String Theory......in a nutshell?

Question

I think I know what it's about -
please explain more..

Answer 1

Oh please please please go watch/rent/buy the Nova special DVD "The Elegant Universe" hosted by Brian Greene, or go read his novels "The Elegant Universe" and "Fabric of the Cosmos"....this is..by far the most breathtaking, cutting edge, AMAZING physics theory out there. I could definately be a seller of this theory...

In short, The Superstring Theory, or String Theory (also known as M Theory) states that there are things smaller than quarks (which are smaller than atoms, gravatons, neutrinos, etc.) that are reminiscent of vibrating strings. They are vibrating "strings" of pure energy and each "string" vibrates at a different frequency to make up all the matter and life in our universe! It's like ....an orchestra. It's beautiful. Then they get into closed strings, open strings, membranes, more than 11 different DIMENSIONS...yes ladies and gentlemen, alternate dimensions. Far fetched? no. The math adds up. It WORKS.

Basically Einstein's ENTIRE goal in life was to come up with a complete unified theory of how the universe works. But his theory of relativity, newtons theory of gravity and quantum mechanics all clashed. String Theory just could be the ONE unifying theory of everything. If that's not exciting I don't know what is.

PLEASE go watch this DVD...or read Brian Greene's book. It helps if you have a collegiate level basic understanding of Physics before hand....it makes it a lot more crystalline...but you really don't need to. Brian Greene is an amazingly intelligent man who can articulate and "translate" the "greek" of modern physics into lay-man's literary terms!

It's exciting stuff...check it out, I encourage you.

Answer 2

Superstring Theory posits that quarks, electrons, and photons, are not point particles, but vibrating one-dimensional "strings." The theory further suggests that what gives these fundamental quantum entities their properties is determined by the vibration of strings, which vibrate not only in time and in our 3 spatial dimensions, but in an additional 6 hyperdimensions. These curled up extra dimensions are so small, much smaller than an atomic nucleus, that they are undetectable. There is some hope that the new supercollider coming on line next year will be able to "tease" out some exotic particles that will give string theory a shot in the arm.

Anyway, the *shape* of the extra dimensions, called a Kalabi-Yau shape after the topological mathematicians Kalabi and Yau, determines how the string vibrates in 11 dimensions (including time).

String theory is highly speculative, and string theorists will tell you, even if it's wrong, the math is beautifully complex, and so difficult that they work only with approximations. It is the holy grail for string theory to refine those approximations. What makes string theory the only game in town is because point-particle theory breaks down when you try to merge the quantum world (the very small) with Einstein's relativity (the very large). The Grand Unification Theory of the four forces in the known universe cannot unify gravity with the other three forces, i.e., electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. Yet there is some certainty that at the very first instances of creation, all four forces were the same force, until the symmetry broke and they each went their own separate ways. String theory not only incorporates gravity in its equations, it needs the theoretical "graviton" and the extra dimensions for workable mathematical equations that are the underpinnings of the theory.

As a previous answerer pointed out, you can't really put it in a nutshell. I have only grazed the surface. And yes, Brian Greene's book "The Elegant Universe" is the definitive work on the subject. I have read the book many, many times, and he always manages to lose me about halfway through. But the first half is truly an amazing read.

Answer 3

"The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene does the best job of explaining this largely mathematical exercise in explaining what we and the stars are made of.

I don't think you can cram it into a nutshell. But, I'll try: the smallest and most basic component of the universe is not an atomic particle, but rather a vibrating "string". That's not very accurate and it is a huge over-simplification.

Read Greene's book, available on amazon.com.

Answer 4

String theory is the idea that atoms are held together by quantum strings. These strings have varying strengths. If you want a good book that explains it from THE man (Stephen Hawking) go read "A Briefer History of Time", or if you're into the details, "A Brief History of Time."

Answer 5

There are a variety of string theories and each has their own essentials.

Strings are one dimensional ultra small (smaller than quarks) things that everything in the universe is made up of and they vibrate.

The first thing you have to fathom is a one dimensional object.

It has length but no width or depth or time.

I can give you somewhat of hint, but it's still a long way off.

A movie that you see at a theater a projected movie a two dimensonal object. It has width and length but no thickness. As you move off axis it vanishes.

Now think in one dimension.

And scientists think religious people are weird!

Answer 6

aaamorado I watched that episode of NOVA about string theory three times, even though that show was like a horse tranquilizer. I really wanted to understand it. The only thing I can make of it is this string stuff is something smaller than an atom and exists throughout the universe. I wish I could tell you more. Here's an article from Wikipedia. I hope this can help you.

Eric

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory

Answer 7

Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstring_theory

Answer 8

String concept can no longer delay, because of fact it would not make many predictions, and the predictions it does make are not extremely falsifiable... the theorists will continuously declare that we in basic terms have not reached extreme adequate energies, or tweak issues fairly. "Theories" like this are greater wisely categorized as techniques or philosophies.

Answer 9

The string theory is a designer theory. It was never meant to be taken serious. It was created so scientists would not bore each other to death.

Answer 10

Our universe has 11 or so dimensions...

Energy and mass can be described elegantly with the fundamental notion of one-dimensional resonant structures.