AI Insight
Throughout the 20th century, physics underwent a fundamental transformation as scientists discovered that macroscopic matter emerges from increasingly microscopic levels of reality, from molecules to subatomic particles and beyond. This conceptual revolution led to the complete rewriting of theories about matter across most of physics. However, the field of fluid dynamics largely remained unchanged by this paradigm shift, continuing to rely on older theoretical frameworks that preceded these microscopic insights.
Why it matters
Updating fluid theory to incorporate modern microscopic understanding could lead to more accurate models for predicting fluid behavior in applications ranging from weather forecasting to engineering design. This represents a significant gap in our fundamental understanding of a ubiquitous form of matter that affects countless technological and natural systems.
Understand the Science
In the second half of the 20th century, a conceptual tsunami swept through physics. The discovery that our world emerges from a microscopic world of molecules, which emerges from an even more microscopic world of subatomic particles (which in turn emerges from even stranger stuff) triggered the rewriting of our theories of matter. But the revolution didn’t reach fluids.
Source: Theory of Fluids Enters the 21st Century