PProfessor Claudia de Rum is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London who develops and tests “new models and paradigms” at the intersection of gravity, cosmology and particle physics. She has just published her first book, Falling beauty: A life in pursuit of gravityThis work represents her lifelong attempt to understand the “true nature” of the forces surrounding her, for which she has been trained as an astronaut, diver, and pilot.
You say in your book that you've “followed gravity all your life.” What does that mean?
This playful relationship with gravity is something we all have within ourselves. But in terms of actually going into space and trying to challenge gravity in a slightly different way, it started to have a meaning of its own for me to some extent. If that doesn't work, you need to do it from a more scientific point of view, in terms of understanding the underlying framework behind your model about gravity. Come up with a new model and find a way to see if you can experiment with it.
What do you find so fascinating about gravity?
Gravity is very universal. I think this is a very fundamental phenomenon that affects everything, everyone, anytime, anywhere. It does just about everything. It connects everything and everyone. Whether it's a human, a planet, a black hole, a balloon, a hammer, a feather, cheese, or a pumpkin seed, we all experience it the same way. It is something that is within us even if we cannot defeat it. Gravity is the feeling of weightlessness, the feeling of free falling. That in itself is complete freedom.
You have trained as a diver and pilot to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental forces around us and have reached the final selection stage of the European Space Agency's astronaut training. How did that journey begin?
In a sense, it all started from wanting to follow gravity. For me, that meant going out into space, experiencing gravity in a different environment, and experiencing the feeling of weightlessness on a deeper level. So once I was able to formulate that in my head as a kid, it really became a long-term goal. For a long time in my life, I focused everything on the idea that I wanted to be an astronaut, participate in the astronaut selection process, and put myself in the best position to do so.
What did astronaut training include?
We took a series of tests, most of which were designed to assess team-based abilities in stressful situations. This included pretending to be a rescue team going through the “jungle.” We were asked to plan a dangerous mission, knowing that resources were limited and night was approaching. And I knew that if I wasn't careful, I might not be able to get back inside. In another scene, we were paired up to pretend to be air traffic controllers at an overcrowded airport and tasked with landing several planes that were low on fuel. However, each of us had access to only half of the information, so completing the mission required accurate communication and cooperation with our partners. Of nearly 10,000 applicants, 99.5% were rejected by the final stage. She was the only 42 to reach this second training stage.
During the final selection, latent tuberculosis was discovered, and all hope was lost. You've said of your childhood that it's “a little souvenir that I must have unconsciously brought back with me during my stay in Madagascar.” Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't gotten sick?
We see candidates going off into space…of course, it's a dream. But at the same time, I don't regret the path my life has taken since then. I think that opened up other opportunities.
How much more is there to learn about gravity that we don't yet know?
The beauty of gravity as we know it now is that there is still much to learn about it. We now know that Einstein's theory of general relativity can no longer consistently and accurately explain what happens in certain situations, such as very close to the center of a black hole or in the Big Bang. His theory seems to suggest that we can measure some physical quantities that appear to be infinite (this is called a singularity), such as the curvature of spacetime, but we cannot measure infinite values. It makes no sense to do that at all. To understand what will take over when his theory is no longer valid, you may want to ask yourself questions like, “What is happening at the center of a black hole?” or “What happened at the time of the Big Bang?” – but if the concepts of space and time no longer make sense, then the question itself may not make sense either. We don't even have the language to express our questions, much less to answer them.
What can gravity tell us about the future?
What we now know is that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, something that was surprising 25 years ago. What we need to understand is what is causing this accelerated expansion and whether the laws of gravity we are using to explain it are valid.we need to understand this better [understand] What will happen in the future? Will this accelerated expansion continue forever? Will it accelerate further? Will it stop? We don't even know exactly what causes this phenomenon, so we don't know. Therefore, the fate of our universe, and in some sense the fate of space and time, depends on what the driving force behind this accelerating expansion of the universe is.
Are you frustrated by having so many questions and so few answers?
It's very exciting. It's a small step. If what you're trying to do is see if your discoveries can be applied tomorrow, this is not the field for you. But you learn. You'll gain a deeper appreciation for the nature around you, and it's these small daily steps that will add up to the biggest steps in the long run. Each small understanding is a breakthrough in itself, allowing us to go deeper. In science, even a negative result is a result in itself.
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Falling beauty: A life in pursuit of gravity Written by Claudia de Rumme, published by Princeton University Press (£20). In order to support guardian and observer Order your copy at guardianbookshop.com.Shipping charges may apply