A class of theories that attempt to explain all existing particles (including force carriers) as vibrational modes of one-dimensional objects.
59
votes
14answers
9k views
What experiment would disprove string theory?
I know that there's big controversy between two groups of physicists:
those who support string theory (most of them, I think)
and those who oppose it.
One of the arguments of the second group is ...
8
votes
8answers
2k views
What are cosmological “firewalls”?
Reading the funny title of this talk, Black Holes and Firewalls, just made me LOL because I have no idea what it is about but a lively imagination :-P (Sorry Raphael Bousso but the title is just too ...
20
votes
4answers
3k views
What if the LHC doesn't see SUSY?
A question in four parts.
What are the main problems which supersymmetry purports to solve?
What would constitute lack of evidence for SUSY at the proposed LHC energy scales (e.g. certain predicted ...
15
votes
2answers
3k views
What is tension in string theory?
One often hears the words "string tension" in string theory. But what does it really mean? In ordinary physics "tension" in an ordinary classical string arises from the fact that there are elasticity ...
3
votes
2answers
203 views
Measuring extra-dimensions
I have read and heard in a number of places that extra dimension might be as big as $x$ mm. What I'm wondering is the following:
How is length assigned to these extra dimensions?
I mean you can ...
14
votes
1answer
621 views
How does classical GR concept of space-time emerge from string theory?
First, I'll state some background that lead me to the question.
I was thinking about quantization of space-time on and off for a long time but I never really looked into it any deeper (mainly because ...
12
votes
1answer
938 views
Good introductory text for matrix string theory
Where can I find a good introductory text for matrix string theory? Most textbooks don't cover it, or only cover it very superficially.
What is the basic idea behind matrix string theory? How can ...
16
votes
4answers
1k views
What is your simplest explanation of the string theory?
How would you explain string theory to non physicists such as myself? I'm specially interested on how plausible is it and what is needed to successfully prove it?
7
votes
1answer
367 views
Does the renormalization group apply to string theory?
Can we implement a scale dependent cutoff Λ to string theory? Can we perform a renormalization group analysis of string theory consistently?
20
votes
10answers
5k views
Discreteness and Determinism in Superstrings?
So Gerard 't Hooft has a brand new paper (thanks to Mitchell Porter for making me aware of it) so this is somewhat of a expansion to the question I posed on this site a month or so ago regarding 't ...
12
votes
5answers
905 views
What's so special about AdS?
This question is coming from someone who has very little experience with M-Theory but is intrigued by the AdS/CFT correspondence and is beginning to study it.
Why is the gauge/gravity duality ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views
What are the details around the origin of the string theory?
It is well-known even among the lay public (thanks to popular books) that string theory first arose in the field of strong interactions where certain scattering amplitudes had properties that could be ...
10
votes
8answers
1k views
What reasons are there to suspect string theory may be an incorrect theory?
It's a truism that in science it is at least as important to state the reasons why a theory or idea might be wrong, as to state the reasons why it is might be correct. For example, early ...
7
votes
3answers
542 views
Covariant Quantisation and the Time Operator in String Theory
Covariant quantisation in string theory is accomplished by giving the commutator relations
$[X^\mu(\sigma,\tau),P^\nu(\sigma',\tau)] =
i \eta^{\mu\nu} \delta(\sigma - \sigma')$.
Although ...
6
votes
2answers
378 views
Introduction to string theory
I am in the last year of MSc. and would like to read string theory. I have the Zwiebach Book, but along with it what other advanced book can be followed, which can be a complimentary to Zwiebach. I ...
