Physicist Garrett Lisi has proposed a new "theory of everything" -- a grand unified theory that explains all the elementary particles, as well as gravity.

Working from principles of differential geometry, physicist Garrett Lisi is developing a new unified theory that purports to explain all the elementary particles, and gravity, in one elegant model. His theory is based on a mathematical shape called E8. With 248 symmetries, E8 is large, complex and beautiful -- and Lisi believes the relationships of its symmetries correspond to known particles and forces, including gravity.

His work, explained in his paper "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything," and in an ongoing discussion on FQXi, is still on science's speculative fringe. But some physicists believe he could be pointing the way toward a truly unified theory.

"This is an 'all or nothing' kind of theory -- meaning it's going to end up agreeing with and predicting damn near everything, or it's wrong. At this stage of development, it could go either way."
Garrett Lisi on physicsforums.com

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Very interesting, and I like it much more than string theory.

I remember reading his paper back in February, and being astounded, and now actually watching him explain it in as close to layman's terms as you could probably get with such a complicated subject, I am even more amazed. Great post, TED always has the most interesting topics/people on it.

Thank you, this was an interesting theory,

Oh man. We are gonna see the coolest shit on unified theory in our lifetime! Woot!

I've read about his theory a few times before and ave seen some short videos of the E8. The presentation and video on TED make Lisi's ideas on the relationship of that structure to subatomic particles a lot more understandable. It certainly is a beautiful looking theory, and the existing correlations of structure to particles are very tantalizing. I do wonder, though, whether nature is quite so symmetric at the bottom of a physical description of matter.

Very interesting stuff. Thanks

Fantastic lecture/theory! Thank you for sharing that.

I wish I could grasp all of it. Physics can be wild stuff, but it's just so damn interesting. I mean who doesn't want to know how our universe works? Real science is always more beautiful, astounding, and wondrous than the best science fiction IMO.


I think it probably is. The simplest and most beautiful explanations/equations tend to be the right ones, or at least work best for explaining the universe. At least that's what science has found to be true thus far. Perhaps one day we will find out that we just can't understand the nature of the universe and reality, and that it's just more chaotic and strange than anything we could ever imagine, and that will be that.

I'm leaning toward simplicity and beauty though.

It's not just that nature tends to be beautiful, or beauty is just one of the side effects - but symmetry will happen because nature always flows towards equilibrium, which creates symmetry.

No ... no I don't think so. OK: Nice guy and a relaxed style of life, impressive presentation, weak force: yes, strong force: yes, gravity: yes, electromagnetism: yes. At the 1st glance all those forces which make a quite a TOE. (* ... funny physicists ... *)

But as far as I know, this TOE "might" explain max. 4% of the known universe and all it's forces. Therefore it can't be TOE at all. No dark matter (~39% of the known unversive) and no dark energy (~57% of the known unversive)

The facts seem to indicate asymmetry.

There are important asymmetries in the universe: "The universe seems to have much more matter than antimatter, an asymmetry possibly related to the observations of CP violation." Wikipedia - Universe.

Article, October 07, 2008: Scientists win Nobel for theories on asymmetrical universe.
"The Nobel committee lauded Yoichiro Nambu, now of the University of Chicago, and Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan for work that helped show why the universe is made up mostly of matter and not anti-matter via processes known as broken symmetries."

"The fact that our world does not behave perfectly symmetrically is due to deviations from symmetry at the microscopic level," the committee said. This broken symmetry allowed particles of matter to outnumber particles of anti-matter."

Article, August 5, 2003: Purdue scientists discover why we're all lefties deep down.
"It may be a right-handed world, but recent Purdue University research indicates that the first building blocks of life were lefties - and suggests why, on a molecular level, all living things remain southpaws to this day.... Amino acids can be oriented either to the left or the right and possess the same chemical properties regardless of their chirality. But somewhere along the line, living things evolved using only amino acids of the left-handed variety. Scientists have puzzled over the reason for many years, but Cook's group seems to have found the answer: A single amino acid called serine set the standard eons ago, forcing all other biological molecules to follow suit."

Of course, if you like German cars.

BMW, the "Bayrische Motor Werke" (Bavarian (vehicle) engine manufactories) are one of the major sponsors of TED. It's advertising, so what. All major companies do it.

I personally would like to think that there is a certain symmetry to the universe. I do however think this shape is massive, and is currently only partially visible. Not only that, but the shape itself I believe moves and twists, like the E8 models does. If one can only regard one piece of the geometry, and only one portion of it at a time, and with not every component viable, then it is going to appear asymmetric. Either that, or it actually is asymmetric. Hehe, its a toss up, but I play favorites.

It is my personal belief that the universe (and all other possibilities that may be happening) is played out on a simple geometric canvas, which events ripple across it's surface... not only in a certain frequency but in ALL frequencies. These ripples and frequencies make up the full spectrum of what could be, ever. We are just in one little tiny point along on of those vibrations... enjoying the ride and looking out at the ocean of endless waves!

...or not. Hehe. This is actually more of a hope than anything. I would just love there to be an overwhelming beauty to a unified theory of everything. It is like waiting for excavators to bring an amazing piece of treasure up to the surface for all to see!

The proof of CP-violation is the imbalance of certain particles formed when reactions are done with matter or antimatter (http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/tip/special/cp.htm). But we do not know the cause of this CP-violation. The 8d theory, if true, would indicate some unknown forces which could explain what seems like a violation of symmetry.


Nevertheless symmetry should be possible even if it is not how the universe is. For every particle there is an exactly opposite one. And the diagrams only displayed the possible particles, not whether they exist in equal numbers. Plus, The lack of balance between matter and antimatter now doesn't mean the universe isn't headed towards equilibrium, in fact it most likely is.

docmarionum1, Good link to article on CP Violation.

The problem of a perfectly symmetrical starting condition for the universe has troubled scientists, philosophers, and even theologians. This is why scientists have posited inflation, and at least one ancient Hindu philosophy/theology (Saishvara Samkhya, i.e. Samkhya including God) posited the existence of God. Something is necessary to break the symmetry, tip the balance, or as the Saishvara Samkhya said, to disturb the equillibrium.

The purpose of cosmic inflation is to explain irregularities in the present universe, which must have been due to initial conditions. "As a direct consequence of this expansion, all of the observable universe originated in a small causally-connected region. Inflation answers the classic conundrum of the big bang cosmology: why does the universe appear flat, homogeneous and isotropic in accordance with the cosmological principle when one would expect, on the basis of the physics of the big bang, a highly curved, inhomogeneous universe? Inflation also explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Quantum fluctuations in the microscopic inflationary region, magnified to cosmic size, become the seeds for the growth of structure in the universe (see galaxy formation and evolution and structure formation)." Wikipedia - Comic Inflation.

The problem can be simplified by trying to answer the question "If initial conditions for the universe were perfectly symmetrical, how is it possible to have an asymmetrical universe?"

Personally, I don't care if the initial conditions for there universe were symmetrical or not, or whether the number of particles is symmetrical or not. I find both symmetry and asymmetry beautiful in its many expressions, and both make for an extraordinarily beautiful and interesting universe.

All great points. Great to see so much passion for quantum physics and unified theory! Woot!

This is great stuff! I read about this guy and his work about a year ago in 'New Scientist' magazine. Thought i'd link the article in case anyones interested.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12891
Lovin' the work Mark8!

Good Shit.

woot indeed.