Beyond the Standard Model
There is also the far more well-known string theory, which states that all particles are actually vibrating strings, with each fundamental particle having different vibrations, 19 allowing for hypothetical particles like the graviton to exist. However, these ideas are at most mathematical explanations that could form the basis for new physics; not only are they complex and unwieldly as theories, but they are also unprovable with current technology. With string theory, one of the requirements for the theory to function is for there to be at least 10 dimensions, with them apparently being curved into a small area that they would be undetectable. 20 This ignores the far more pressing issue. Currently, the amount of energy believed to be required for the Grand Unification Theory’s predictions to be detectable would be in the range of 10 12 TeVs, 21 which would be impossible to achieve any time soon. For context, the highest recorded energy obtained at the LHC so far has been 13 TeVs 22 during proton collisions. 23 Even when drawing back the scale to more realistic levels, there has been no experimental developments for either of these theories for the past few decades. This has begun to cast doubt on whether these theories should be considered valuable in the long-term, as it could be seen as a timewaster if no experiments can corroborate the theories that have been provided and has already cast doubt on the scientists who have focused on these more hypothetical parts of physics. The current hope is that the forthcoming upgrades to the LHC, currently dubbed the High-Luminosity LHC, will be able to push the energies of collisions far enough that new particles could be witnessed. There is also the far grander FCC, which by the 2040s will have become the primary collider for CERN and be powerful enough to reach the ranges of 100 TeVs, 24 which could finally answer some of the questions left unanswered by the Standard Model. All of these possibilities require us to wait for the technology to catch up with the concepts that scientists have formulated, but physics can only move forward once the devices have enough power to test the validity of the theories.
Conclusion
A major theme of this essay has been the need to wait for more experimental data from T2K and Super- Kamiokande about the nature of neutrinos; the ongoing wait for both new experimental frontiers like COMET, and the upgrading of old machines such as the LHC, in order to push physics to its limits and see beyond the Standard Model. Unfortunately, the best possible avenues to go past the current theories require energies that are simply not feasible at this time. This may be a problem for the time being, but in truth it has also given many scientists the opportunity to test other ideas, and probe into other parts of the Standard Model, and this may be how physics begins to move forward. Only time will tell whether the current theories for the
19 See Hawking, 1988: 191-96. 20 See Hawking, 1988: 196. 21 See Virdee, 2016: 5. 22 1 electron-volt (eV) is approximately equal to 1.6×10 −19 Joules; I tera electron volt (TeV) is 1 trillion eVs. 23 See CERN, ‘Facts and Figures’ . 24 See CERN, ‘Future Circular Collider’ .
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