The Color Theory Of Basic Forces

The four basic forces of the universe, which are behind the laws of physics are: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and, the weak nuclear force.

The one that we are most familiar with is gravity. The second one that we are familiar with is electromagnetism. The other two are not as familiar. The strong and weak nuclear forces operate only on the scale of nuclei in atoms. 

The strong force effectively opposes electromagnetism on the scale of the nucleus in that it binds quarks together into hadrons, protons and neutrons, and also binds protons together into the nucleus against the mutual repulsion of positively-charged protons, although this requires the presence of neutrons.

The weak nuclear force also operates on the scale of nuclei but is involved in the radioactive decay of heavy elements. The ordinary fusion process in stars only goes as far as iron. Elements heavier than iron require an input of energy and this comes only during the tremendous release of energy when the star explodes in a supernova. This is why iron, and the elements lighter than it, are exponentially more abundant than elements heavier than iron.

But some of these heavy atoms are less-than-stable and gradually break down into more stable atoms by emission of particles or radiation. These emissions are known as radioactivity.

To explain the Color Theory Of Basic Forces the logic place to begin is with color. We know that color doesn't really exist, outside of ourselves. In the universe of inanimate matter there is really no such thing as red light and green light. Different colors are just the way our eyes and brains interpret different wavelengths of electromagnetic waves.

We see the colors that we do because of what we are. If you look at your veins your blood is blue. As soon as blood is exposed to oxygen it turns bright red. Likewise in the visible part of the spectrum that we see there is red, at the long wavelength end, and blue, at the short wavelength end. I don't think this is a coincidence.

The visible spectrum of light that we can see is only a very limited section of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, about in the middle of it. The electromagnetic spectrum, from shortest wavelength to longest, is generally divided into gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwaves and, radio waves.

But what we are really defining these different sections of the electromagnetic spectrum by is not the waves themselves, but how they interact with matter. There is really no difference between radio waves and gamma rays, other than their wavelengths. They are different in how they interact with matter, but that is due to the nature and scale of matter not of the waves.

The interaction of electromagnetic radiation and matter depends on the scale of the matter relative to the wavelength of the waves. Electromagnetic waves are produced by processes in matter that are on the same scale as the wavelength. Electromagnetic waves are reflected by matter that is of a scale similar to the wavelength.

We can easily see this with radio waves. Long waves, with lower frequency such as AM in North America, require a long antenna, both for transmission and reception. The ideal antenna length is actually half the wavelength. In a portable radio the AM antenna is usually a coil of wire inside the radio. The exterior whip, or telescopic, antenna is for the shorter waves of higher frequency, such as FM in North America.

Visible light is so-called because it is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see, but that is because of our scale and the nature of our eyes and not anything about the waves. X-rays are useful because they can penetrate matter that is not too dense but are reflected by matter that is more dense, but that is because of the scale of the atoms in the matter and not anything about the waves. 

Radio waves are very useful to convey information but that is because of the scale of the wavelength relative to the scale of the electronic devices that we can easily build, but that is due to our scale and not anything about the waves. When transistors and integrated circuits came along the miniaturization made it easier to deal with shorter wavelengths, and that is what microwaves are, but again that is not anything to do with the waves themselves.

Infrared is so-called because it has a longer wavelength than the red light that is at the long end of the visible spectrum. We experience infrared as heat but that is because of the scale of the structures of atoms in matter, and not anything to do with the waves themselves. Infrared is also now used to convey information, such as to printers, it is not that shorter wavelengths cannot be used to convey the same information. It is just that our scale makes it easier for us to deal with infrared, microwaves, and especially radio waves.

Ultraviolet is so-called because it is of shorter wavelengths than the violet at the short end of the visible spectrum. It is used for sterilization, and can give us sunburn. But that is because it is of the right scale, and the shorter wavelengths contain enough energy, to break molecules apart, but that is because of the nature and scale of the molecules and not of the waves.

So now what about the four basic forces that are behind all the laws of physics? We can see, with both color and the entire electromagnetic spectrum, that we are actually imposing our higher level of complexity on the less-complex surrounding inanimate universe.

What I notice about the four basic forces is that they operate like a lever, relative to each other. If we pry something with a lever we are exchanging force for distance. We can multiply the force that is applied, but only by moving the handle of the lever a greater distance than the applied force will move.

Gravity is by far the weakest of the four forces. It is an exceedingly weak force, if the two largest ships in the world were docked side-by-side, there might be less than a kg of gravity between them. But yet gravity governs the universe on a large scale because it operates over essentially unlimited distances.

It is easy to see how much stronger electromagnetism is than gravity by how a small magnet can lift a piece of iron against the gravity of the entire earth. But the earth and sun have magnetic fields that we can see do not have the same range as their gravity.

Absolutely the strongest of all is, as the name implies, the strong nuclear force. Like electric charges mutually repel but this force first binds quarks together into hadrons, either protons or neutrons, and then binds those together into the nucleus. But it can operate only over exceedingly short distances, within the nucleus of the atom. In fact, the reason so many of the large atoms, put together by a supernova, are less-than-stable is that this strong nuclear force does not reach far enough to effectively cover the entire large nucleus.

The way I see it we are imposing our own perspective and complexity on the basic forces, making them more complex than they really are, just as we do with color and electromagnetic waves. The way that the basic forces exchange distance and force, relative to each other, tells us that they are very likely to be different manifestations of the same thing, like holding the same lever at different points on the handle.

The universe is composed of negative and positive electric charges. The only real force is electromagnetism. The other three basic forces are just the manifestations that we see of electromagnetism. We have our own perspective on the universe and this makes it difficult for us to see that all of the basic forces are really the same thing.

In my cosmology theory empty space is an alternating checkerboard of negative and positive electric charges, in multiple dimensions. Electromagnetic waves are so-called because they disturb the underlying balance of the electric charges in space.

The basic rule of electric charges are that opposite charges attract while like charges repel. Like charges can be held together with energy, which is what produces the charged particles that compose matter, such as electrons. This energy holding like particles together is what gives matter it's mass. This is what we see in the well-known Mass-Energy Equivalence, a certain amount of mass being equivalent to a certain amount of energy. It is also the basis of Einstein's famous formula, E = MC squared, meaning that mass is convertible into energy.

But if the negative and positive charges are equal then the basic rules of electric charges, that opposite charges attract while like charges repel, must also be equal. If matter results from energy overcoming the repulsive force between like charges then that means there must be a net attractive force involving matter left over. There is indeed a net attractive force and it is what we know as gravity. This means that gravity is really electromagnetic in nature.

The strong nuclear force opposes the repulsive force of like charges in the nucleus of the atom, first binding quarks into protons or neutrons, and then binding those nucleons into the nucleus. In doing this the strong nuclear force turns most of the mass of the nucleus into binding energy, remembering the Mass-Energy Equivalence.

We saw that mass is like electric charges held together, against their mutual repulsion, by energy. The nucleus has an overall positive charge but is actually a mixture of negative and positive charges because quarks are of partial charge. An Up Quark has a charge of +2/3 and a Down Quark has a charge of -1/3. Two Up Quarks and a Down Quark make a proton, with an overall charge of +1. Two Down Quarks and an Up Quark make a neutron, with an overall charge of zero. This means that quarks are mixtures of negative and positive charges.

Since mass is from like charges being held together by energy, and not from the attraction of opposite charges, we see that the way the strong nuclear force operates is to rearrange the electric charges in the quarks so that more opposite charges are in contact with each other. This attraction between opposite charges holds the nucleus together, although it removes most of it's mass in doing so. The strong nuclear force is thus electromagnetic also. The Weak Nuclear Force, which causes radioactive decay, is electromagnetic repulsion of like charges taking back over when the very short range of the strong nuclear force cannot cover all of a large nucleus.

All of the basic forces of the universe are thus the different manifestations of electromagnetism that we see. Like color and electromagnetic waves we were seeing the universe from our own perspective and making it more complex than it really is.