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Einstein sought precisely this: a unified field theory. Relativity, which explained the motion of large bodies in a gravitational field, has never explained the behavior of subatomic particles, which are controlled by electric forces. Yet both presumably obey the same general laws, since both are matter. Whether or not Heisenberg's "suggestion" can be proved experimentally, his goal is the classic one: "The future theory of matter will probably contain, as conceived in Plato's philosophy, only assumptions of symmetry.
Already now these assumptions of symmetry can be stated to a large extent; they seem to show that the future theory will be very simple and concise in its fundamentals, despite all complications of its inferences."
Ultrasimplicity. U.S. physicists who have seen Heisenberg's equation still feel that it cannot quite explain all they see in their accelerators. Dr. John Grebe (rhymes with Hebe) begins with what they do see. A noted industrial researcher who was a leader in the wartime development of styrene for synthetic rubber, Grebe nevertheless has the same classical approach as Heisenberg. The secret of why the fundamental particles of matter somehow hold together in the atomic nucleus, he feels, must be less complicated than researchers believe. Reason: the rest of nature is "so beautiful and orderly and ultrasimple."
Working with what is known about the 28 accelerator-produced new particles, Grebe theorizes that they may all be multiples or combinations of only two: pairs of the negatively charged electron and the positively charged electron (positron). Reason is his discovery of two key particle ratios: that between the mass of mu and pi mesons, and that between the mass of the proton and sigma hyperon. Each proves to equal TT divided by four; this produces a new constant (1.12888), based on the inverse of the square root of TT divided by four, which Grebe calls "g." This tool "opens the door," produces a periodic table of particles similar to Mendeleev's 19th century periodic table of chemical elements. To compile it, Grebe assigns g° to the electron and positron as his base. In turn, the various exponents of g for the other particles yield a set of symmetrical relations. These relations indicate the presence of a number of proportional dimensions for solids in the ratio of two, three and four. When
Grebe adds a time-related dimension, velocity in the form of relativistic mass, the results match the known values for the particle masses.
Other men have unsuccessfully focused on the electron and positron as the atom's "building blocks." Grebe hopes his table may have turned the trick. For it would, he suggests, indicate that gravity itself is an electromagnetic force accountable in electromagnetic terms. Like many another, this "unified field theory" may also fail. But, says Grebe, "the mathematical relations discovered cannot help but remain and be a useful step forward."