Imam Ali’s (PBUH) Scientific Knowledge In Conjunction with Islamic Heritage In Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy—Part 2
Click for Part 1.
*PBUH; Peace Be Upon Him
Fundamentals of Physics—Their indications and problems
Subatomic structure of matter
Imam Ali (*PBUH) described certain aspects of the sub-atomic structure of matter in sermon 94 – Peak of Eloquence – Vol.1 P.166. He said: “He (God) softened and removed, whenever necessary, all contradicting and opposing tendencies, conflicting and inharmonious properties and all disparities and diversities introducing attractions, similarities and analogies.”
Hypothetical Indications of new Physics
Universal Fundamental Forces:
The four main forces that rule the universe, in order of increasing strength are:
- gravitational
- weak nuclear
- electromagnetic
- strong nuclear
These forces were discovered and formulated by several physicists between 1684 and 1954. Imam Ali (PBUH) mentioned and summarized the four main universal forces in beautiful eloquent words and precise definite terms in his sermon No. 191 of Peak of Eloquence in Vol. 2, Pl120.
1) To indicate gravitational force and interaction
His phrase states, “Who compiled the farthest bodies and/or particles to be close to each other.” This force knows in Imam’s terminology as the closeness force, so that its closeness points to the closer. This force in a long infinite range (it falls off slowly in strength as the inverse square of distance) and accounts for all the rich diversity in the universe from atoms to galaxies. The gravitational force between the same particles, an electron of mass me and a proton mp is Gmemp divided by the square of their separating distance (d), (F = Gmemp /d2) where G is the universal constant of gravity (G = 6.66 *10-8 cm3 /gm sec2)
The value of G is found by measurement. Gravity is not neutralized and gets progressively stronger as the number of particles in a system increases. Gravitational forces between single particles are weakest in nature, but in stellar and galactic systems gravity is the dominant force, and on the cosmic scale it is by far the strongest of all forces. Since its strength is the weakest in nature, it is considered as a standard unit to measure the strength of the other forces in nature.
Gravitational force and interaction discovered by English physicist Sir Isaac Newton in 1684. It was improved by German physicist Albert Einstein in 1916, as a part of the General Theory of Relativity, who showed that Gravitation exists as a consequence of inertial force acting on bodies in curved space. This statement of identity of momentum and gravitational forces known as the Einstein equivalence principle.
2) To indicate weak nuclear force and interaction
His phrase means, “who made antithetical bodies / or particles to be connective with each other”. This force known in Imam’s terminology as the Connection (conjunction) force, so that its connection indicates the connector.
This force is a short range (it operates only very short distance, less than 10-11 cm) and accounts for the diversity of atomic nuclei and the behaviour of subatomic particles. The weak nuclear interaction is very much slow force. Various weak interactions between particles produce neutrinos, ghost-ly particles with no electric charge that move at the speed of light. The slowness of the weak nuclear interaction is responsible for the main impediment in the proton-proton reaction in stars, and is also the reason neutrinos pass easily through ordinary matter. Nuclear reaction in the Sun produces 10 38 neutrinos each second, and they all stream out freely through the sun into space. Every second 1000 trillion solar neutrinos pass through the human body, even at night when the sun is on the other side of earth. The relative strength of this force is 10 28 times the gravitational force.
Weak nuclear force and interaction, the force involved in Beta decay and in Pion-Muon, Muon-electron decays and Muon Capture. It was discovered by Chen Ning Yang and Robert Mills in 1954, and improved by Tsung-Dao Lee, Yang and Mills in 1956. The three physicist won Noble prizes in 1957 for their joint work.
3) To indicate electromagnetic force and interaction
His phrase reads, “Who caused close bodies and/or particles to separate from each other.” This force is known in Imam’s terminology as the Separation Force, so that its separation demonstrates the separator. This force is a long infinite range (it falls off slowly in strength as the inverse square of distance.) It is very much stronger than gravitational force. An electron has negative charge denoted by (e) and a proton has a positive force charge of (e) and both charges absolutely equal. This attraction force between a proton and electron is e2 divided by the square of their separating distance (d). The ratio of electromagnetic to gravitational forces between an electron and a proton is:
The electromagnetic force is thus shown to be vastly stronger than the gravitational force in a hydrogen atom. Gravity is far too weak to hold atoms together. The universe contains equal numbers of positive and negative electric charges, which all tend to cancel each other our in systems much larger than atoms and molecules. In our electrically neutral universe the relative strength of this force is 1039 times the gravitational one.
Electromagnetic force and interaction originated by the British physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1860 and improved by the German physicist Max Planck in 1900.
4) To indicate Strong Nuclear Force and Interactions
IMa ali had said, “Who gathered together opposite and contradictory bodies and/or particles to unite with each other.” This force known in Imam Ali’s terminology as the Unification force, so that its union shows the uniter. This force is a short range.
