Why the standard model is deeply flawed

by: me (neutrino lover for life AKA camille johnson)

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CAMILLE!!!

HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT?

THE STANDARD MODEL OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES IS A BEAUTIFULLY ELEGANT ENCAPSULATION OF OUR CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF PARTICLE PHYSICS AND EXPLAINS THE QUANTUM WORLD OF INDIVISIBLE PARTICLES!!!!!!

I do not think every aspect of the Standard Model is flawed. It does explain certain parts of the quantum world quite well.

For this reason, I will bring up the good parts of the Standard Model before I begin my criticism.

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1. It describes the elementary particles as we currently know them.

If there are smaller, more elementary, particles in our universe, then we do not know them. The Standard Model consists of particles that we have discovered and/or been able to create.

2. It covers the forces of how particles move, interact, and bind together.

Definitely a bonus because elementary particles ultimately create the world around us, you, me, and everyone you love.

or hate.

The standard model is simple (considering how vast and complicated the universe is), yet complex.

Our basic knowledge of elementary particles is explained with this model. Just 17 particles!

Here is where my criticism begins. Yes, the standard model is beautiful, but you saw that too right?

rewind!

The standard model is simple (considering how vast and complicated the universe is), yet complex.

Our basic knowledge of elementary particles is explained with this model. Just 17 particles!

The standard model is simple (considering how vast and complicated the universe is), yet complex.

Our basic knowledge of elementary particles is explained with this model. Just 17 particles!

17?

Seventeen?

SEVENTEEN?!

Let’s talk about the issues with this atrociously large number….

A good theory in physics is simple. 17 is NOT simple.

You mean to say that there are SEVENTEEN ELEMENTARY particles? And this doesn’t even count their antimatter forms!!!

This directly contradicts the principle that a good theory is simple!

Moreover, the standard model fails to include all of our information

The Standard Model of Elementary Particles does not have room for dark energy and dark matter. It only accounts for matter, but matter takes up less than 5% of the universe. 27% is made up of dark matter, and the other 68% is made up of dark energy (theoretically)! Clearly, we can do better.

The STANDARD MODEL doesn’t really EXPLAIN all that we want it to

We know that the Higgs Boson gives mass to quarks, charged leptons, and W and Z bosons; however, we don’t know if it can give mass to uncharged leptons (the neutrino species!). So, according to the Standard Model, neutrinos are massless particles.

But that doesn’t make sense, because in 1998, Super Kamiokande recorded neutrino oscillations. This experiment proved that neutrinos have non-zero masses.

And one of my biggest strifes…

It doesn’t really “fit in” with General Relativity. To put it into simple/rough terms: in GR, spacetime is curved by the presence of massive bodies. However, the SM (which is based on quantum field theories) is dependent* upon flat spacetime.

Moreover, the Standard Model doesn’t explain gravity at all. Even if we tried to fit “gravitons”** into the Standard Model, it wouldn’t align with what we observe in the universe.

**a hypothetical quantum of gravity

Additionally, BOTH theories break down as lim 𝑓(theory)

𝑥→black hole

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*To see a slightly more in depth explanation, check out this slideshow.

There is clearly room for improvement.

Everything we know in physics is constantly changing, developing, improving. We must always revise our previous theories as we discover more about the world around us.

And this just so happens with our knowledge of particle physics.

In 1968 physicists proved that protons and neutrons were not indivisible elementary particles. Protons and neutrons are actually composed of even smaller particles, called quarks. Currently, quarks are said to be indivisible, but we can never be certain. We may just not have technology powerful enough to further divide them.

As we enter a new age in physics, new discoveries will surely correct our old mistakes.

As our particle accelerators continue to advance, they will soon be able to reach a level of energy which existed at the Big Bang. So far, we have only had relatively low-energy (in comparison to the Big Bang) particle accelerators. But as accelerators are getting more and more powerful, we are about to reach a level of energy which existed only shortly after the Big Bang. (Gagnon)

Gagnon, Pauline. https://www.quantumdiaries.org/2014/03/14/the-standard-model-a-beautiful-but-flawed-theory/

So the lesson here,

The standard model may be flawed… but don’t worry! As we continue to advance we will improve our theory for elementary particles. We are always moving forward.

Thanks for Watching!

I hope you learned something new today.