What is the string theory??

Question

i have heard of it before but i was never told what it was. please help. thanks.

Answer 1

Strings are a hundred billion billion smaller than an atom.

Every atom is made of smaller bits of matter: electrons orbiting a nucleus made of protons and neutrons which are made of even smaller bits of matter called quarks. Strings are wiggiling strands of energy inside all of that. In 1968, an italian physist accidentally discovered in an old math book a 200 year old equation written by a swiss mathematician that explains the strong force. Later, in 1973, another mathematician observed this same equation and realized that it discribed "...a string, like a rubber-band cut in half that could not only stretch and contract but wiggle." and it exactly agreed with the formula. No experiment can yet check up the existence of such vibrating string.

Answer 2

The short answer is that string theory is meant to be the grand unified theory (GUT) or the "theory of everything".

At this time Einstein's General Relativity is the best description of how the universe functions but it does not work at the very small subatomic level. Quantum theory which works at the subatomic level does not work at the larger scales we're familiar with. String theory is an attempt to find a set of laws that work everywhere at every level. It would incorporate General Relativity and Quantum theory, thus it would be the Grand Unified Theory.

I say "would" be because at this time string theory is incomplete and not ready for prime time.

Answer 3

String theory only works mult-dimensionally as you need eleven or more dimensions to begin.

It also requires symmetry which no longer holds as a valid descriptor of the Universe.

It is also the pursuit of 'quantum gravity' which is also wrong.

It should be loosing favour amongst scientists as it has NO testable theories as we cannot test anything in more then the three (four if you include time) known dimensions