Universal Journal of Physics and Application Vol. 1(1-2), pp. 169 - 176
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QUANTUM GRAVITY AND QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS

AUTHOR(S) INFORMATION: Staruszkiewicz A.

ABSTRACT

The Author is of the opinion that a sound piece of theoretical physics arises when one tries to understand a certain striking regularity in Nature. A classical example is the General Theory of Relativity which is the result of meditation on the equality of inertial and gravitational mass. In “Quantum Gravity”, whatever this term is supposed to mean, there is nothing comparable to the equality of inertial and gravitational mass. By contrast, in Quantum Electrodynamics (not Q.E.D.!) there is a phenomenon every bit as striking as this equality: it is the universality of charge quantization. Electron's and proton's electric charges are equal with experimental accuracy 1:10⁻²⁰ while inertial and gravitational masses are equal with experimental accuracy 1:10⁻¹². The electric charge is a manifestation of substantiality of matter. By substantiality we mean something which is or is not there, regardless of philosophical uncertainties which surround quantum mechanics. Therefore the road to “quantum gravity” should go through the understanding of charge quantization. This is the ground upon which the theoretical prowess, if it exists at all, should be tested first. As Descartes puts it, most people prefer to speculate upon difficult things rather than to arrive at the truth in simple things. This fatal error has to be abandoned, if we are to make a real progress in theoretical physics.