Einstein's Effort Toward Unification of Forces

Since it appears that all known interactions between objects can be described with only four fundamental forces, it is tempting to ask "If only four, then why not only one?" Perhaps all interactions between matter can be described in terms of one master force. The quest for unification of forces is indeed an intriguing one. It captured the imagination of Einstein and he pondered it for some years.

由于所有已知的物体间相互作用似乎都可以用四种基本力来描述，因此不禁让人问：‘如果只有四种，为什么不是一种？’也许所有物质间的相互作用都可以用一种主力来描述。寻找力的统一确实是一个引人入胜的课题。这激发了爱因斯坦的想象力，他为此思考了几年。

Since the electromagnetic and gravity forces are both infinite in range and obey the inverse square law, looking first for the unification of those forces makes perfect sense from the outset. They have exactly the same mathematical form. Einstein spent time trying to show that under the appropriate conditions, they could be described as a unified single force. Despite the similarities in form, we now know that the gravity force will be the last to yield to unification and that the more implausible unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces was the first step. With the discovery of the W and Z particles, the intermediate vector bosons, in 1983 it was being asserted that the experimental evidence was consistent with electroweak unification.

由于电磁力和引力都是作用范围无限的，并且都遵循平方反比定律，从一开始就寻找这两种力的统一是有道理的。它们在数学形式上完全相同。爱因斯坦花了很多时间试图证明在适当的条件下，它们可以被描述为一种统一的力。尽管形式相似，我们现在知道引力将是最后一种被统一的力，而将电磁力与弱力的不那么可信的统一则是第一步。随着W和Z粒子——中间矢量玻色子的发现，1983年人们断言实验证据与电弱统一是一致的。