Einstein's Other Theory of Everything

Einstein's pursuit of a unified field theory aimed to explain all physical phenomena, including matter and energy, as manifestations of spacetime. After developing general relativity in 1915, he sought to extend this framework to incorporate electromagnetism and other forces. Despite his efforts, including several papers from 1919 to 1925, he concluded that his attempts to derive matter from spacetime were unsuccessful. He introduced concepts like the Einstein-Rosen bridge, which he initially viewed as a representation of elementary particles, but later abandoned this idea due to inconsistencies with known particle sizes. Einstein's later work on tele-parallelism, which suggested that matter's properties could be encoded in spacetime relations, did not gain traction after his death, especially as new forces were discovered. Although some aspects of his original theory have been revisited in modern physics, the notion that matter is fundamentally a form of spacetime has largely been overlooked. The author, Sabine Hossenfelder, argues for the importance of revisiting Einstein's ideas, emphasizing their potential relevance in contemporary physics discussions.

- Einstein sought a unified theory to explain matter and energy as deformations of spacetime.

- His attempts to derive matter from spacetime were ultimately unsuccessful.

- The Einstein-Rosen bridge was initially thought to represent elementary particles but was later deemed inconsistent.

- Einstein's tele-parallelism approach to unification was not pursued after his death.

- Hossenfelder advocates for revisiting Einstein's original ideas in modern physics.