Post by JeRegretRiens on Jan 10, 2009 9:10:32 GMT -5
String Theory is an unproven, radically different way of looking at space and time; especially at space. Space had always been seen as a flat grid, static and unchanging. But Einstein saw it differently--that space could warp and stretch. He suggested the existence of wormholes--a bridge or tunnel that can link distant areas of space. But to create a wormhole, there had to be a rip in the fabric of space-time. Einstein's theories didn't allow for there to be rips, though--just stretches. So according to Einstein, wormholes could already exist in places, but no wormholes could be -created-.
String theory suggests that wormholes -can- be created. At the atomic level, space-time is chaotic; rips and tears are easily possible. But if tears can form at the subatomic level, those rips could cause cosmic catastrophies. Strings, however, would surround the tears and in a sense calm the chaos, making tears possible.
But there were five seperate 'string theory's until 1995, when Ed Witten suggested the M-Theory. M-Theory suggests that the five seperate 'string theory's were just five perspectives on -one- String Theory. But it added another dimension again, bumping the total of dimensions to 11.
The added dimension allows strings to stretch into a membrane; and that a membrane could be as large as a galaxy. These membranes can be infinitely close to each other, like seperate slices of bread in one single loaf.
Gravity may be the key to understanding how these dimensions work. Electromagnetism is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times stronger than gravity. That's 39 zeroes. But string theory would suggest that gravity is -not- so much weaker, but that there is an explaination for why we =percieve= it as being weaker. If our universe is contained on a membrane that can be right beside another membrane...gravity is able to pass -between- membranes, thus diluting it and making it seem like a relatively weak force. M-theory suggested that most strings are open-ended, but that the ends are attached to the membranes. Gravitons, however, are closed-loop strings that can float freely between the membranes and explaining this effect.
The Big Bang theory is another place where String Theory makes a strange prediction. While -all- attempts to explain the Big Bang break down at the exact moment in time, the most coherent explaination is that two of these membranes postulated by String Theory collided, bringing together two parallel universes for a moment.
String Theory is as yet unproven. The strings are too small to be seen, possibly ever. Two laboratories in the modern world are running experiments that could make or break String Theory, as well as other theories. These laboratories are the Fermi Lab in Illinois, and the CERN lab on the French/Swiss border. CERN was not completed at the time of making The Elegant Universe, but was switched on last year.
CERN Official Site: public.web.cern.ch/public/
Fermi Official Site: www.fnal.gov/
String theory suggests that wormholes -can- be created. At the atomic level, space-time is chaotic; rips and tears are easily possible. But if tears can form at the subatomic level, those rips could cause cosmic catastrophies. Strings, however, would surround the tears and in a sense calm the chaos, making tears possible.
But there were five seperate 'string theory's until 1995, when Ed Witten suggested the M-Theory. M-Theory suggests that the five seperate 'string theory's were just five perspectives on -one- String Theory. But it added another dimension again, bumping the total of dimensions to 11.
The added dimension allows strings to stretch into a membrane; and that a membrane could be as large as a galaxy. These membranes can be infinitely close to each other, like seperate slices of bread in one single loaf.
Gravity may be the key to understanding how these dimensions work. Electromagnetism is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times stronger than gravity. That's 39 zeroes. But string theory would suggest that gravity is -not- so much weaker, but that there is an explaination for why we =percieve= it as being weaker. If our universe is contained on a membrane that can be right beside another membrane...gravity is able to pass -between- membranes, thus diluting it and making it seem like a relatively weak force. M-theory suggested that most strings are open-ended, but that the ends are attached to the membranes. Gravitons, however, are closed-loop strings that can float freely between the membranes and explaining this effect.
The Big Bang theory is another place where String Theory makes a strange prediction. While -all- attempts to explain the Big Bang break down at the exact moment in time, the most coherent explaination is that two of these membranes postulated by String Theory collided, bringing together two parallel universes for a moment.
String Theory is as yet unproven. The strings are too small to be seen, possibly ever. Two laboratories in the modern world are running experiments that could make or break String Theory, as well as other theories. These laboratories are the Fermi Lab in Illinois, and the CERN lab on the French/Swiss border. CERN was not completed at the time of making The Elegant Universe, but was switched on last year.
CERN Official Site: public.web.cern.ch/public/
Fermi Official Site: www.fnal.gov/
