Has string theory tied itself in knots?

Question

From my (limited) understanding of string theory it seems as though it's reliant on ideas such as multiple universes which are outside of what we can evidentially prove. Is this the case? And, if so how can we ever be sure that these ideeas are a true reflection of reality?

Answer 1

(1) Actually String Theory does not predict multiple universes. What it does "suggest" is that there could be many many ways to put together a universe. It turns out that String Theory is not giving us ONE definitive sets of equations that describes our Universe. Instead, String theory is giving us something like 10^500 (yes that's 10 to 500 power) possible universes. So the conjecture is that maybe all 10^500 universes exist within a Multiverse. And yes, you're right. We currently do not have a way of detecting these universes and proving their existence.

(2) There are predictions from String Theory that we can test in the near future. The Large Hadron Collider at Cern will be coming online sometimes in 2007. It will be able to carry out high-energy particle collisions in the range of 250 Gev to 1,000 GeV. What this means is that we should be able to observe new particles that certain models of String Theory predicts, which are Higgs Bosons, Gravitons, and Kalusa-Klein particles. The energies which these particles appear in the collider will answer questions like: are there more than 3 spatial dimensions? if there are, then how many more? are they compactified or are they large and extended spatial dimensions? do we live in a 3-brane universe? etc. etc. Also, one of the telling signs that we live in a Universe with more than 3 spatial dimensions is that Gravitons can travel to these higher dimensions, and thus we should observe violations of energy/mass conservation in these high energy collisions, because gravitons produced by these collisions would travel out of our 3-d universe and into the higher dimensions.

So it is simply not true that String Theory do not have any testable predictions.

Answer 2

Even though we haven't seen an atom let alone the electrons, is it amazing that we have "found" so many sub particles.

This is the greatness of the theoretical physicists. Now coming to the 'string theory', if we assume that this is wrong we do not have any parallel theory which is good enough to be considered a competing theory. You are right if you solve 'string theory' and consider all the 'possibilities' then multiple universes and things like that are possible. Just dont worry, have fun with the good findings of the "string theory" until some one else comes up with something more convincing.

I am totally pysched by the 10 dimensions, 26 dimensions proposed by this theory. I can't even figure out what the hell a 4th spatial dimension is.

Bottomline : Unless a theory can prove all the observed behaviour by its forumlae it cannot considered a great-thoery.
Twenty years down the line 'string theory' might be called an absurd theory........or might be called the 'greatest theory' since 'relativity', who knows.

Answer 3

Undoubtedly. String theory is not a theory in the standard definition of the word, as it does not have testable predications that can be made using existing or any future anticipated technological development. It remains as a lot of people have put their careers into developing it further, and obtaining university positions associated with theoretical physics essentially requires that somebody has bought into this idea, and ideally contributed towards it, so we have a vicious circle. To have their life's work thrown away would be somewhat soul destroying I imagine, but it is only a matter of time anyway before the dinosaurs are extinguished as observations further.

More thinking needs to be undertaken out of the box. Such work might include Heim theory, which is an attempt to provide a 'Theory of Everything', and which has been dicounted for a long time. However unlike other competing theories it has some demonstrable predictions. For instance, the accuracy of the mass formula - the mass formula predicts the masses of 16 elementary particles to a relative accuracy of one part in 10,000. No other established theory of fundamental particles at present have made even remotely comparable theoretical predictions to this accuracy.

On the other hand, empirical confirmation of supersymmetry (for example detecting the hypothetical Lightest Supersymmetric Particle or any other particle predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) would falsify all existing versions of Heim theory, which are mutually exclusive with supersymmetry. Also, it is not certain whether Heim theory would be able to accommodate the existence of the Higgs boson, the last undiscovered particle expected in the Standard Model, and one which has not been predicted by the published versions of the Heim mass formula. Heim theory uses a Higgsless mass creation mechanism and explains particle masses without the need of a Higgs boson. The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider are likely to discover the Higgs boson in the next several years if it exists.

However Heim's genius has been ignored for a long while now, and tends to be regarded as a maverick science, partly because it contradicts string theory, and in places uses unusual notations (for describing novel concepts that current day maths cannot easily articulate - Heims theory is actually quite old now) so that even the best modern mathematicians can have trouble following it.

Answer 4

People who believe in God in this site usually have a rough time from the scientists, but I think "science" itself is a sort of "religion" for some people.

By this, I mean that there is a basic system of beliefs, not all of which can be "proved. These have consequenses in the way those people live their lives.

The idea of different universes arose because it was a mathematicaly impossible for all the universal constants such as the gravitational constant to be so precise without accepting some form of intelligent creator. The way round this was to say that there were an infinite number of universes and we happen to be in the one where all the numbers work out.

I also have trouble with concepts such as why a photon can have zero mass and behave like a wave as well. I think the string theory was designed to resolve some of these issues associated with this.

With some science, the idea that there are some things that are given and we cannot question is similar to religion.....

Answer 5

If string theory is true then there are certain ways for it to be proven, but they are difficult to quantify. Most physics works alongside math, if using the theory one can make a prediction of how a experiment will occur and it does with increasing accuracy based on the maths, it's evidence towards the theory. String theory works on formulas, but currently the math is too complicated for a complete formula so they use approximations. These approximations come very close to experimental accuracy but until the math is finalised it can't be tested fully.

However if we can improve our experiment observation we might hvae a better chance. If string theory supposes three spatial dimensions and one time dimensions then there is a chance that by charting it's characteristics in those dimensions, but doesn't account for all it's behaviour it can suppose the existence of extra spatial dimensions. Observation principles make this difficult however.

String Theory has a lot of holes because it's beyond our time. Relativity came about just as we made the advances to prove it, but it still took some time and still is being objectified. String Theory is currently beyond our means to test fully, which is why it must remain a theory for now.

Answer 6

Its a very popular theory who's believers tend not to consider other possibilities, which is unusual for scientists. The point of theories is to give us a foundation to work on to resolve related problems.

Some of Einsteins theories have been disproven but they still helped us with lasers, microwave ovens and of course, nuclear technology.

A theory is essentially where some bright sparks see's a pattern forming, ie every time I do this, this happens. There may be exceptions to the rule which rarely make themselves evident, but for the most part the theory can be used to figure out other problems.

For example, what if gravity didn't exist! It seems to exist and what we believe about it enables us to design buildings that will be safe. However, gravity could still be disproven.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

String theory is the result of lots of thought and consideration by some brilliant, brilliant people

But I am sure they will take your hypothesis into account... eventually

Answer 10

no human idea is a true reflection of reality