Nobel laureate Professor David Jonathan Gross recently conducted a dialogue on elementary particle physics at the Talamban campus of the University of San Carlos.
Gross was responsible for the new physical theory called the quantum chromo dynamics, which have been widely accepted as having the best understanding on how the universe works.
His works have also brought physics one step closer in formulating a unified theory comprising gravity.
Gross’ dialogue also included talks on experimental revolutions at the European Organization for Nuclear Research that dealt with the necessity to go beyond the standard model of particle physics.
He also discussed the grand attempt to unify all forces of nature and all forms of matter, and explained the possibility of having the string theory unify all the existing theories.
However, the string theory, a formalism in which all forces of nature and all forms of matter appear as different vibrations of string-like object, is still on the pre-revolutionary stage and still lacks the fundamental understanding.
Meanwhile, many string theorists suspect that a profound change in the concept of space and time will be acquired for the final formulation of the theory.
Present during the dialogue were key USC officials, including Fr. Roderick Salazar Jr., Fr. Teodoro Gapuz, Dr. Uwe Morawetz, founder of the International Peace Foundation, and Dr. Christopher Bernido, director of Research Center for Theoretical Physics at the Central Visayan Institute Foundation
Gross, together with H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek, was awarded the 2004 Noble Prize in Physics “for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction.”
He is currently the Director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California in Santa Barbara
Earlier, Gross conducted a dialogue at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and the university’s College of Science. — Phoebe Jen Indino/LPM