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In physics, gravity (from Latin gravitas 'weight' [1]) is a fundamental interaction primarily observed as mutual attraction between all things that have mass.Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 10 38 times weaker than the strong interaction, 10 36 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 10 29 times weaker than the weak interaction.
Traditionally, in theoretical physics, the Planck scale is the highest energy scale and all dimensionful parameters are measured in terms of the Planck scale. There is a great hierarchy between the weak scale and the Planck scale, and explaining the ratio of strength of weak force and gravity / = is the focus of much of beyond-Standard-Model physics.
In particle physics, the most important hierarchy problem is the question that asks why the weak force is 10 24 times as strong as gravity. [10] Both of these forces involve constants of nature, the Fermi constant for the weak force and the Newtonian constant of gravitation for gravity.
A so-called theory of everything, which would integrate GUTs with a quantum gravity theory face a greater barrier, because no quantum gravity theories, which include string theory, loop quantum gravity, and twistor theory, have secured wide acceptance. Some theories look for a graviton to complete the Standard Model list of force-carrying ...
Another important property of string theory is its supersymmetry, which together with extra dimensions are the two main proposals for resolving the hierarchy problem of the standard model, which is (roughly) the question of why gravity is so much weaker than any other force. The extra-dimensional solution involves allowing gravity to propagate ...
Despite being perhaps the most familiar fundamental interaction, gravity is not described by the Standard Model, due to contradictions that arise when combining general relativity, the modern theory of gravity, and quantum mechanics [54] [55]. However, gravity is so weak at microscopic scales, that it is essentially unmeasurable.
Like the Einstein equivalence principle, the strong equivalence principle requires gravity to be geometrical by nature, but in addition it forbids any extra fields, so the metric alone determines all of the effects of gravity. If an observer measures a patch of space to be flat, then the strong equivalence principle suggests that it is ...
Before Newton’s law of gravity, there were many theories explaining gravity. Philoshophers made observations about things falling down − and developed theories why they do – as early as Aristotle who thought that rocks fall to the ground because seeking the ground was an essential part of their nature. [6]