Brief Explanation of String Theory?

Question

Can someone please offer a rather consice summary of the String Theory?

Answer 1

11 dimensional string theory has not produced anything.

It is possible that the 7 dimensions that are not perceived are mathematical deception, and therefore string theory is a theory of nothing, as you will find if you read the wikipedia article on string theory all the way to the end.

Answer 2

String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects (strings) rather than the zero-dimensional points (particles) that are the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics. String theorists are attempting to adjust the Standard Model by removing the assumption in quantum mechanics that particles are point-like. By removing this assumption and replacing the point-like particles with strings, it is hoped that string theory will develop into a sensible quantum theory of gravity. Moreover, string theory appears to be able to "unify" the known natural forces (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong) by describing them with the same set of equations.

No experimental verification or falsification of the theory has yet been possible, thus leading many experts to turn to one of several alternate models, such as Loop quantum gravity. However, with the construction of the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland scientists may produce relevant data.

Studies of string theory have revealed that it predicts not just strings, but also higher-dimensional objects (branes). String theory strongly suggests the existence of ten or eleven (in M-theory) spacetime dimensions, as opposed to the relativistic four (three spatial and one time).

Answer 3

Here is a simple explanation:-
We know that atom is made up of electrons and a nucleus. Nucleus of an atom in-turn is made up of protons and neutrons. If you peek further into these protons and neutrons, you find still smaller particles called quarks. That’s the farthest physics could go UNTIL string theory came along. String theory suggests that quarks are not the smallest particles but they are made up of still smaller ingredient, which is nothing but a vibrating string of energy. (Thus the name “String Theory”). String theory suggests that, a variation in vibration of this energy string is the cause of differences in atomic level. It’s like saying….hydrogen atom’s quarks would have energy strings vibrating in a node different to that of a helium atom and that’s why they are different. Of course there is more to String Theory than what I explained in here. I touched just the tip of iceberg. I would recommend “The Elegant Universe” book or DVD.(I would buy DVD version). It was originally aired in PBS channel. Dr. Brian Greene’s explanation of string theory is amazing in that four hour video.

Answer 4

I can do the concise part not sure about how accurate here's the way I understand it.

All matter, energy everything we know as real exist only as vibrations of strings in another dimensions. The theory was developed to explain weird quantum effects such as the discontinuous nature of energy. If explained by the harmonics of vibrating strings the discontinuities start to make sense. Well sort of if the multitude of dimensions required for the strings to vibrate in makes sense or the nature of the strings themselves.

Answer 5

Agh! Carson mentioned Fred Wolf and that wretched movie he whored himself to be in. Fred Wolf was one of my physics instructors in San Diego in the 60s. At the time he taught good science, but later he went over to the Dark Side and started writing popular books about quantum physics, which went overboard with philosophy and gave a very distorted view of quantum mechanics to the general audience.

I had thought he'd finally disappeared into a well-deserved obscurity, but then someone talked me into seeing What the Bleep and I was horrified at how bad it was. The only reason I agreed to see it was the presence of Wolf, and there he was playing the Yoda/Einstein character to the hilt. Are you people aware this movie was sponsored by the Ramtha organization, Ramtha being some nutbar bimbo who claims to "channel" a 35,000 year old warrior? And there was a segment that claimed water would form into different crystal shapes depending on which words were taped to a jar? Hellooooo, Earth to newagers!!!!

Answer 6

This is as "concise" as I was able to find for ya:

Think of a guitar string that has been tuned by stretching the string under tension across the guitar. Depending on how the string is plucked and how much tension is in the string, different musical notes will be created by the string. These musical notes could be said to be excitation modes of that guitar string under tension.
. In a similar manner, in string theory, the elementary particles we observe in particle accelerators could be thought of as the "musical notes" or excitation modes of elementary strings.
. In string theory, as in guitar playing, the string must be stretched under tension in order to become excited. However, the strings in string theory are floating in spacetime, they aren't tied down to a guitar. Nonetheless, they have tension. The string tension in string theory is denoted by the quantity 1/(2 p a'), where a' is pronounced "alpha prime"and is equal to the square of the string length scale.
. If string theory is to be a theory of quantum gravity, then the average size of a string should be somewhere near the length scale of quantum gravity, called the Planck length, which is about 10-33 centimeters, or about a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter. Unfortunately, this means that strings are way too small to see by current or expected particle physics technology (or financing!!) and so string theorists must devise more clever methods to test the theory than just looking for little strings in particle experiments.
. String theories are classified according to whether or not the strings are required to be closed loops, and whether or not the particle spectrum includes fermions. In order to include fermions in string theory, there must be a special kind of symmetry called supersymmetry, which means for every boson (particle that transmits a force) there is a corresponding fermion (particle that makes up matter). So supersymmetry relates the particles that transmit forces to the particles that make up matter.
. Supersymmetric partners to to currently known particles have not been observed in particle experiments, but theorists believe this is because supersymmetric particles are too massive to be detected at current accelerators. Particle accelerators could be on the verge of finding evidence for high energy supersymmetry in the next decade. Evidence for supersymmetry at high energy would be compelling evidence that string theory was a good mathematical model for Nature at the smallest distance scales.

Answer 7

A good treatise for the laymen (myself included) is at www.youtube.com, enter "elegant universe". There is a very nice 5 part Discovery show all about string theory and how it promises to unite quantum mechanics and relativity.

Answer 8

Contact Dr. Fred Alan Wolf. He is one of the scientists who worked on the film "What The Bleep Do We Know", which is an amazing film! if you have not seen it I recommend you do. His email is:

[e-mail]

Tell him the stars sent you. He will know what I'm talking about.

Ciao!,
-C