A century ago, relativity and quantum theory replaced Newton’s vision of the universe as a big machine made by God with a world of malleable time, curved space, and quantum fuzziness. Today, these theories dominate their respective cosmic and sub-atomic domains, and neither has ever been found to be wrong, but they aren’t compatible 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 between relativity and quantum theory divided physics a century ago and it is the same today. It is as if our reality has two different rule books, one for the very small and another for the very large, with nothing in common. The rules of the macrocosm don’t work for the microcosm, but doesn’t the latter produce the former?
The divide persists because for small objects, gravity is weak and so can be ignored, while for large objects, quantum effects can also be ignored. And just as trying to apply relativity to quantum points gives infinities, the quantum field tricks that justify particles fail for gravity.
What then divides these two great theories? It is that each assumes what the other denies:
1. Quantum theory: Assumes that quantum states evolve on a fixed space and time background (Smolin, 2006), but relativity assures us that isn’t so.
2. Relativity theory: Assumes that foreground objects follow fixed paths, but quantum theory assures us that isn’t so either.
Quantum theory assumes that space and time are fixed, which relativity denies, and relativity assumes that objects follow a fixed path, which quantum theory denies. Each exposes a false assumption of the other but ignores its own, so how can they be reconciled?
The resolution proposed is that both theories are right, so both the foreground and background of our reality can change, because both are generated. A quantum field that generates matter, space, and time can then unite relativity and quantum theory, as will be seen.