Gravity Could Be More Important for the Microscopic World of Particles Than Scientists Thought

Gravity is the fundamental force of nature that shapes our everyday lives. Besides literally keeping our feet on the ground, gravity also played a crucial role in the formation of entire galaxies, stars, planets, and so on. Gravity is the ‘glue’ that binds ‘the big stuff’ together. But a recent study reminded by ScienceAlert.com shows that gravity can play a more important role in the microscopic world than scientists thought.

Finding a way to unify Einstein’s general relativity with quantum physics is one of the biggest challenges in science. Common sense tells us that it must be done, considering that both fields are part of the same Universe. But why wouldn’t gravity play a major role for particles as well?

Could gravity have a bigger role in explaining how fundamental particles emerge?

Two physicists from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia’s Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology are trying to figure out solutions to equations that would grant gravity a more significant role when it comes to explaining how fundamental particles emerge.

When it comes to considering an electron’s movement around an atom’s nucleus, gravity was known to play an almost inexistent role. Other natural phenomenons such as the weak and strong nuclear forces play much more important roles in the atom. But scientists Ahmed Alharthy and Vladimir V. Kassandrov believe that gravity’s role could be much more important. Kassandrov declares:

Gravity can potentially play an important role in the microworld, and this assumption is confirmed by certain data.

One theoretical possibility is that established solutions to fundamental field theory equations for curving spacetime create the chance for a small influence of gravity while someone zooms in. Gravity’s tug could eventually become comparable with the one of attracted charges, but only as distances shrink.

The new research was published in Universe.