FIFTH Fundamental Force of Nature

Quarks and antiquarks, which interact with the strong nuclear force, have color charges that correspond to red, green, and blue (for the quarks) and cyan, magenta, and yellow (for the antiquarks). Any colorless combination, of either red + green + blue, cyan + yellow + magenta, or the appropriate color/anticolor combination, is permitted under the rules of the strong force. If new phenomena appear in these well-studied systems, they could be indicative of a new fundamental force beyond the known four.



Back in the late 1800s, only two forces, electromagnetism and gravity, were thought to describe all of the interactions that occurred in the Universe.

Over the 20th century, new phenomena resulted in the discovery of two more fundamental forces: the strong and weak nuclear forces, revealed by precise high-energy experiments.

Now, in the 21st century, more precise experiments than ever before are occurring, and each anomaly holds the tantalizing possibility of revealing a new fundamental force. Will we ever find a 5th?

Despite all we’ve learned about the nature of the Universe — from a fundamental, elementary level to the largest cosmic scales fathomable — we’re absolutely certain that there are still many great discoveries yet to be made. 

Our current best theories are spectacular: quantum field theories that describe the electromagnetic interaction as well as the strong and weak nuclear forces on one hand, and General Relativity describing the effects of gravity on the other hand. 

Wherever they’ve been challenged, from subatomic up to cosmic scales, they’ve always emerged victorious. And yet, they simply cannot represent all that there is.

There are many puzzles that hint at this. We cannot explain why there’s more matter than antimatter in the Universe with current physics. 

Nor do we understand what dark matter’s nature is, whether dark energy is anything other than a cosmological constant, or precisely how cosmic inflation occurred to set up the conditions for the hot Big Bang. 

And, at a fundamental level, we do not know whether all of the known forces unify under some overarching umbrella in some way.

We have clues that there’s more to the Universe than what we presently know, but is a new fundamental force among them? Believe it or not, we have two completely different approaches to try and uncover the answer to that.  READ MORE...

De all we’ve learned about the nature of the Universe — from a fundamental, elementary level to the largest cosmic scales fathomable — we’re absolutely certain that there are still many great discoveries yet to be made. Our current best theories are spectacular: quantum field theories that describe the electromagnetic interaction as well as the strong and weak nuclear forces on one hand, and General Relativity describing the effects of gravity on the other hand. Wherever they’ve been challenged, from subatomic up to cosmic scales, they’ve always emerged victorious. And yet, they simply cannot represent all that there is.
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There are many puzzles that hint at this. We cannot explain why there’s more matter than antimatter in the Universe with current physics. Nor do we understand what dark matter’s nature is, whether dark energy is anything other than a cosmological constant, or precisely how cosmic inflation occurred to set up the conditions for the hot Big Bang. And, at a fundamental level, we do not know whether all of the known forces unify under some overarching umbrella in some way.

We have clues that there’s more to the Universe than what we presently know, but is a new fundamental force among them? Believe it or not, we have two completely different approaches to try and uncover the answer to that.