The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of RealityFrom Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way. Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science’s new and deeper understanding of the universe. From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can bridge their spatial separation to instantaneously coordinate their behavior or even undergo teleportation, Greene reveals our world to be very different from what common experience leads us to believe. Focusing on the enigma of time, Greene establishes that nothing in the laws of physics insists that it run in any particular direction and that “time’s arrow” is a relic of the universe’s condition at the moment of the big bang. And in explaining the big bang itself, Greene shows how recent cutting-edge developments in superstring and M-theory may reconcile the behavior of everything from the smallest particle to the largest black hole. This startling vision culminates in a vibrant eleven-dimensional “multiverse,” pulsating with ever-changing textures, where space and time themselves may dissolve into subtler, more fundamental entities. Sparked by the trademark wit, humor, and brilliant use of analogy that have made The Elegant Universe a modern classic, Brian Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world. With 146 illustrations Jacket photograph by DB Image/Brand X Pictures |
Contents
Roads to Reality | 3 |
The Universe and the Bucket | 23 |
Relativity and the Absolute | 39 |
Entangling Space | 77 |
The Frozen River | 127 |
Chance and the Arrow | 143 |
Time and the Quantum | 177 |
Of Snowflakes and Spacetime | 219 |
The Universe on a Brane | 376 |
Up in the Heavens and Down in the Earth | 415 |
Teleporters and Time Machines | 437 |
The Future of an Allusion | 470 |
Notes | 495 |
Glossary | 537 |
Suggestions for Further Reading | 543 |
The World on a String | 327 |
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absolute space accelerated approach atoms big bang billion black holes brane braneworld bucket Chapter classical physics concept cosmic cosmological cosmological constant cosmos dark matter definite density detector discussed distance earth Einstein electromagnetic electron energy entropy equations example experience experimental explain extra dimensions Figure framework fundamental galaxies gravitational field gravity happen Higgs field Higgs ocean imagine inflation inflationary cosmology inflaton inflaton field insights interference pattern intuitive jitters laws of physics light low-entropy Mach's mass measure molecules motion moving Newton objects observations particles past percent photon physicists Planck Planck length precisely predictions probability wave quantum mechanics question reality realized region of space researchers shape slices space dimensions spacetime spatial special relativity speed spin standard big bang string theory string vibrational superstring theory surface symmetry teleportation temperature things three-brane time's arrow tiny tion universe universe's velocity vibrational patterns wavefunction wormhole