The universe should be regarded as a liquid 'superfluid', claim scientists seeking to discover the fundamental nature of space.<br /><br />Quantum mechanics is currently able to explain three of the four fundamental forces in the universe - electromagnetism, strong interaction and weak interaction - but does not explain gravity.<br /><br />According to the latest theory, spacetime could be treated as a fluid. This model could allow scientists to work out how some forces move through space.<br /><br />Waves, for example, use water as a medium through which to move.<br /><br />On the conventional model, space is considered to be a vacuum. How then, scientists ask, do electromagnetic waves, photons, and other entities move through space if there is, by definition, nothing?<br /><br />According to researchers Stefano Liberati, a professor at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) and Luca Maccione, a research scientist at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, the medium they move through, or the universe, could be considered a 'superfluid'.<br /><br />They say that to us spacetime appears as a 'classical object', or one that is whole. Instead, it should be regarded as the visible aspect of a fluid.<br /><br />For example, water appears to us to be a flowing liquid, but is in reality a H2O molecules.<br /><br />Spacetime is itself, they claim, made of more fundamental elements. However, it's not known what these actually are.<br /><br />The superfluidity model could allow an explanation of quantum effects and gravity, opening up new avenues of research, claim scientists.<br /><br />However, if universe is a fluid, it must have viscosity, and viscosity has been found to dissipate photons and other particles found in the universe.<br /><br />"If spacetime is a kind of fluid, then we must also take into account its viscosity and other dissipative effects, which had never been considered in detail," Liberati said.<br /><br />"And yet we can see photons travelling from astrophysical objects located millions of light years away!" says Liberati. "If spacetime is a fluid, then according to our calculations it must necessarily be a superfluid. This means that its viscosity value is extremely low, close to zero."<br /><br />They said that observations would be able to test the theory, moving it beyond the purely speculative.<br /><br />"We also predicted other weaker dissipative effects, which we might be able to see with future astrophysical observations. Should this happen, we would have a strong clue to support the emergent models of spacetime. With modern astrophysics technology the time has come to bring quantum gravity from a merely speculative view point to a more phenomenological one. One cannot imagine a more exciting time to be working on gravity", he said.<br />* Subscribe for more Scientific & Technological Videos<br />* Like & Share<br />* go to our website http://www.advexon.com<br />* Share your ideas and comment
