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SUMMARY:Unification? It's Only a Matter of Time
DTSTART:20260506T103000Z
DTEND:20260506T113000Z
DTSTAMP:20260430T050700Z
UID:indico-event-1886@indico.stfc.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: David Jackson (Independent)\n\nAbstract:Across the m
 any branches of physics the rich variety of the empirical properties of ma
 tter in a background arena of space and time are investigated\, while for 
 the question of unification a universal theoretical basis for the most ele
 mentary structure of matter is sought. Three empirical and theoretical tar
 gets for unification may be identified: accounting for the multiplet struc
 ture of the Standard Model of particle physics\, providing a framework for
  amalgamating gravitation with quantum theory\, and identifying candidates
  for dark matter and dark energy as appropriate for cosmology. Some approa
 ches to unification postulate elementary 'material' entities such as parti
 cles\, fields or strings distributed in a background spacetime\, sometimes
  with extra spatial dimensions\, while in other unification schemes the ge
 ometric properties of additional dimensions of space are themselves propos
 ed to account for observed properties of matter\, as for the original theo
 ry of Kaluza and Klein. Here we describe a further possible conceptual fou
 ndation and construction in which the continuous flow of time can itself a
 lone provide a simple and unique unifying basis for both 4-dimensional spa
 cetime and the matter it accommodates\, by generalising the familiar local
  quadratic form for proper time to higher-order expressions. Focussing upo
 n the core arguments\, we describe how this seemingly overlooked time-base
 d approach to unification is not only indeed possible but also implies a v
 ery direct connection with each of the above three recognised physics targ
 ets for unification. In each case we summarise the status of the developme
 nt of the theory\, the open questions and the potential observable implica
 tions.Biography:Following undergraduate courses in Physics and Theoretical
  Physics at Nottingham and then Cambridge University\, my early research c
 areer was in Experimental Particle Physics. This included a PhD working at
  CERN on LEP1 as a Lancaster University student concluding in1993\, six ye
 ars as a postdoc at the SLAC National Accelerator Lab in California\, init
 ially for five years with the Rutherford Appleton Lab and then with Stanfo
 rd University through to late 1999\, and a JSPS fellowship with Osaka Univ
 ersity working at the KEK B-factory near Tokyo for two years. A central in
 terest at these electron-positron collider experiments\, in particular on 
 SLD at SLAC\, was the reconstruction of secondary vertex information and t
 he associated particle physics measurements. Following the above positions
 \, I returned to the UK as a researcher/lecturer in a joint appointment wi
 th RAL and Oxford University engaged in physics studies for a future linea
 r collider through to 2006. I then began to independently pursue a theoret
 ical project\, to study the necessary mathematics and develop a novel appr
 oach to unification based upon ideas formed over the previous decade or so
 . This theoretical research involves an alternative to the more familiar a
 pproach of using extra dimensions of space\, employing instead a direct ge
 neralisation of proper time to better meet the challenges of unification. 
 These targets for a unified theory include the properties of the Standard 
 Model of particle physics\, a framework for unifying gravity with quantum 
 theory\, and a basis for dark matter and dark energy in cosmology\, all of
  which are explored by the new theory as described in detail in a series o
 f sixteen preprints since 2016 (see for example: https://inspirehep.net/li
 terature/2971677). \n\nhttps://indico.stfc.ac.uk/event/1886/
LOCATION:R61 CR03 (RAL)
URL:https://indico.stfc.ac.uk/event/1886/
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