For decades, physicists have searched for a way to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics. Now, a groundbreaking idea suggests that gravity itself might not be a fundamental force at all—but a side effect of entropy. If this theory is right, it could rewrite everything we know about the universe.
Gravity has always been considered one of the fundamental forces of nature, shaping galaxies and keeping planets in orbit. But physicist Ginestra Bianconi from Queen Mary University of London has introduced a bold new idea: gravity could emerge from entropy, the measure of disorder in a system.
Entropy usually describes how things naturally move toward chaos—stars burn out, structures decay, and heat spreads out. But Bianconi suggests that quantum relative entropy, a concept from quantum mechanics, might actually drive the force we experience as gravity.
The Missing Link Between General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics?
Scientists have long struggled to make general relativity and quantum mechanics fit together:
- General relativity describes gravity as the bending of spacetime by massive objects, predicting cosmic-scale events like black holes and the expansion of the universe.
- Quantum mechanics governs the behavior of the smallest particles, where things can exist in multiple states at once and act like both particles and waves.
These two theories don’t naturally work together—but Bianconi’s approach might change that. She proposes that spacetime itself is a quantum operator, meaning it interacts with quantum systems rather than being a passive stage where physics plays out.
Her model also introduces the G-field, a type of gravitational field that may explain how space and matter interact at quantum levels. By treating gravity as an emergent property of entropy rather than a fundamental force, this approach could finally bridge the gap between the two competing theories.
Could This Explain Dark Matter?
One of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics is dark matter—an invisible substance that makes up most of the universe’s mass but has never been directly observed. If gravity arises from entropy, then the G-field in Bianconi’s theory could also play a role in explaining dark matter.
“This work proposes that quantum gravity has an entropic origin and suggests that the G-field might be a candidate for dark matter,” she explained in a recent study.
While this idea is still in its early stages, it presents a radical new way of thinking about gravity. If entropy is the missing link, we could be on the verge of unifying the laws that govern the universe—something that has eluded physicists for a century.
Could chaos itself be the key to understanding the force that holds everything together? If so, this could be the breakthrough that finally brings us one step closer to the ultimate theory of physics.
