String theory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:25, 6 January 2025

Revision as of 16:32, 6 January 2025

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String theory is a [[mathematical theory|theoretical framework]] that attempts to address these questions.

String theory arose as a response to mathematical limitations in standard [[quantum field theory]]. Field theory predicts physical phenomena with amazing accuracy but its mathematical underpinning are inconsistent and mysterious. String theory has many successes in pure mathematics, but its physical predictions are identical to standard field theory.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Quantum field theory: a twentieth century profile |date=2000 |publisher=Hindustan Book Agency [u.a.] |isbn=978-81-85931-25-8 |editor-last=Mitra |editor-first=Asoke N. |___location=New Delhi |editor-last2=Dyson |editor-first2=Freeman J.}}</ref>{{rp|ix}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeidler |first=Eberhard |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-540-34764-4 |title=Quantum Field Theory I: Basics in Mathematics and Physics |date=2006 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34762-0 |___location=Berlin, Heidelberg |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-34764-4}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

The starting point for string theory is the idea that the [[point particle|point-like particles]] of [[particle physics]] can also be modeled as one-dimensional objects called [[string (physics)|strings]]. String theory describes how strings propagate through space and interact with each other. In a given version of string theory, there is only one kind of string, which may look like a small loop or segment of ordinary string, and it can [[vibration|vibrate]] in different ways. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string will look just like an ordinary particle consistent with non-string models of elementary particles, with its [[mass]], [[charge (physics)|charge]], and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. String theory's application as a form of quantum gravity proposes a vibrational state responsible for the [[graviton]], a yet unproven quantum particle that is theorized to carry gravitational force.<ref name="Becker, Becker 2007, pp. 2">[[#Becker|Becker, Becker and Schwarz]], pp. 2–3</ref>