曲或卷曲的维度的史诗般的搜寻
for warped or curled-up extra dimensions.
有位科学家认为我们的搜索注定要失败的
One scientist thinks our search is doomed to failure.
她并不相信存在有不止三个维度
She does not believe there are more than three dimensions.
她认为只有一个
She thinks there's only one.
你如何来构建宇宙呢？
How do you build a Universe?
你需要三个维度么？
Do you need three dimensions?
抑或你需要四个？九个？甚至更多？
Or do you need four? Nine? Or more?
这些是科学家拷问我们
These are the most fundamental questions
现实的最基本的问题
scientists can ask about our reality.
然而最简单的问题通常都是最难回答的
But the simplest questions are often the hardest to answer.
大型强子对撞机以及世界各地实验室里的
Swarms of scientists at the Large Hadron Collider
成群的科学家
and labs around the world
都在搜寻额外维度的证据
are hunting for evidence of extra dimensions,
它们会弯曲或卷曲在小小的循环里
be they warped or curled up in tiny loops.
他们希望在未来几年里
They hope to make a major breakthrough
取得重大突破
within the next few years.
但是雷娜塔·洛尔，乌得勒支大学的物理学家
But Renate Loll, a physicist at the University of Utrecht,
并没有为之所动
isn't holding her breath.
当然你在弦理论里有一个问题
Of course, one of the problems you have in string theory
那就是全都存在许多♥维♥度
is that there's all these many dimensions.
然后你得解释为什么你只能看到其中的一些
Then you have to explain why you only see a few of them.
你若能做到那将是很了不起的
That would be wonderful if you could do that.
但是目前太困难了
But currently that's too difficult
没人能够表明那一点
or no one has managed to show that.
雷娜塔认为
Renate believes
弦理论所预言的额外维度
that the extra dimensions predicted by string theory
只不过是数学上的巧合
are merely a mathematical quirk
理论本身可能就是错误的
and the theory itself is likely to be wrong.
当然它引发的问题是
Of course, it raises the question of,
好我们或许能够
"Well, can we maybe do
不用这些额外的维度来做么？
without these extra dimensions whatsoever?"
雷娜塔·洛尔
Renate Loll's dislike
对弦理论的额外维度的厌恶
for the extra dimensions of string theory
使其全力以赴
is matched only by her passion
去对付创造出来有待解决的同样的难题
to attack the same puzzle it was created to solve --
引力之谜
the mystery of gravity.
爱因斯坦认为引力可以被视为
Einstein realized that gravity could be seen
只不过是物体所弯曲的空间
as simply a bending of space by massive objects.
他的广义相对论
His theory of general relativity
是现代物理学的经典
was a masterpiece of modern physics.
但是它留下了一个重大问题没有解决
But it left a serious problem unsolved --
引力是如何在微观层面上影响空间的呢？
how does gravity affect space on the microscopic level?
因此如果你问起
So if you ask questions
必须得说对于极小极小的
that have to do, say, with the very, very small
牵涉到得与引力打交道的东西
and that involves anything that has to do with gravity --
亦即物体如何与引力互动
so, how do objects interact gravitationally
在很短很短的尺度上
on very, very short scales --
于是你就需要有扩展的爱因斯坦理论
then you need an extension of Einstein's theory
因为它并没有涵盖那个范围
because it doesn't cover that range.
雷娜塔接受了那个挑战
Renate has taken on that challenge.
她试图发展新的引力定律
She's trying to develop new laws of gravity
甚至能适用于最小的距离
that apply even at the smallest distances,
她用计算机模拟来测试它们
and she's testing them in computer simulations.
她从空间的微观点的集♥合♥入手
She begins with a collection of microscopic points of space
尝试用引力将它们结合在一起
and attempts to stick them together with gravity.
换句话说她在培养空间
In other words, she is growing space.
上一次这个发生在计算机外面
The last time this happened outside a computer
那是在约137亿年前
was about 13.7 billion years ago.
那是你听说过的事件的一部分
It was part of an event you've probably heard of --
大爆♥炸♥
the Big Bang.
雷娜塔在小得多的尺度上研究
Renate is working on a much smaller scale,
但她所培养的微观宇宙
but the microscopic Universes she is cultivating
具有某些意想不到的属性
have some very unexpected properties.
设想你有一个空间或就一块空间
Imagine you're given a space or just a piece of space
你想了解它是什么尤其是
and you want to learn about what it is, and, in particular,
你可能想了解它的维度
you may want to learn about what its dimension is.
那么有个实验是你其实可以做的
So one experiment that you can actually do
以发现其维度
to find out what the dimension is,
那就是滴一滴墨水在里面然后看其所发生的情况
is to let an ink drop fall in it and then see what happens,
看看墨水在空间的扩散
see how the ink spreads in the space.
在水里墨水向三个方向扩散
In water, ink spreads into three dimensions.
在吸墨水纸上它向两个方向扩散
On a piece of blotting paper, it spreads into two.
然而当雷娜塔在她的计算机模拟宇宙间
But when Renate tested how things spread out
物体是如何扩散时
inside her computer-simulated Universes,
其结果看上去是这种模样
the results looked something like this.
现在来看看所发生的情况
Watch what happens now.
它在小尺度上的扩张
It filled out much less ones than we expected
远不及我们的预料
on small scales,
那真正表明了
and that's a true indication
维度其实要小于
that the dimension's actually smaller
我们的预料
than what we expected.
它小于三个
It's smaller than three.
雷娜塔的模拟
Renate's simulations
看上去好像它们有三个维度
looked like they had three dimensions,
但归根结底它们只有一个
but at root, they only had one.
如果她的引力理论正确的话
If her theories of gravity are right,
那就表明实体空间根本就不是实体
it suggests that solid space is not solid at all.
下至最小的尺度
Down at the smallest scales,
它有可能是一维的线网所构成
it might be built from a mesh of one-dimensional lines.
这就是空间如何构成的基本真理么？
Is this the fundamental truth about how space is formed?
就只有一维是真正存在的么？
Is one dimension all there really is?
这样一来人们就认为空间的维度
So the order is, one would think of the dimension of a space