The selection of short papers published under the title “What’s the Matter?” considers various aspects of theoretical physics, the physics establishment and the ongoing search for a unified theory of physics. These papers are based on my physics research experience over the past 20 years and more recent responses to my book on the theory of Physics in 5 Dimensions. Each paper is complete in itself and so can be read in any order⁽¹⁾; you can open the papers shown on this website wherever you like.

All the matter around us is made of elementary particles, the building blocks of matter⁽²⁾; each particle has mass and occupies space. These particles occur in two basic types called quarks and leptons and each group consists of six particles, which are related in pairs, or generations. The lightest and most stable particles make up the first generation, whereas the heavier and less-stable particles belong to the second and third generations. All stable matter in the universe is made from particles that belong to the first generation; any heavier particles quickly decay to more stable ones. This is the view of the Standard Model developed in the early 1970s and it has successfully explained almost all experimental results and precisely predicted a wide variety of phenomena.

Scientists once thought that the most fundamental building block of matter was the atom⁽³⁾, however with the Standard Model we now know that the atom contains a central core called the nucleus, made of particles called protons and neutrons, which are made up of quarks. The nucleus is surrounded by mostly empty space, except for very tiny particles called electrons, a type of lepton, which orbit the nucleus.

What’s the Matter? is primarily concerned with stable matter at the level of atoms; composed of protons, neutrons and electrons permitting reliable experimental measurements. The particles of unstable matter have miniscule lifetimes making experimental measurements very difficult.

Particle physicists now think that although the Standard Model accurately describes the phenomena within its domain, it is still incomplete⁽⁴⁾. Perhaps it is only a part of a bigger picture that includes new physics hidden deep in the subatomic world or in the dark recesses of the universe. Over decades, the main research focus has remained on this subatomic world of unstable matter.

Particle physicists have continued to justify and build their ever larger accelerators, ably supported by cosmologists with their Big Bang Theory as the origin of matter. Yet neither the new physics nor a breakthrough to the unified theory of physics have been discovered. Claims of new physics are not supported by serious experimental proof. Theoretical physics research is stuck in a cul-de-sac resulting in desperate claims of success in order to get funding for ongoing research going nowhere!

A renaissance of physics is long overdue. A truly unified theory of physics is needed that works for all fields of physics requiring extensive multi-field research. Based only on the stable matter of atoms and larger bodies, I returned to the work of the renowned physicists of the era 1905 to 1935, a Golden Age of Physics, which established many of the experimentally proven theories of physics. New unifying perspectives of physics were found with hypotheses that account for the existence and relative motion of all matter in the universe, as well as the conservation of all forms of energy and momentum; new perspectives that merge with the current fundamentals of physics to deliver a more unified theory of physics.

Some papers of What’s the Matter? review the physics of the renowned physicists and show how alternative perspectives have resulted in the new hypotheses of the theory of Physics in 5 Dimensions; however without changing the fundamentals of classical physics. These papers offer an easy introduction to the theory of Physics in 5 Dimensions while the detailed explanation is available in the book⁽⁵⁾ of this name.

Another paper considers the less scientific point of both theoretical physics and politics having too much in common to the detriment of progress in physics. The power of the lobbies is dominant where control by professional physicists is paramount to serve their own status, financial interests and to protect their ongoing research. Progress for the benefit of physics takes second place to the power play of a self-indulgent and dominant few. Publication of alternative new physics in the lobby’s approved journals is almost impossible!

On a positive note, the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge is opening the new Ray Dolby Centre⁽⁶⁾ in 2025. The new building, and a new strategic plan, both represent a renaissance of the way in which physics research will be carried out to achieve the research goals. At the heart of the new approach is a more flexible alignment of activities into research themes, making cross-disciplinary linkages across the traditional group structure. This change of emphasis has been inspired by a number of changes in the nature of contemporary physics research where there is a vast discovery space at the interfaces between traditional areas of physics. The Centre was completed and handed over in May 2024 and should be fully operational by the summer of 2025.

This will launch a new era of physics with a more flexible alignment of research activities; a renaissance of physics with multi-field research without the traditional group structures.

References:

(1) Presentation based on the book “Somewhere Totally Else” by Hans Ulrich Obrist – jrp ringier ISBN 978-3-03764-510-9

(2) Particles of the Standard Model of particle physics CERN

https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model

(3) This paragraph and the next one are edited versions of “The Standard Model” to be found at the following link https://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/cern/ideas/standard.html

(4) Edited from: https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model

(5) Physics in 5 Dimensions ISBN:978-3-96014-233-1 / PDF available here.

(6) Cavendish Laboratory, Ray Dolby Centre, https://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/rdc

For more background information on this topic, visit ResearchGate - the social networking site for scientists and researchers - and look at some of the the answers to the question: "Is the modern approach to cosmology fundamentally flawed?".