B Is Spacetime Actually a Superfluid?

  • B
  • Thread starter Thread starter wolram
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Fluid Spacetime
AI Thread Summary
The discussion explores the concept of spacetime as a superfluid, suggesting that at the Planck scale, spacetime may be discrete rather than continuous. Theoretical physicists propose that if spacetime behaves like a fluid, it would need to be a superfluid to avoid observable dispersion of light from distant celestial bodies. This model allows for the application of fluid dynamics to cosmological questions, potentially reconciling gravity with quantum mechanics. The idea raises further inquiries about the emergence of spacetime and its components, paralleling the emergence of energy in the early universe. Overall, the notion of spacetime as a superfluid offers a novel perspective in theoretical physics.
wolram
Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Messages
4,410
Reaction score
555
http://phys.org/news/2014-04-liquid-spacetime-slippery-superfluid.html

What if spacetime were a kind of fluid? This is the question tackled by theoretical physicists working on quantum gravity by creating models attempting to reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. Some of these models predict that spacetime at the Planck scale (10-33cm) is no longer continuous – as held by classical physics – but discrete in nature. Just like the solids or fluids we come into contact with every day, which can be seen as made up of atoms and molecules when observed at sufficient resolution. A structure of this kind generally implies, at very high energies, violations of Einstein's special relativity (a integral part of general relativity).

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-04-liquid-spacetime-slippery-superfluid.html#jCp

If space time is emergent what did it emerge from? And would it need to emerge or consist of two components
like water has hydrogen and oxygen.
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
It seems that the main point of this article to say that if it is a kind of fluid (which is a model used by some quantum gravity people) then it must be a superfluid because it doesn't cause any noticeable dispersion, e.g. of photons from distant stars and galaxies.

I presume that the concept of "superfluid" at this level has nothing to do with with chemical fluids; it is more that one can use some of the mathematics from dealing with fluids for dealing with quantum models of spacetime.
 
  • Like
Likes wolram
Agreed. Space is frequently modeled as a fluid to apply fluid dynamics to cosmological questions. It is an approach that is useful and can yield interesting results. If spacetime is emergent, the same question could be applied to the emergence of energy in the early universe.This discussion might be of interest http://www.astronomycafe.net/gravity/gravity.html.
 
This thread is dedicated to the beauty and awesomeness of our Universe. If you feel like it, please share video clips and photos (or nice animations) of space and objects in space in this thread. Your posts, clips and photos may by all means include scientific information; that does not make it less beautiful to me (n.b. the posts must of course comply with the PF guidelines, i.e. regarding science, only mainstream science is allowed, fringe/pseudoscience is not allowed). n.b. I start this...
Asteroid, Data - 1.2% risk of an impact on December 22, 2032. The estimated diameter is 55 m and an impact would likely release an energy of 8 megatons of TNT equivalent, although these numbers have a large uncertainty - it could also be 1 or 100 megatons. Currently the object has level 3 on the Torino scale, the second-highest ever (after Apophis) and only the third object to exceed level 1. Most likely it will miss, and if it hits then most likely it'll hit an ocean and be harmless, but...
Back
Top