String theory Definition and 782 Threads

i was recently reading "the elegant universe" by bryan greene and i found a problem. first, how can there be, as i understand it, a curled up dimention at every point in space? the curled up dimentions don't touch, i presume, so there must be some space in between them, which i don't think is...

I'm having a little bit of trouble distinguishing between the two. Basically LQG states that the quantum structure of spacetime is composed of spin-networks which are composed of strings just with their ends tied, I guess you could say. LQG is also background independent. It says that these...

Hi I have heard that String Theory tries to connect QM with Einstein's world of gravitation. String theory adopts an entirely different approach to explain nature. Does this theory contradict with QM? For example, all matter is composed of "Strings" instead of particles/waves. Is there...

hey does anyone know if studying Fourier analysis is going to aid in physics, particularly in string theory or quantum physics?

I'm confused about the 6 extra curled up dimensions in that they are always portrayed like this: http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~mbw/astro18200/calabi-yau-grid-small.jpg" But according to that picture it seems there are multiple "extra" dimensions, and that if you move to a different location...

I am trying to understand the best I can the d-brane theory. I have tried many sources and there is a thing which I don´t see totally clear, how the d-brane concept fit into type II superstring (no matter A or B). I mean, I can understand the argument that type II theories have in their...

My grandmother asked me "what has string theory achieved so far ?" (poor her, she seems to think I could answer that question, so I tried my best not to deceive her...) I gave here the analogy of a crime scene investigation (CSI): - suppose you´re a detective (string theorist) and you are...

What does M-Theory have to do with String Theory, Superstrings, and Black Holes and also, what do they have to do with each other? Oh, and could somebody explane the M-Theory panet?

Standard quantum field theories start so that there is a classical field theory, and then the field is quantized. Is there also a classical string theory, that is quantized to give quantum mechanical theory of strings? (I don't know anything about string theory yet. I'm just asking things...

what in the name of the world made string theorists think that the universe is made of strings? what is the basis for this assumption?

I am a High School Freshmen, and I am doing a research paper on string theory, could someone please tell me how string theory works, and the basics of it. Or, can someone tell me a good site to go to?

Hello, I have read Brian Greene's book "The Elegant Universe" as well as a few other books and I have a fairly decent understanding of the Concepts of string theory, and I would like to start learning the actual physics and math behind it. Could someone please point me in the right...

Here is a list of the mathematics one needs to know for string theory (i'm skipping the simple 1st and 2nd year math courses). http://superstringtheory.com/math/index.html Real analysis In real analysis, students learn abstract properties of real functions as mappings, isomorphism, fixed...

Has anyone heard of this proposed test of string theory's extra dimensions? What do you think? Within the realm of reason? Doable within the next decade? Robert === http://www.news.wisc.edu/13422.html ...physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an approach...

FYI: http://www.discover.com/twominutesorless/ String Theory in Two Minutes Or Less (contest) THE CHALLENGE Just over a century ago, Albert Einstein published three groundbreaking scientific papers in one year, anyone of which could have won him the Nobel Prize. Taking a cue from...

String Theory May be Testable: http://www.physorg.com/news88786651.html

I am having trouble understanding some details of super string theory. 1.) In the documentary I saw describing the theory, the physisists said that there would be an infinite number of other universes apart from ours and it seems that pretty much any theory of how we came to be, at some...

String theory: "Not Even Wrong" according to Peter Woit I haven't read the entire book, but Peter Woit has written a book on string theory that calls the theory "not even wrong" because it does not provide any testable predictions: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465092756/?tag=pfamazon01-20 I...

If one goes to a bookstore, one can find lots of books about String Theory. Unfortunately, many of these books are very difficult to comprehend; not everyone has the background necessary to appreciate these great works. To satisfy the curiosity of these people, I have decided to write this...

I'm playing devil's advocate here I want to explore ramifications. According to GR, geometry is dynamic. In string theory, 6-7 dimensions are compactified as a Yau-Calibi manifold. The properties of elementary particles depend on the topology of these manifolds. Presumably any gravitational...

Mostly due to the publication of the books of Woit and Smolin my attention has been drawn to the desirablility of the hype around string theory. I recently read, ~90% of the research in TOE is performed in string theory. Do you think this is a desirable status quo and why? (Of course your...

String theory is supposed to be a theory of "everything". In your opinion, should string theory, or some other "theory of everything", solve the problem of measurement in quantum mechanics and other related foundational problems of quantum mechanics? Anyway, for my contributions to that...

I was wondering what experiments are planned in the future to verify/fallsify string theory. As I am sure there are many experiments being proposed, does anyone know of an experiment that has been approved and slated for a future date?

What's the difference between string theory and superstring theory? Are they two different names for the same thing? Which one came first? Which one is more popular?

Hello, folks - this is my first post here. I am hoping some of you will be kind enough to help me understand something I have struggled with for a long time. A brief background: My lifelong interest in science fiction led me to start reading about relativity and quantum physics around 20...

I attended a string theory lecture this afternoon at the Joint Particle Physics 2006 meeting in Hawaii. One of the string theory parallel lectures caught my eye: Can string theory make predictions for particle physics? Washington Taylor, MIT The appearance in string theory of a wide range...

...the XKCD way. :smile:

strings as preons: does string theory allow muons to decay directly into e- + photon, given that the only difference between an electron and a muon, in string theory, is the string's tension? Of course, that's not how muons decay, (they decay into a W- boson, which decays into an electron and...

"string theory is a complete scientific failure" by Daniel Friedan to make it clear, I am quoting Daniel Friedan, a former string theorist at Rutgers from hep-th/0204131 "The long-standing crisis of string theory" "String theory has no credibility as a candidate theory of physics...

since presumably electrons, photons, gravitons, and neutrinos are just vibrations of a string?

Here is a rather interesting take on string theory. Is string theory just FSM? http://www.theobjectiveobserver.com/articles/science08.shtml

here's the link http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg19125675.100-atomic-jitters-hint-at-quantum-spume.htmlin a nut shell 1- pollen in water jiggles - other small particles also jitter in solution. 2- einstein explained this as brownian motion & atoms 3- Einstein did not directly...

Is string theory true? Is there some intelligent being or consciousness out there floating in space that is beyond our dimensional braneworld? Are braneworlds real? Are there more than 4 dimensions? Sorry for all the questions.

lubos motl has published is objections to loop quantum gravity which lee smolin responded to. what are some common objections to string theory, esp in NEW, what do string theorists think of these objections? lubos motl calls peter's book crap, gives it 1 star on amazon. (then it got deleted).

http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/ This week’s Time magazine has as article by Michael Lemonick about the controversy over string theory entitled The Unraveling of String Theory. It mentions my book and Lee Smolin’s, and there’s a quote from Sean Caroll. There’s the usual hysterical...

how many propreties of particles of the standard model has lqg been able to describe within its conceptual framework, as opposed to string theory? recently i posted "lee smolin & standard model" evidently loop quantum gravity might be able to model some elementary particles properties...

While going through the first chapter of "A First Course in String Theory", I read that String Theory being a unified theory should include the Standard Model and in the low energy realm, String Theory should boil down to the Standard Model. To quote the book, String Theory is said to be...

Hello! First time poster on physicsforums, and I've had a question that I thought would be best addressed here. I'm going to be entering college as a freshman come fall, and I have a pretty decent background in math as well as a strong appreciation for elegant proofs and solutions. So when I...

Greetings, We've heard a lot from LQG and other folks over here, but surprisingly little about string theory. As some of you might now, I'm a master's student doing my thesis in String Theory. I've started a short introduction on my blog, in case you're interested what's it's all about...

I was reading some of the first chapters of Zwiebach's book. It is explained how quantized relativistic strings turn out to describe an infinite set of possible particles and, therefore, that it is possible to consistently describe the results obtained in the Fock representation in QFT on a flat...

http://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~siegel/parodies/sgs.html Well seems to me they have cracked it i wanted the loopy boys to win.vhttp://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~siegel/parodies/sgsft.html The very latest.

Can any, qg or string theory reproduce dark matter ?

scheduled for release by Houghton-Mifflin in September https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618551050/?tag=pfamazon01-20 The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next I think the reference must be to the rise of an exclusive string research...

Wasn't really sure where to put this question as it is not really an academic or career question and since it about String Theory, I thought I should put it here. I was wondered what type of math I need to know to read an introductory course on string theory. I'm going through a mathematical...

a theory is not science---it is predictively empty---unless there is possible some future observation which it could not accept a specific measurement which, if it turned out against it, would refute the theory It looks like Distler may have come through. http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0604255...

I am an undergraduate physics major in my last year of undergraduate study. I'm very intersted in string theory, any recommended textbooks? Currently I found First Course in String Theory by Barton Zwebach Special Relativity: From Einstein to Strings by John Schwarz and Patricia Schwarz...

This is pretty funny... http://stringschool.blogspot.com/2006/04/string-theory-hits-music-scene.html Never tought I'd hear the words supersymmetry, brane or the concept of 11 dimensions in a song :smile:

Hi, I saw a documentary of what string is and how small it is. But, what's the point of knowing that there are strings in every atom. I don't know the quantitative ratio of it but the documentary says that if an atom was the size of a solar system, a string would a tree on earth. No experiments...

can someone please link me to some new LEGAL pdf's on newer theories and advancements in string theory, qed, lqg etc.

I have to write an argument paper on string theory and i was wondering if anyone has any good ideas about what to argue... I could always go for the whole "Is this the holy grail of science" theory, but i would like something a little more indepth and not so broad... any ideas?