Superstring - The Way to Theory of Everything

Brian Greene, professor of mathematics and physics at Columbia University, published The Elegant Universe in 1999 with Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. The book became a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as receiving the Aventis Prize, Britain's highest mark for scientific books. Then came to his book entitled The Fabric of Cosmos: Space, Time and Texture of Reality. Brian Green is considered a leading physicist, specializing in String Theory.

Greene managed to provide a good understanding to the lay reader about the technical benefits of physical conception and mathematical string theory, without being too difficult to understand. He uses a practical analogy, a very good skill in the emergence of many complicated and foreign concepts.

My impression from reading The Elegant Universe and watching TV shows (Sweedish STV2, Vetenskapens Värld, Video Captures, still images) became the basis of this article.

Theory of Everything (TOE), what does that mean?

An important goal of cosmological physics is to develop a uniform theory, including electromagnetism, strong and weak forces in atomic nuclear, and gravity. A kind of approach between the theory of electromagnetism and general relativity has been achieved, but apparently, there is still an inconsistency between quantum mechanics in the micro-world and the theory of relativity in the vast cosmos.

When gravity is incorporated into the calculation, the problem becomes more and more stacked. Electromagnetic forces and nuclear forces are more difficult to understand than gravity, so it seems impossible to summarize these phenomena in universal general theory. There is an endless gulf between gravity and other forces. When physicists and mathematicians try to combine equations, everything is cracked.

The road to "Theory of Everything" is tantalizing far from the final word, but later awakened a new and revolutionary vision in the world of science. Although scientists previously thought that all elemental particles could not be subdivided, they were now seriously discussing whether all nuclear particles, from the smallest (graviton, photon) to the largest (protons, neutrons, and their constituent blocks, quarks), are composed of more structures small, called String or Superstring.

These strings may have different shapes, may exist like a lump or stretch like a giant thin membrane. Generally, they are considered to be vibrating, and their frequency and type determine what kind of nuclear particles they represent. The string will be very small and thin, impossible to "see". Their existence, however, is almost impossible. The mathematics needed to create the Integrated Theory is too complicated, and perhaps requires the use of eleven dimensions, meaning that there are seven new dimensions beside the dimensions we know. It's a tough challenge for future physicists and mathematicians.

Edward Witten, professor in the development of string theory, and today recognized as a big name after Albert Einstein, wrote the following sentence with regard to this theory:

"It might take 10 or hundreds of years before this theory develops and is fully understood, but today's complete and quantitative understanding is much closer than we predicted."

Still, many researchers have doubts about string theory. Some call it a philosophical theory, others claim there is a risk of failure.

Contributed by Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein

Isaac Newton launched his theory of gravity about 300 years ago. So precisely, Newton's equations were used in calculations for Apollo's journey to the moon in the early 1970s.

Ames Maxwell is a leading Scottish mathematician and physicist. In 1873 he presented four equations that glue electricity and magnetism gracefully. With that, he has laid an important foundation for Integrated Theory.

Albert Einstein cultivated a unifying theory in the last years of his life, trying to combine electromagnetic force and gravity but never succeeded. Einstein launched his first theory of relativity in 1905, dubbed "the special". The second theory was published in 1915 and received the name "the common". In a special theory of [relativity], he states the speed of light never exceeds 300,000 km/sec. He foresaw the paradox of time when humans are brought near the speed of light. He also states gravity, or more precisely gravitational waves, moving at the same speed as light. This last statement has long been proved.

Einstein also states mass and energy are equivalent, expressed in the equation E = mc². The dramatic content of this equation manifests with atomic bombs. Although only 1% of one kilogram of Uranium-235 in Hiroshima bombs is diversified into energy, the explosion is equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT.

Thanks to the general theory of relativity, the gravitational field is proportional to the acceleration field, says Einstein. Gravity is not really a pull, but the result of the fact that the universe is a space-time network in which massive masses like the sun, planets, and moon create torque or curvature in this imaginary network. Around the sun, a planet will awaken in its orbit thanks to the curvature that the sun produces in the net. Evidence of the theory of general relativity was discovered during the 1919 solar eclipse and described as a scientific revolution in the London Times.

In 1930 Einstein was not yet close to the dream of his unified theory, while the development of nuclear physics and quantum mechanics was rapidly moving. In nuclear physics, the scientists work with a weak and strong force and the number of new particles increases. Einstein is now conscious, there is a great distance between the force of the nuclear force and the electromagnetic force on the one hand and the gravity on the other, and this is too great. Such a gap makes it impossible to find a physical and mathematical foundation for its integrated theory.

Quantum mechanics, which led to a revolution among physicists and overturning the understanding of the motion of nuclear particles, was never recognized by Einstein. When Danish physicist Niels Bohr put forward his quantum mechanics in 1920, and Werner Heisenberg with the principle of uncertainty in the future, Einstein said, "Stop." That the universe is governed by chance, he can not accept it. He said, "God does not bet."

Einstein gradually drifted away from the general development and worked on his evaluation and equations further. In 1929 he felt he was on the right track, and the newspaper announced Einstein almost solved the puzzle of the universe with his new theory. This caused a great appeal to her figure, to the extent that she had to hide for a while, but it was all fake warnings. Einstein had to admit his failure, and he told Wolfgang Pauli who rejected his theories: "You're right, son of a bitch." Despite his defeat, Einstein went on an integrated theory research until his death. He died in the US on April 18, 1955. The towering figure among the scientists of our time has gone.

Contributed Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schwarzschild

In 1920, Niels Bohr (1885-1962) introduced quantum mechanics. According to his theory, nothing can be predicted in the atomic world. There is only a certain degree of probability that something happens.

In 1927 Werner Heisenberg presented the principle of uncertainty, in which he assumed we could not obtain the size of the speed and position of the electrons simultaneously. We have to choose one. No wonder many scientists are curious about the uncertainty and irregularity in the microcosm. Could Einstein be right when refusing to believe that God is betting?

Karl Schwarzschild (1873-1916) is a German loner mathematician. He was only 43 years old. Like many other youths, he had to participate in battles on the western front in World War I. As in previous quiet times, he liked to solve Maxwell's complicated equations in the middle of the war front. When Einstein presents the general theory of relativity, Schwarzschild establishes conditions for the formation of black holes in the midst of large stars, and his calculations show that his gravity may be so strong that even light can not escape the black hole. He has revealed the relationship between gravity and light particles, called photons.

Around 1928, most of the math of quantum mechanics was in place, but the majority of researchers did not like this theory. He was not easy to understand, and physicist caliber Richard Feynman (1918-1988) once said:

"Nobody understands quantum theory. He describes nature as absurd, visible to our eyes, and experiments confirm this. Therefore I am conscious of having to accept nature as it is, that is absurd altogether. "

Astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) proposed his theory of the expansion of the universe, a revolutionary statement that changes our view of the cosmos. A new paradox, associated with the attribute of light, also appears. Light can be a current of photon particles at the same time acting like a wave motion. Newton once called light a particle current, but Huygens said it was not right. He thinks a light is a wave-like movement. Later Thomas Young proved they were both wrong. Light can act in both conditions, more like a photon wave.

The appearance of string theory

In 1968, an Italian named Gabrielle Veneziano (working at CERN) found a book called The History of Mathematics by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) published 200 years earlier, among obsolete and dusty mathematical books. Euler presents a very special equation, which then gets the name of Euler's gamma equation.

Veneziano actually looks for an equation that can be adapted to a strong nuclear force, a force that maintains the unity of nuclear particles and generates enormous energies when its nuclei are cleaved. The equation has long been regarded as a strange mathematical item, but for Veneziano, it describes what it investigates, the strong nuclear force. He published it and it was well received in science circles. For him, Euler's gamma equation is the fruit of hard work, and this may be the beginning of an integrated theory.

In 1973, Swiss mathematician Leonard Susskind of Stanford University took a new view of gamma equations. He understands it can describe a strong force, but he sees something more:

"It can describe a kind of string-like element or an elastic strap, and if we consider them small strings to vibrate, then their movements can be accurately described by Euler's equation."

Susskind wrote down his report of findings, and wanted to be published in a science forum, but was rejected. Later he claimed to have hoped to become a new Einstein.

Physicists continue to argue that the particles are the constituent blocks in the microcosm, and operate with the Standard Model for universal theory. It contains three known styles: electromagnetism, weak force, and strong force, and it is stated that quantum mechanics work in microcosms. But the force of gravity is still missed. Nevertheless, physicists Sheldon Lashow, Abdul Salaam, and Steven Weinberg were awarded the Nobel Prize for their study of the Standard Model.

Physicist John Schwarz was the first to declare a string theory capable of bringing solutions to an integrated theory, even though it operates with particles moving above the speed of light, called tachyons, in addition to implying the use of eleven dimensions.

His contribution dates back to 1974, and for four years he tried to find a reasonable answer from the equation. Suddenly he observed, a manipulation gave him a long-sought answer, the graviton. He also said the size of "strings" might thus be only one billionth of a billion billion diameter atoms.

Schwarz published the opening theory of the age, but received no positive response. But Schwarz realized that if his string describes gravity at the quantum level, then it must be the key to the unification of the four styles.

He gets help from people who are willing to risk his career, physicist Michael Green. The biggest problem they have to solve is some mathematical anomaly or contradiction in the equation. Given this anomaly, the string theory would not be recognized.

For five years, until 1984, they examined it, and finally only two different and important equations to be solved. If the numerical value of each answer is the same, then the theory can be enforced. The numerical price for the first equation is 496, and when the second equation produces the exact same price, the string theory is proved. Green recounts this moment:

"We're standing in front of a big blackboard and working, outside the thunderstorms going past Aspen. It's as if the gods were trying to stop our calculations, but we finished the task, and we got the numbers together. "

After that came the period dubbed the first superstring revolution. More than 3,000 scientific articles on this new theory are published.

How do we imagine superstring!

For starters, a string is a vibrating one-dimensional filament. The string length is so small, in physics, it is equivalent to the Planck Length. It enters all nuclear particles, either mass or energetic ones, and they are all blocks of particles. In quantum mechanics, the length of Planck is 10^-33cm. Different vibration patterns will determine what kind of particle-element with different mass or charge-it represents. The higher the frequency, the higher the energy. And as we know from Einstein, energy and mass are equivalent, based on the equation E = mc². The heavy particles are constructed of high frequency and higher frequency strings.

There is one thing to note: Each element particle is constructed from equivalent closed strings, vibrating in its own special way. And speaking of vibrations, there must be unlike resonance types in the system. This is analogous to music, as emphasized by Michael Green.

Superstring closed

Thanks to this new theory the energy in a string or closed loop depends on two important circumstances. First, what type of resonance is in the string. Second, tension stretch. We must immediately assume that the smaller and weaker vibrations will decrease energy, but this is contrary to quantum physics. Energy can exist only on small, discrete portions called quantum, and the energy representing a string is a quantum quantity.

Tension stretching is in the range far above our shadow. In 1974, Schenck and Schwarz calculated that strings whose vibrations are equivalent to gravitons (hypothetical gravity particles) would have a strain of 10 ^{19</ sup> tons. The tension should wrinkle the string and give it the same length as the Planck Length, which is 10 -33</ sup> cm. We are tempted to equate the gigantic force in this nucleus with the force released in atomic bombing.}

The calculated minimum energy of the string is ^{19</ sup> times bigger than the proton, but how can a small particle of electrons and photons exist? The answer can be found in the laws of quantum mechanics. The division of the vibrational effects caused by the quantum filaments obeys the so-called cancellation, which greatly reduces the effect. Yes, because of this strong cancellation, strings almost without mass or energy can exist. Gravitons fall into this category. Another extreme is the largest quark, its mass 189 times larger than protons. They can arise when there is an equivalent equilibrium between resonance and tension.}

There is something strange here. It is well known that 21 elemental elements demand the energy of strings at the base of the silent energy range, as a result of quantum cancellation. From this position to the top should (theoretically) be the place for the countless elemental particles. Where did they go?

Why do we need another dimension?

In 1919, German mathematician Theodor Kaluza (1885-1954) studied Einstein's theory of gravity with standard dimensions and times and made derivations. The result is identical to Einstein's, but if he incorporates an additional dimension, some additional equations are found. When examined, he was surprised to find it similar to the one Maxwell describes in 1880. By incorporating an additional dimension into Einstein's general theory of relativity, Kaluza at least succeeded in combining the theory with mathematical electromagnetism.

Swedish physicist Oscar Klein declared in 1926 that the fifth dimension was tossed like a scroll or a lump, and could never be seen because it was too small. Kaluza proposes a measure of approximately Planck's length (10^-33 cm).

In the development of the next string theory, the demands of additional dimensions continue to increase and today the number is already 11 dimensions, meaning seven additional dimensions in addition to width, height, length, and time. Without mastering mathematics deeper, this is the hardest thing to explain in string theory.

Ernest Rutherford from England once said:

"If you can not explain a finding in a simple, non-technical way, you do not yet understand it."

This is almost correct, but many problems accumulate complicated math results, associated with new equations. Because of the complexity, we have to insert simplification into some variables. The result is a partially correct solution, but by inserting correction of single variables, called permutations, we can make a step forward in the calculations.

What does superstring look like?

The string picture that has materialized today is called the Calabi-Yau image. It is a 6-dimensional geometric image. His name comes from two mathematicians who launched it, Eugenio Calabi (University of Pennsylvania) and Shing-Tu Yau (Harvard University). Theoretically, Calabi-Yau form can be modified endlessly. What is shown below is only one of the tens of thousands of potential shapes that accommodate sufficient numbers of dimensions. The Calabi-Yau shape allows the rolled dimension to enter a new additional dimension with continued scrolling, like wrapping a large spiral from an existing small spiral.

Supersymmetry, pus, and superpartner

Di awal 1970-an sains menemukan bahwa alam bersifat supersimetris, artinya semua partikel, tanpa peduli tipenya, selalu tampak berpasangan. Di dunia baru superstring, ini sama dengan dua string bervibrasi, disebut string superpartner.

Dan masih ada lagi. Pasangan partikel bermassa atau berenergi ini mempunyai pusingan atau rotasi pada porosnya. Mereka yang berpusingan -1/2 akan senantiasa hidup bersama string -1. Seolah ini belum cukup rumit, tak satupun dari 21 partikel materi (fermion) dan energi (boson) hidup bersama dalam relasi superpartner. Pasti ada superpartner tak dikenal yang memiliki pusingan ½ dari partnernya, dan jauh lebih berat. Kita sudah temukan cara praktis untuk membedakan partikel hipotetis demikian dari rekan pendampingnya, dengan menambahkan huruf “s” di depan. Jadi partner hipotetis elektron mendapat nama selectron, dan keseluruhannya disebut sparticel.

Five different theories

In 1985, there were five different theories about how supersymmetry can be incorporated into string theory. Edward Witten expresses his confusion in his own way:

"If one of these five theories simply shows five different ways of describing our universe, where the other four?"

This situation is embarrassing, there could be five variants of a unified theory.

No, fortunately not. In the 1995 String conference, Witten unveiled his new M-theory and made the following statement:

"Five different theories simply show different ways of describing a single superior theory."

Back string theory is on a secure ground.

Now what is targeted?

The most important points, of course, are looking for the basic structure for all elemental particles, based on the way their string builds. All of their different constants, which characterize elemental particles, must find relevant explanations for the behavior of strings. Different attributes of each particle are governed by 20 natural constants, and these constants must accommodate the equation. Here is a big problem: adjusting the seven dimensions rolled into the same system of equations!

Other important evidence

The real existence of the new dimension has become a major attraction. In Fermilab (USA) and CERN (Switzerland), plans have been prepared for experiments with giant particle accelerators. They will create collisions between particles and hope to create new particles, called gravitons. If these particles disappear into another dimension, we have evidence of the existence of gravitons and hidden dimensions.

Conditions today

Structural physicists do not rule out the existence of membranes or branes, instead of strings. They are aware, the universe may be much more complicated than imagined. Perhaps we live in a three-dimensional bran in a more dimensionless space, and perhaps other worlds are parallel universes, like slices of bread.

We must not rule out the possibility of a break in string webs, producing a kind of "alley", or "wormhole" between two universes, and allow humans to move into a second universe in seconds. Our universe may be more dynamic than Einstein realized.

Physicists still believe that large objects and small objects can be put together, and the theory of everything comes true, but the problem is enormous. Strings or bran, swinging in the universe of many dimensions, should be part of this system. Physicists propose, perhaps we should plunge into even smaller sizes, beyond the Planck constant, where space and time do not exist, to find a definite starting point.

If string theory can be passed, it will be a monumental proof of human intelligence and its willingness to understand.

Best Regard @h4f

Reference :

https://www.quantamagazine.org/string-theory-only-game-in-town-tests-20150218/
https://www.universeguide.com/fact/multiverse
https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-boundaries-of-science-20151216/
http://sam-koblenski.blogspot.ru/2014/11/physics-book-face-off-hyperspace-vs.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/opinion/20greenehed.html
http://discovermagazine.com/2016/june/7-fall-and-rise-of-string-theory