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In the early years of the 20th century, the [[atom]] – long believed to be the smallest building-block of [[matter]] – was proven to consist of even smaller components called [[protons]], [[neutrons]] and [[electrons]], which are known as [[subatomic particles]]. Beginning in the 1960s, other subatomic particles were discovered. In the 1970s, it was discovered that protons and neutrons (and other [[hadron]]s) are themselves made up of smaller particles called [[quarks]]. [[Quantum mechanics|Quantum theory]] is the set of rules that describes the interactions of these particles.
In the 1980s, a new mathematical model of [[theoretical physics]] called [[string theory]] emerged. It showed how all the particles, and all of the forms of energy in the universe, could be constructed by hypothetical one-dimensional "strings", infinitesimal building-blocks that have only the dimension of length, but not height nor width. Further, string theory suggested that the universe is made up of multiple [[dimension]]s. Height, width, and length constitute three-dimensional space, and time gives a total of four observable dimensions; however, string theories initially supported the possibility of ten dimensions – the remaining six of which we cannot detect directly. This was later increased to 11 dimensions based on various interpretations of the
These "strings" vibrate in multiple dimensions, and depending on how they vibrate, they might be seen in three-dimensional space as matter, light, or gravity. It is the vibration of the string which determines whether it appears to be matter or energy, and every form of matter or energy is the result of the vibration of strings.
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