About a century ago, relativity and quantum theory replaced Newton’s 200-year-old paradigm with a world of malleable time, curved space, and quantum waves. A century of research has confirmed both theories in their respective cosmic and sub-atomic domains, yet they contradict, as relativity gives point infinities and the field tricks of physics fail for gravity, so:
“Mankind has uncovered two extremely efficient theories: one that describes our universe’s structure (Einstein’s gravity: the theory of general relativity), and one that describes everything our universe contains (quantum field theory), and these two theories won’t talk to each other.” (Galfard, 2016).
This schism divided physics last century, and it still does. It is as if the universe has two different rule books, one for the small and another for the large, with nothing in common. The rules of the macrocosm don’t work for the microcosm, but surely they are connected?
Theories that contradict can’t both be right, but quantum theory and relativity have been proved right innumerable times. It follows that both are incomplete rather than wrong, so each is only half the picture. It may then be that they contradict because each exposes a false assumption of the other, but ignores its own:
1. Quantum theory: Assumes that quantum states evolve on a space and time background that is fixed (Smolin, 2006), but relativity assures us that isn’t so.
2. Relativity theory: Assumes that foreground objects follow fixed trajectories, but quantum theory assures us that isn’t so either.
Physics then has two grand theories, one that describes foreground entities on a fixed space-time background, and one that describes space-time changes for fixed foreground entities. Quantum theory assumes what relativity denies, that space and time are fixed, and relativity assumes what quantum theory denies, that objects follow a fixed path, so no wonder they contradict!
Quantum theory the works for the microcosm because gravity has little effect there, and relativity works on the cosmic scale because large objects generally do follow fixed paths. How then can they be reconciled?
The answer now proposed is to accept what both theories get right, but reject what they get wrong, so neither the foreground nor the background of physical reality is fixed. This is possible if the quantum field creates physical reality, both foreground and background. A quantum field that generates matter, space, and time, can then unite relativity and quantum theory, as will be seen.