E8, Universe Mandala & New Unification Theory

Isn't it amazing, inspiring and One-derful when things, events and ideas fuse so synchronistically? The latest is the 'buzz' that a new unification theory of everything is sending waves of astonishment in the worlds of physics, mathematics, astronomy, as well as religion, spirituality and art, for it is another proof of the simplicity, beauty and wisdom of it all.

What I am referring to is the recent announcement that "Garrett Lisi, 39, who has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists.

Although the work of 39 year old Garrett Lisi still has a way to go to convince the establishment, let alone match the achievements of Albert Einstein, the two do have one thing in common: Einstein also began his great adventure in theoretical physics while outside the mainstream scientific establishment, working as a patent officer, though failed to achieve the Holy Grail, an overarching explanation to unite all the particles and forces of the cosmos.

The new theory reported in New Scientist has been laid out in an online paper entitled "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" by Lisi. Lisi's inspiration lies in the most elegant and intricate shape known to mathematics, called E8 - a complex, eight-dimensional mathematical pattern with 248 points first found in 1887, but only fully understood by mathematicians this year after workings, that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan.

E8 encapsulates the symmetries of a geometric object that is 57-dimensional and is itself is 248-dimensional. Lisi says "I think our universe is this beautiful shape."

What makes E8 so exciting is that Nature also seems to have embedded it at the heart of many bits of physics. One interpretation of why we have such a quirky list of fundamental particles is because they all result from different facets of the strange symmetries of E8.

Lisi has high hopes that his new theory could provide what he says is a "radical new explanation" for the three decade old Standard Model, which weaves together three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the electromagnetic force; the strong force, which binds quarks together in atomic nuclei; and the weak force, which controls radioactive decay.

The reason for the excitement is that Lisi's model also takes account of gravity, a force that has only successfully been included by a rival and highly fashionable idea called string theory, one that proposes particles are made up of minute strings, which is highly complex and elegant but has lacked predictions by which to do experiments to see if it works.

The crucial test of Lisi's work will come only when he has made testable predictions. Lisi is now calculating the masses that the 20 new particles should have, in the hope that they may be spotted when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) starts up.

You can read the entire story published by Telegraph.co.uk

Fascinating, yes? And so beautiful this Unverse Mandala E8 is...