What holds the universe together? … does anyone know?
When I came across this quote, I felt a sense of melancholy and buoyancy all at once.
It’s unlikely I’m alone with those moments when I feel I’m holding the universe together. The responsibility of it can be overwhelming. But when I see the power in it – it’s liberating.
Even science doesn’t know this mystery.
Einstein died seeking a unifying theory. In the 70’s, physicists at CERN identified the substance gluon which carries “the strong force that “glue” quarks into protons, neutrons and other particles known collectively as hadrons.”
High school science teaches us about atoms and electrons; and the neutron/proton within its nucleus. What physicists learned 40 years ago and continue to study today is that “Inside the proton lies the deep, unsettling truth: Stuff is made of nothing, or almost nothing, held together by glue, lots of glue.” And these gluons are “massless and evanescent” and carries “most of the proton’s energy.”
“The closer you look, the more you find the proton is dissolving into lots of particles, each of which is carrying very, very little energy,” . . . “If you really study the equations, it gets almost mystical.”
– Frank Wilczek
So, what holds the universe together? Is it gluon? Is it Leah as she leans on the balcony? Maybe Leah is gluon and we’re all Leah. Maybe collectively we hold the universe together.
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower Hold
infinity in the palms of your hand
And eternity in an hour.”
― William Blake
