Intro to String Theory

Humans are rapidly closing in on the pinnacle of all discoveries in the history of math and science. String theory, as the name suggest is a profound conjecture that everything in the entire universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings. If proven, String Theory will reshape our entire perception of reality. For centuries, mathematicians have been trying to unify the forces of nature in an attempt to explain all phenomenon in life. Over 300 years ago, Newton unified the physical laws of the heavens and earth with his discovery of gravity. It was not until much later that Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shed light on the idea of a single set of laws governing our universe. Einstein knew that nothing could surpass the cosmic speed at which light traveled. However, this contradicted the physical world governed by Newtonian physics. By studying a scenario in which the sun’s total mass were to burn out immediately and how the earth would be impacted led to Einstein verifying his hypothesis. Under Newton, the Earth would immediately go careening off into space the second the sun’s gravitational force ceased to exist. Einstein knew that light took approximately 8 minutes to reach the earth. Through mathematical logic, he concluded that the speed of gravity could not exceed light and actually found it to be the same velocity. Consequently, the earth would in fact not lose its orbit until 8 minutes after the sun’s destruction. It was this notion that shaped Einstein’s idea of space-time. With this concept, our reality is made up of 4 dimensions (one being time) interwoven in a single fabric know as space-time. This can be visualized as the solar systems lying on a tightly stretched sheet of cloth, with each planet warping the sheet relative to its mass. A drastic change in the mass of the solar system (such as the sun burning out), would create a ripple effect similar to a pond. This amazing breakthrough in science was not enough for Einstein. With quantum mechanics taking over the spotlight for understanding the subatomic world, Einstein found himself struggling to make sense of the nice predictable universe he had once envision. On his death bed, Einstein’s search for unification ran out of time. With technology surpassing anything Einstein could have dreamt, String Theory may indeed complete his life’s work. For my next post, I will touch on the four acting forces that exist in nature and their demand for a theory of unification.