Grand unification theory facts for kids

Grand unification theory or GUT is a model that tries to describe the universe. It says that three forces - electromagnetic, weak and strong forces - were once combined into a single force. These are three of the fundamental four forces of nature, which are responsible for all of the pushes and pulls in the universe. If gravity is also combined with these forces, then the GUT will become the proposed Theory of Everything.

Because GUT models have more dimensions than currently known, there has not been a single GUT. Particle accelerators, like the Large Hadron Collider have been built to test these GUTs indirectly, as it is too complex to observe effects on particles without them.

GUT was first proposed by researchers from CERN in the 1970s. The discovery of the Higgs Boson and other such recent discoveries will get scientists closer to knowing which GUT is correct, and ultimately know the Theory of Everything. This theory was given by Pakistani scientist Abdus Salam, who shared the Noble Prize with Weinberg and Glashow for it in 1979.

Images for kids

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  Schematic representation of fermions and bosons in SU(5) GUT showing 5 + 10 split in the multiplets. Neutral bosons (photon, Z-boson, and neutral gluons) are not shown but occupy the diagonal entries of the matrix in complex superpositions

See also

In Spanish: Teoría de la gran unificación para niños