In Our Time

The Graviton


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the search for the Graviton particle. Albert Einstein said "I know why there are so many people who love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees the results". Einstein spent the last thirty years of his life trying to find a theory that would unify electromagnetism with gravity, but success eluded him. The search is still on for a unifying theory of gravitational force and hopes are pinned on the location of the graviton - a hypothetical elementary particle that transmits the force of gravity. But the graviton is proving hard to find. Indeed, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN still won't allow us to detect gravitons per se, but might be able to prove their existence in other ways. The idea of the graviton particle first emerged in the middle of the 20th century, when the notion that particles as mediators of force was taken seriously. Physicists believed that it could be applicable to gravity and by the late 20th century the hunt was truly on for the ultimate theory, a theory of quantum gravity. So why is the search for the graviton the major goal of theoretical physics? How will the measurement of gravitation waves help prove its existence? And how might the graviton unite the seemingly incompatible theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics? With Roger Cashmore, Former Research Director at CERN and Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford; Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey; Sheila Rowan, Reader in Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our TimeBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,024 ratings


More shows like In Our Time

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,683 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

521 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,044 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

291 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,201 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,877 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

862 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

605 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

724 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

279 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

293 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

511 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,792 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

298 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

243 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

351 Listeners

Have You Heard George's Podcast? by BBC Sounds

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

228 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by BBC Radio 5 Live

Elis James and John Robins

322 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,188 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,197 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

14,371 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,832 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

65 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

792 Listeners

Dua Lipa: At Your Service by BBC Sounds

Dua Lipa: At Your Service

998 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

494 Listeners

Empire by Goalhanger

Empire

2,399 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

615 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

256 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

258 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

35 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

86 Listeners

Havana Helmet Club by BBC Sounds

Havana Helmet Club

6 Listeners