What string theory's really good for

String theory was formulated in the late 1960s to explain certain features of the strong nuclear force, one of four fundamental forces of nature. It holds that electrons, quarks and the like are not point-like particles but miniscule, curled-up, vibrating strings. No sooner had this idea emerged, th...

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Veröffentlicht in:New scientist (1971) 2009-05, Vol.202 (2710), p.34
1. Verfasser: Griggs, Jessica
Format: Magazinearticle
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:String theory was formulated in the late 1960s to explain certain features of the strong nuclear force, one of four fundamental forces of nature. It holds that electrons, quarks and the like are not point-like particles but miniscule, curled-up, vibrating strings. No sooner had this idea emerged, though, than it lost ground to particle physicists' "standard model", which proved capable of describing not just the strong force but also the weak and electromagnetic forces--and did so far more intuitively through the interactions of point-like quantum particles. Then string theory staged a dramatic comeback. Gravity had resisted incorporation into the standard model, still being described by Einstein's general theory of relativity, a resolutely non-quantum theory. In the 1980s, it became clear that certain features of strings correspond perfectly to properties predicted for the graviton, hypothetical quantum particle that would transmit the gravitational force. Here, Griggs discusses the importance of string theory.
ISSN:0262-4079
2059-5387
DOI:10.1016/S0262-4079(09)61451-2