Engaged now in 3rd-year undergraduate study of astrophysics, feeling daunted not by the concepts of high-energy large-scale or quantum physics, but by the complexity of the maths needed to explain observed phenomena and to predict scenarios.
Of course, to understand quantum physics it is essential to know the maths, as the subject is so counter-intuitive. As is gravitation. Ah, something these subjects have in common then . . .
It is going to take me some years to cover key material ie electromagnetism, quantum physics, cosmology, and the maths needed just to keep up. The idea of making a contribution to the subject of the number of dimensions seems completely unrealistic. Yet the intractable problems of dark energy, dark matter, inflation and the cause of gravitation will be unsolved for a while yet. An intuitive non-mathematical model works for me so far, I don’t see why study should reduce my ability to think that way, but it should let me narrow down options and find the relevant questions to ask.
My current thought is the corollary to M-theory. There is nothing elegant about 10^500 universes of which we happen to be in one where the physical constants are “just right”. Elegance is supposed to be an objective for scientific process, and to say “spontaneous creation is proven by the fact that we are here, so everything is possible and everything is true” is just a cop-out.
But the corollary is that we are in the only universe, its physical constants are “just right” for matter to coagulate, heat up and make energy and materials available for it for long enough to become alive and aware of itself. And to enable the question “Why?” to be asked. It obviously begs the question not just of a master designer, but an extremely accomplished one.
