Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Germany) and the University of Warsaw (Poland) have expanded the Standard Model of particle physics to include gravity. The new theoretical construction, which may turn out to be the final Theory of Everything, predicts the existence of particles with unusual properties. This was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
The properties of known elementary particles are described by the Standard Model, which is confirmed experimentally, but cannot explain a number of physical phenomena (for example, the origin of mass, neutrino oscillations and the origin of dark mass). In addition, the Standard Model describes electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions, but does not include gravity. In other words, it is inconsistent with general relativity when considering phenomena such as the Big Bang or the existence of a black hole event horizon.
To solve this problem, scientists have proposed various hypothetical principles related to the so-called New Physics. According to one of them - supersymmetry - each known elementary particle corresponds to a superpartner with a heavier mass. Thus, hypothetical fermions correspond to known bosons, and bosons to known fermions. When the principles of general relativity and supersymmetry are combined, some of the contradictions that arise when trying to incorporate gravity into quantum mechanics disappear. This physical theory is called supergravity. According to some scientists, supergravity is the Theory of Everything, which describes all known fundamental interactions.
However, there was a problem when trying to combine supergravity with the Standard Model. The predicted values of the charge of elementary particles shifted by 1/6 compared to the observed values (the theory predicted that the electron should have a charge not -1, but - 5/6). To solve this problem, scientists have modified the U (1) symmetry group, thanks to which the electromagnetic interaction can be inscribed into supersymmetry. This made it possible to obtain symmetries for the electromagnetic U (1) and strong interaction SU (3), known from the Standard Model. But this modification did not take into account the SU (2) symmetry for the weak interaction.
In a new work, scientists have shown that the weak interaction can be written into the theory through the infinite symmetry group E10. Using this mathematical tool instead of SU (2) symmetry accurately predicts the number of fermions in the Standard Model and the electric charges of particles, the researchers said. She explains why the search for New Physics particles at the Large Hadron Collider has not been successful. In addition, it predicts the existence of particles with completely new properties, some of which can be detected using modern equipment.