4 minute read
Space and time
Launceston Grammar alumnus (1974) Professor Bill Spence is the founding Director of the Centre for Research in String Theory at Queen Mary University of London. He has recently published a book Everything is Now: Revolutionary Ideas from String Theory.
Professor David Tong, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge is quoted as saying that, ‘String theory is often paraded as a theory of everything, but there are a large number of untold stories in which string theory gives us insight into other areas of physics. Bill Spence does an excellent job of explaining the deep connections between string theory, particle physics, and the novel way of viewing space and time.’
News from Launceston Grammar caught up with Professor Spence recently.
Q. Tell us about the journey which led you to the Queen Mary University of London?
A. I knew early on that I wanted to go and study the theories about the universe – relativity and quantum mechanics. There was only one university in Australia that had a specialised department for this – the Australian National University (ANU). After studying at ANU I came to the UK; the universities have excellent people from all around the world. I did a PhD at King’s College London with an up-and-coming researcher who wasn’t much older than I was. I subsequently went to Queen Mary when the inventor of string theory, Prof Michael Green, recruited me. A little later I founded a new research centre at Queen Mary and with colleagues recruited a wonderful group of bright young people. It has been a real pleasure working there for most of my career.
Q. With three decades researching string theory, what does it mean for you to have Everything is Now: Revolutionary Ideas from String Theory published?
A. For the third decade you mention (age creeps up on you!) I had been in leadership positions in my university – lastly as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor. After that I took a sabbatical to get back into research, and during this decided to write about the latest results that were coming out. I aimed the book at a general audience and kept it short so people could hopefully get some of the basic ideas more easily. It is always a pleasure to write about something that you find interesting, and I was fortunate to have that opportunity.
Q. Professor Lionel Mason, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford is quoted as saying ‘This engaging and beautifully written book gives an authoritative but accessible account of some of the most exciting and unexpected recent developments in theoretical physics’. Can you please expand on this for our readers and in particular the ‘unexpected recent developments’ and what this means for us and future generations?
A. I am sure most of us wonder at times about the extraordinary facts of existence – are we really just rotating about on a huge rock on an outer arm of a gigantic spinning galaxy of stars, in the middle of billions of other galaxies unimaginable distances away? What is matter made from? Where did this all come from? I was always attracted to understand the answers people were attempting to give to these questions. We now know a lot, although what we do know raises more questions.
One of the most basic questions is the nature of space and time. Einstein showed that the force of gravity arises from space and time having ‘dynamical’ features rather than just being ‘there’. But his theory is incomplete and not consistent with quantum theory. This is where string theory comes in. In the most recent work, the way that some physics happens in space and time is described by mysterious and beautiful crystal-like structures invented by mathematicians. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this and it shows that there is so much for us to learn.
Q. How did your education at Launceston Grammar shape who you are today? A. Teachers should never underestimate the impact they can have on students, fostering their abilities and broadening their outlook on life. On the academic side, I still remember my Maths teacher, Dr Jirku, who I believe came to Australia from Eastern Europe for a better life after WWII. He didn’t just plough through a textbook he would throw out questions for us to think about and discuss.
The School more generally seemed to me a rather authoritarian place when I was a student there. The world was changing fast at that time and the School seemed unable to engage with this at all. The world is still throwing up new challenges and we need to adapt and foster critical thinking in students. It is important that older generations remain open to ideas which don’t just conform to their habits of thinking. Young people are usually the source of these new ideas, so we need to listen to them. I hope that this is the case now.
