万物简史 第237期:马斯特-马克的夸克(9)

 　　It is all, as you can see, just a little unwieldy, but it is the simplest model that can explain all that happens in the world of particles. Most particle physicists¹ feel, as Leon Lederman remarked in a 1985 PBS documentary, that the Standard Model lacks elegance² and simplicity³. "It is too complicated. It has too many arbitrary parameters⁴," Lederman said. "We don't really see the creator twiddling twenty knobs to set twenty parameters to create the universe as we know it." Physics is really nothing more than a search for ultimate simplicity, but so far all we have is a kind of elegant messiness—or as Lederman put it: "There is a deep feeling that the picture is not beautiful."

　　你看得出，这个模型真是有点儿笨拙，但这是可以用来解释粒子世界全部情况的最简单的模式。大多数粒子物理学家觉得，正如利昂·莱德曼在1985年的一部电视片里说的，标准模型不大优美，不大简明。“它过于复杂，有许多过于武断的参数。”莱德曼说，“我们其实不明白，为了创造我们都知道的宇宙，造物主干吗要转动20个门把来设定20条参数。”实际上，物理学的任务是探索最终的简洁性，而迄今为止的一切都乱成了美丽的一团──或者就像莱德曼说的：“我们深深地感到，这幅图画并不美丽。”

　　夸克

　　The Standard Model is not only ungainly but incomplete. For one thing, it has nothing at all to say about gravity. Search through the Standard Model as you will, and you won't find anything to explain why when you place a hat on a table it doesn't float up to the ceiling. Nor, as we've just noted⁵, can it explain mass. In order to give particles any mass at all we have to introduce the notional Higgs boson; whether it actually exists is a matter for twenty-first-century physics. As Feynman cheerfully observed: "So we are stuck with a theory, and we do not know whether it is right or wrong, but we do know that it is a little wrong, or at least incomplete."

　　标准模型不但很笨拙，而且不完整。一方面，它根本没有谈到引力。找遍整个标准模型，你找不出任何解释，为什么放在桌上的帽子不会飞上天花板。为了赋予粒子以质量，你不得不引入假设的希格斯玻色子，它是否真的存在，要靠21世纪的物理学来解决。正如费曼所由衷地认为的那样：“因此，我们对这个理论处于进退两难的境地，不知道它是对的还是错的，但我们确实知道它是有点儿错的，或者至少是不完整的。”

1 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

2 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

3 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

4 parameters   

因素，特征； 界限； （限定性的）因素( parameter的名词复数 )； 参量； 参项； 决定因素

参考例句：

• We have to work within the parameters of time. 我们的工作受时间所限。
• See parameters.cpp for a compilable example. This is part of the Spirit distribution. 可编译例子见parameters.cpp.这是Spirit分发包的组成部分。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。