- #1
Kherubin
- 47
- 0
Please forgive my lay understanding of String Theory, but when contemplating it, I am drawn to two questions; one at a level 'above' string theory and the other 'deeper'.
I will begin with the former. As is my limited understanding, strings, according to restrictions placed upon them by the particular Calabi-Yau manifold along which they move, vibrate to produce the observable world around us.
My first question is, to what extent do strings determine the nature of the physical world? I understand that the form they take gives rise to how many physical 'constants' there are and which values they take and, presumably, by extension, the shape of physical 'laws'. However, what other observable facets do they 'control'? The number of 'inflated' dimensions is determined by the shape of the Calabi-Yau manifold? Do strings or their manifolds predetermine the form that those dimensions take (i.e. are they space, time or something else altogether)?
I understand that string theory appears to give rise to an entire 'landscape' of possible universes. The second, deeper, question, if you will is, is there anything beyond strings? Or, more precisely, does string theory preclude there being so? Is there any dictum within string theory which decrees that all universes MUST have stings as there base? Could something other than strings exist beyond the so-called string landscape? Is this an implicitly flawed question to ask? Does it even make sense?
Thank you for your time and information,
Kherubin
I will begin with the former. As is my limited understanding, strings, according to restrictions placed upon them by the particular Calabi-Yau manifold along which they move, vibrate to produce the observable world around us.
My first question is, to what extent do strings determine the nature of the physical world? I understand that the form they take gives rise to how many physical 'constants' there are and which values they take and, presumably, by extension, the shape of physical 'laws'. However, what other observable facets do they 'control'? The number of 'inflated' dimensions is determined by the shape of the Calabi-Yau manifold? Do strings or their manifolds predetermine the form that those dimensions take (i.e. are they space, time or something else altogether)?
I understand that string theory appears to give rise to an entire 'landscape' of possible universes. The second, deeper, question, if you will is, is there anything beyond strings? Or, more precisely, does string theory preclude there being so? Is there any dictum within string theory which decrees that all universes MUST have stings as there base? Could something other than strings exist beyond the so-called string landscape? Is this an implicitly flawed question to ask? Does it even make sense?
Thank you for your time and information,
Kherubin