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The Grand Unification Theory

The Grand Unification Theory

-the GUT tries to set a common force that would and can act in/apply to all circumstances(in a classroom; before the creation of the Universe; near a black hole) by touching on all aspects of physics
-the theory that combines the 4 fundamental forces in the Universe:
· strong nuclear forces
· weak nuclear forces
· electromagnetic forces
· gravitational forces
-these 4 forces can be seen in the 2 groups that the GUT unifies:
· strong interaction/strong force – fundamental force that causes protons and neutrons to bind together in nuclei
· electroweak interaction– electromagnetism and weak interaction(weak interaction – weak force responsible for decay)
-there is no universal formula that describes this theory, only multiple proposed ones
· left-right models
· Georgi-Glashgow model
· Pati-Salam model
· trinification
-the theory is best portrayed in a supersymmetric model, which is a form of a standard model
· a standard model is a model that shows how particles behave and interact through the use of symmetries
-a supersymmetric model is a model that tries to unify known and unknown elements, those elements being fermions and bosons
· boson – particle that does not obey the rule allowing only one element to occupy the same state at one time
· fermion - particle that does obey the above rule
-the GUT is used to predict relations in terms of:
· quarks
· proton decay
· cosmological occurrences (cosmology – study of the universe physically, seeing it as a formation of phenomena in time and space)

History
In the mid-1970's physicists were excited with the recent success of Steven Weinberg, Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow in creating a unification theory for the electromagnetic and weak forces. By applying what is called 'group theory' , physicists such as Glashow, Georgi and others proposed that you could use the symmetries of 'SU(5)' to unite the weak and electromagnetic forces with the strong nuclear force which...