All elementary particles that have been observed in Geneva at CERN are either fermions or bosons. Fermions build all known types of matter, bosons are either photons or W- and Z-bosons or gluons. Photons carry the forces of the electromagnetic fields, W- and Z-bosons mediate the weak force of radioactive decay and neutrino interactions, and gluons the strong force in the atomic nuclei. A feasible explanation of quantum gravity would be necessary to cover all four fundamental forces of nature. The bosons challenge string physicists because they need 26 dimensions to formulate a boson string theory, interpreting the strings as world lines of a many worlds quantum theory. This means they need another 15 dimensions on top of the 11 dimensions of the contemporary M-Theory of strings.
The Higgs quantum field and Higgs bosons are supposed to give elementary particles their inertial and gravitational mass features by spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry; a Higgs boson is an excitation of the Higgs quantum background field above its ground state. This background field can be interpreted as a functional part of space-time symmetry.
CERN announced last Wednesday a high probability that a new particle, which they found, was the long-sought Higgs boson. The pending confirmation that it is indeed the Higgs boson would be an important step towards the completion of the current theory of elementary particles. An experimental confirmation of the expected different decays of the Higgs boson and the understanding of the nature of the postulated quantum background field are the next important milestones on the path towards a 'theory of everything'.
The contemporary theory of elementary particles is not easy reading, because each particle is described as energetic excitation with quantum-mechanical aspects. These excitations can appear either as particles or waves, astonishingly depending only on the type of observation.
Quantum physicists handle this remaining inexplicable contradiction by the superposition of several possible states and conditions. There is only a certain probability that one of these states and conditions takes place. The whole of possible states is mathematically expressed by so-called "wave functions". A single result of an observation appears accidentally. This way, quantum physics can predict atomic processes with exceptionally high accuracy.
A 'theory of everything' gets additional input from concepts of rotational symmetry of space-time. Rotational symmetry explains cycles of successive exchange of physical quantities and states, for example the transformation of a space length into time, time into energy density, energy density into time compression and time compression back into a space length.
The peculiarities of quantum physics fit into the overall picture, because of the introduction of time compression, which is an opposite function of time dilation. Relative time dilation and relative time compression have been proved by many experiments.
This compression of processes causes endless iteration sequences of potential events below the event horizon of time, until one solution is selected by the disturbance of wave functions and then realized along the timeline.
All known types of matter cannot break through the speed of light barrier, except in the case of an unintentional or deliberate matter defect. Such a defect generates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Time dilation and time compression are supposed to split the EMP into two parts, an accelerated component and a decelerated component, both at the speed of light in relation to our space-time platform of rotational symmetry.
The accelerating expansion of the universe, explained by dark energy, will strongly influence further development of a theory of everything and its symmetry concept. The driving forces of this inflation are postulated scalar fields. Fields of this kind serve as a description of changing symmetries that have their origin in one single type of initial force.
These scalar fields determine the development and also the hierarchy of all forces of nature. Rotational symmetry accommodates the types of scalar fields that are needed to explain the negative pressure and adiabatic nature of dark energy, as well as the quantum background field for the production of the Higgs bosons.