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Physics, poetry and the search for quantum
gravity: Carlo Rovelli’s Reality Is Not What It
Seems
By Bryan Dyne
29 June 2018
Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity By Seven Brief Lessons in Physics, and the recently-published in English, The
Carlo Rovelli Order of Time. While he is an accomplished physicist with an immense
Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre theoretical knowledge (including published scientific texts on quantum
Riverhead Books, New York: 2017 gravity), he has the uncommon gift of being able to translate these
General relativity and quantum mechanics are the two jewels of modern conceptions into a language that is both comprehensible and exhilarating.
physics. They have provided an enormous insight into nature’s inner His approach to science is materialistic and is also deeply informed by
workings, showing that space bends and curves under the weight of philosophy, literature and poetry.
matter (general relativity) and that this same matter is quantized at the Carlo Rovelli was born into an era of immense social upheaval in Italy
atomic and nuclear level (quantum mechanics). The theories have also and around the world. He was 12 years old when student protests broke
revealed myriad new aspects of the world—gravitational waves, black out in Italy, France and other countries in the spring of 1968, and he grew
holes, nuclear physics, and condensed matter, to name a few. And while up in an era when humanity was taking significant steps into outer space
they are esoteric when compared to our everyday experiences, the theories while at the same time war was being waged in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
are the most accurate description of the fundamental motions of matter yet and elsewhere. Rovelli himself helped found Radio Alice, a left-wing
developed. radio station that was shut down by Italy’s military in 1977 (it was
However, in the few circumstances that require one to apply both re-opened for two years after that). He was also arrested in 1987 for
theories, it becomes immediately apparent that the truth of these theories refusing to participate in what at that time was compulsory military
is approximate, and that something more is required to combine them into service.
a unified whole. The curved spacetime of general relativity is a smooth, Concurrently, Rovelli was developing a deep appreciation for the laws
infinitely divisible fabric upon which mass and energy evolves. This of nature. In his concise work on loop quantum gravity, Seven Brief
inherently contradicts quantum mechanics, which states that all things are Lessons in Physics, he relates to his readers the first time he began to
made up of a finite number of constantly jittering quanta leaping from one understand general relativity:
point to the next.
While we do not currently know the resolution to this conflict,
theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli’s recent book Reality Is Not What It It was summer. I was on a beach at Condofuri in Calabria,
Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity describes one possible solution immersed in the sunshine of the Hellenic Mediterranean, and in the
to the search for a theory of quantum gravity, loop quantum gravity. last year of my university studies. Undistracted by schooling, one
The basic principle of loop quantum gravity combines the quantized studies best during vacations. I was studying with the help of a book
nature of mass and energy as shown in the mathematics of quantum that had been gnawed at the edges by mice because at night I’d used
mechanics and the curved spacetime of general relativity to assert that, it to block the holes of these poor creatures in the rather dilapidated
similar to particles, space itself is quantized. Rather than being a hippie-ish house on an Umbrian hillside where I used to take refuge
continuum, space consists of discrete amounts of length, area and volume from the tedium of the university classes in Bologna. Every so often,
that are incredibly small but not arbitrarily so. There are “atoms of I would raise my eyes from the book and look at the glittering sea: it
space,” a billion billion times smaller than atomic nuclei, and these do not seemed to me that I was actually seeing the curvature of space and
lie somewhere in space but rather themselves are space. They are all that time imagined by Einstein. As if by magic: as if a friend was
humans observe and are a part of. whispering into my ear an extraordinarily hidden truth, suddenly
Rovelli has spent his entire three-decade career developing the raising the veil of reality to disclose a simpler, deeper order. (p. 5-6)
conceptual foundations and advanced mathematics at the core of loop
quantum gravity. He has also paid close attention to the advances in
cosmology and particle physics to see if any experiments provide Reality Is Not What It Seems takes its readers on a similar adventure.
evidence for or against these hypotheses. To date, while none of the Rovelli guides his readers through contradictions in modern physics that
collected data clearly supports loop quantum gravity, none of it flatly are just as important as those that arose at the end of the 19th century
refutes the hypothesis. Other theories are also being developed. “The between the mechanics developed by Galileo, Kepler and Newton and the
situation,” Rovelli writes, “is still fluid” (p. 219). newly uncovered electromagnetism of Faraday, Ampere and
There is something unique in Rovelli’s popular writings on physics, Maxwell—contradictions that would produce the advances of relativity and
which include, in addition to Reality Is Not What It Seems, his best-selling quantum mechanics. Simultaneously, he imbues readers with a sense of
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wonder, joy, and most importantly, understanding of both the science undulates, fluctuates, bends and contorts” (p. 82).
presented and the process through which it develops. Quantum theory brought with it a further development of a dialectical
Rovelli also takes a materialist and dialectical approach to physics and understanding of reality. “In the world described by quantum mechanics,”
science as a whole. He stresses early on, “Scientific thinking explores and Rovelli writes, “there is not reality except in the relations between
redraws the world, gradually offering us better and better images of it, physical systems. It isn’t things that enter into relations, but rather
teaching us to think in more effective ways. Science is a continual relations that ground to the notion of thing. The world of quantum
exploration of ways of thinking. Its strength is its visionary capacity to mechanics is not a world of objects: it is a world of events” (p. 135). One
demolish preconceived ideas, to reveal new regions of reality, and to is reminded of Engels’ statement (in Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of
construct new and more effective images of the world. This adventure Classical German Philosophy) that the world exists not as a “complex of
rests upon the entirety of past knowledge, but at its heart is change” (p. 8). ready-made things, but as a complex of processes.”
Such an approach is present throughout the book and is a refreshing While the specific history of quantum gravity has many triumphs,
departure from other philosophers of science who treat the field as a Rovelli also walks his readers through what is arguably its greatest
mechanical and absolute mode of thinking. tragedy, which occurred during the first serious attempt to develop the
This worldview is highlighted in an ardent defense of the scientific theory. It was spearheaded by the young Soviet physicist Matvei
method as the correct way to understand nature. Bronstejn (who was not, Rovelli notes, related to Trotsky). Bronstejn,
who was a friend and colleague of the Soviet physicist Lev Landau, came
of age when the Stalinist degeneration of the Soviet Union was beginning
The sociology of science has shed light on the complexity of the to tear away at the progressive impulse the October 1917 revolution
process of scientific understanding; like any other human endeavor, provided to Russian and world society.
this process is beset by irrationality, intersects with the game of Bronstejn was part of a generation of physicists who grew up just after
power, and is affected by every sort of social custom and cultural Einstein finalized his general theory of relativity, and while the basis of
influence. Nevertheless, despite all this, and in opposition to the quantum mechanics was being fleshed out. He paid close attention to the
exaggerations of a few postmodernists, cultural relativists, and the argument by Landau that quantum fluctuations, the inherent vibration of
like, none of this diminishes the practical and theoretical efficacy of all subatomic particles, meant that one could not measure an arbitrarily
scientific thinking. Because in the end, in the majority of cases, it is small part of an electric field. While Landau’s argument was shown to be
possible to establish with clarity who is right and who is wrong. And incorrect, it laid the basis for further theoretical work by Bronstejn.
even the great Einstein could go on to say (and he did so): ‘Ah I Rather than apply Landau’s reasoning to an electric field, Bronstejn
made a mistake!’ Science is the best strategy if we value reliability applied it to the gravitational fields worked out by Einstein a decade
(p. 211). before. Here, Landau was correct—an arbitrarily small section of a
gravitational field could not be described by quantum mechanics. If one
places a particle at an increasingly small region of space, quantum
The history of quantum gravity is presented as part of the broader mechanics dictates that it will at some point escape with a velocity that
development of science, culture and politics. Rovelli reviews the increases as the region of space the particle is contained in becomes
development of ideas of the physical structure of the world, from the smaller. However, a high velocity means a high energy, and Einstein
pre-Socratic philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Democritus, to the showed that a high energy makes space curve. Finally, if you curve space
Latin materialist poet Lucretius, to Newton, Einstein and the originators enough, it collapses into a black hole and one can no longer measure that
of quantum theory. One passage on the work of Lucretius gives a sense of region of space. Using this argument, Bronstejn demonstrated one of the
Rovelli’s approach and his own thinking about the world: ways that, on a fundamental level, quantum mechanics and general
relativity are incompatible.
This work was, however, cut short. In an account of one of the
The medieval cosmos so marvelously sung by Dante was consequences of Stalinist counterrevolution that deserves further
interpreted on the basis of a hierarchical organization of the universe investigation, Rovelli notes:
that reflected the hierarchical organization of European society.
There is none of this in the world of Democritus as sung by
Lucretius. There is no fear of the gods; no ends or purposes in the Matvei and Lev are sincere communists. They believe in revolution
world; no cosmic hierarchy; no distinction between Earth and as the liberation of mankind, the construction of a genuinely better
heavens. There is a deep love of nature, a serene immersion within it; society, without injustice, without the immense inequalities that we
a recognition that we are profoundly part of it; that men, women, still see growing systematically throughout the world. They are
animals, plants, and clouds are organic thread of a marvelous whole, enthusiastic followers of Lenin. When Stalin assumes power, they
without hierarchies. There is a feeling of deep universalism, in the are both perplexed, then critical, then hostile. They write articles that
wake of the splendid words of Democritus: ‘To a wise man, the are slightly but openly critical. This was not the communism they
whole earth is open, because the true country of a virtuous soul is the wanted.
entire universe’ (p. 39). But these are harsh times. Landau gets through them, not easily,
but survives. Matvei, the year after having been the first to
understand our ideas on space and time had to change in a radical
Rovelli’s account of modern physics, from Newton to Maxwell’s way, is arrested by Stalin’s police and condemned to death. His
theories of electromagnetism, to Einstein and quantum theory, provides execution takes place on the same day as his trial, February 18, 1938.
tantalizing insights into the way this development involved an ever He is thirty years old (p. 154).
greater understanding of the interaction, integration and movementof all
aspects of the material world. With Einstein’s theory of general relativity,
he writes, “Space is no longer different from matter. It is one of the It will never be known if Bronstejn would have been able to more fully
‘material’ components of the electromagnetic field. It is a reality that work out his early insights if his life was not tragically cut short as part of
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the Stalinist purges. Rovelli does not argue against cause and effect. Rather, he argues that
Since then, nearly every theoretical physicist of the 20th century, in time by itself is a placeholder for, as Lucretius puts it, “the movement of
some way or another, contributed to the search for quantum gravity. One things.” A legend about Galileo demonstrates this point. As a pendulum
of the more interesting failures was when Richard Feynman attempted to swings, the experimentalist noticed that the oscillations all seemed to have
use the techniques he developed for describing photons and electrons on the same duration, independent of amplitude. In order to confirm this,
gravitational fields. However, photons and electrons are fundamental Galileo needed to measure these oscillations repeatedly. As there were no
units of matter—quanta—in spacetime. Feynman’s efforts, while valiant, clocks in his time, he used his pulse instead, and found that, indeed, the
made it very clear that a theory of quantum gravity must describe quanta oscillation duration is the same.
of spacetime, a different and more difficult problem. But, as Rovelli asks, “How could Galileo know that his own individual
One of the many reasons that the theory has so far proved elusive is that pulse-beats all lasted for the same amount of time?” Are the pulse-beats a
the experimental tests for quantum gravity require regimes far more measure of the pendulum swings, or are the pendulum swings a measure
extreme than those encountered on Earth. No one has ever been able to of the pulse-beats? And so while it is useful to use the concept of time, as
focus enough energy into a small enough point to create a black hole at Newton did, as a placeholder for motion, actual events happen in relation
the quantum scale—no such events have been detected at the world’s most to each other, not in relation to time. “In other words, the existence of the
powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, nor have they variable time is a useful assumption, not the result of an observation” (p.
been detected in cosmic ray collisions that occur regularly in the upper 180).
atmosphere, which can be at even higher energies than those generated at And while this may seem at odds with anyone who has taken
the LHC. Such direct experimental tests are still currently beyond introductory physics and has seen all the equations which use time as the
humanity’s technological capacity. flow along which events unfurl, one of the early results in research into
Other experiments, however, provide some limits on the validity of loop quantum gravity is that time does in fact disappear from the
various theories of quantum gravity, including string theory and loop equations. This does not mean that matter becomes immobile. On the
quantum gravity. As Rovelli explains, there have been three major results contrary, it is the constant interplay of different physical processes that
in theoretical physics in the recent period: the discovery of the Higgs are the world, and they are the relations that order the world. Rather than
Boson at the Large Hadron Collider, the analysis of cosmic microwave asking how many times the pendulum swings per second, one asks how
background radiation by the Planck satellite and the direct detection of many times the pendulum swings per pulse-beat.
gravitational wavesby LIGO. The most interesting result from all three Another consequence of loop quantum gravity, and one that is in theory
experiments is that there was nothing particularly surprising about any of testable, is that black holes are ultimately unstable and, after several
their results. billion years, explode. The reason is that they cannot infinitely squeeze
This is not to say that they are not monumental achievements of human matter into a singularity. Loop quantum gravity says that there is a
technique. They absolutely are—each required billions of dollars and minimum volume, and so matter cannot be squeezed into a unit smaller
engaged thousands of some of the most intelligent people across the than that. As a result, an immense pressure builds up as matter is squeezed
planet for decades. From the standpoint of theoretical physics, however, as much as it can be squeezed. It is hypothesized that this pressure, over
each result was predicted by the existing theories. There is no evidence time, is enough to overcome even the colossal gravity of a black hole.
for some of the more esoteric theories such as supersymmetry or “Seeing these black hole explosions would be a fantastic confirmation
alternatives to general relativity. According to Rovelli, “General of the theory,” writes Rovelli. And we are at a stage of cosmic evolution
relativity, quantum mechanics, and, within quantum mechanics, the where we might even see such a phenomenon. As observations of distant
Standard Model [of Particle Physics],” are the correct theories to describe and old stars are made more precise, we have a better understanding of
nature (p. 215). how old black holes might be. At the same time, astronomers have
While these results have left string theorists and others in a quandary, already detected what are called ‘fast radio bursts’ that could be the
they provide a clue toward loop quantum gravity. Rovelli states that the signal of exploding primordial black holes. More data is required before
reason for this is that the latter theory uses what we already know about something concrete can be said. “Let’s wait and see” (p. 228-229).
physics, rather than trying to start from an arbitrary hypothesis, and as A great deal more could be said about Reality Is Not What It Seems. The
such is not mostly disproven by modern research. journey of quantum gravity in the 20th century is an exciting and
promising one. And yet, as Rovelli stresses time and again, physics is not
a finished product. It must incorporate all the latest discoveries and
Our fantasy is too limited to ‘imagine’ how the world may be through them discover even more fundamental laws that govern the
made, unless we search for inspiration in the traces we have at our motion of matter. What has been discovered, Rovelli writes, is “not
disposal. The traces that we have, our clues, are either theories that wrong physics, as is frequently said. It’s an approximation” (p. 42).
have been successful, or new experimental data, nothing else. It is in Rovelli’s book is not only a fascinating account of the evolution of
this data and in these theories that we must try to uncover what we physics, but it is clearly informed and motivated by the author’s sense of
have been unable yet to imagine. … The radical conceptual the immense possibilities of science and of the extreme dangers that
consequences, the quanta of space … are not bold hypotheses: they confront mankind. He writes:
are the rational consequences that follow from taking the basic
insights of our best theories seriously (pp. 216-217).
Today … we have the instruments to bring light to the homes of the
ten billion human beings who will soon inhabit the planet. To travel
Of course, this being theoretical physics, even the “rational in space toward other stars. Or to destroy one another and devastate
consequences” can boggle the mind. The most alien of the proposals of the planet. It depends on our choice, on which leaders we call upon
loop quantum gravity is the disappearance of time as a constant, uniform to decide for us (p. 75).
background to the world of things—which already received a significant
blow from Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which demonstrated that
concepts such as simultaneity are not absolute. The extraordinary beauty and promise of modern science only increases
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one’s motivation to fight for a society in which this promise can be
realized.
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