The answer to this debate is not in fancy physics or complicated science but in our own ability to actually comprehend a truly fundamental particle and our own desire to probe deeper into the physical world. I shall use an analogous argument for my decision to vote ‘no’ on this subject that should be easy to follow and reliable.
We all know a little about the Universe from school, college, University or private study. We know it began in an explosive event known as the Big Bang and has gradually expanded ever since according to Hubble’s Law. When you look out into the night sky you see stars speckled on a black canvas and perhaps wonder where this eternal darkness ends. The Universe we are told is infinite in size and that in every direction we will eventually come across another star, then move on to the next star or planet in a never ending fashion. There are many theories about the Universe wrapping back on itself such that it has a finite size and I find myself wondering whether this could actually be the case? If the Universe were finite, what is beyond that? If we headed off in one direction and came across a brick wall marked, The End Of The Universe, what would be on the other side of the wall?
It is true that we cannot comprehend infinity because our minds like to have rules or some form of control. The same applies to particle physics. We highly desire there to be a fundamental particle but in essence this cannot be so. We would always be asking ourselves what that particle is composed of; trying to probe it’s structure. Throughout history this is how the study of the physical world has progressed. For years the atom was thought of as a blob of negative charge with regions of positive charge embedded inside it. Then came the electron and the proton. Then the proton was broken up into constituent quarks and it is highly likely that although proposed to be fundamental these particles have further structure. Even Electromagnetism has been quantised through the development of Quantum Physics.
We could choose a fundamental particle for ease but in reality this would not be true. We will always wonder whether such a particle has further structure and if history is anything to go by it must. Although infinity is a difficult concept at any physical scale we must accept that it exists.
