Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Why Is Gravity the Weakest Force?

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-it's-just-biding-its-time dept.

StartsWithABang writes: If you calculate the forces between two fundamental particles separated by subatomic distances, you find that the strong, electromagnetic or weak nuclear force could all be the strongest, dependent on the particulars of your setup. But throw gravity in there, and it turns out to be weaker by some 40 orders of magnitude. This discrepancy, that gravity is such an oddball, is known as the hierarchy problem, and is by many measures the greatest unsolved problem in theoretical physics. Yet the new, upgraded run of the LHC has the potential to uncover any one of four possible solutions, some of which we have hints for already.

4 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. I'll tell you why by fnj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because. That's all. There doesn't have to be a reason. The mystery is the puzzlement.

    1. Re:I'll tell you why by Carewolf · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Because. That's all. There doesn't have to be a reason. The mystery is the puzzlement.

      You could say that about all physics. Physics is all about finding out WHY what we observe is what it is, if you just accept it "because", then there would be no physics.

    2. Re:I'll tell you why by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Physics can only predict the future, it can't tell you why anything happens. Only what happens, and when.

  2. Re:Hype by InterGuru · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought the cost of the LHC was insanely expensive, then I realized we spent more to bail out one sleazy bank ( while the banksters still got huge bonuses. )