What Are Membranes in String Theory and Their Role in the Universe?

[ilikescience94]

Hey everybody, I have a few questions about membranes in string theory, so here it goes. What is meant by the membrane in the cyclic model, from my understanding it means that branes in an ultiverse collide, and create there own universes, would this mean that branes could collide in our universe to create there own universe? Is the brane basically a platform for strings to exist on? Do branes have to be 3 dimensional, or can they have more or less dimensions? I have a lot more questions, but I'm sure that once these questions are answered, my other questions would probably be explained, but if not I'll ask later, Thanks PF, I'm excited to understand this stuff.

 

[Chronos]

The modern incarnation of brane theory is D-branes. In most higher dimensional models, such as D-branes, it serves as an anchor point for strings. For a good summary, see D-Brane Primer, http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0007170 by Clifford Johnson, who is an expert on brane theory..