i'm trying to understand superstring theory. help, please!
1. calling it string is misleading, but which is it? is it an oscillating wave field, or is it a highly agitated point?
2. curled dimension doesn't make sense to me. when the physicists say they need 10 extra dimensions, do they mean each dimension is a square of the previous, such as the 3rd dimension is the 2nd squared, or do they mean it more in a linear fashion; x, y, z, t, m, c, e, a, b, d? looking at it from a simple geometric fashion, i think it's easy to see where the 'hidden' super symmetry partner is.
if I can't figure it out with standard algebra, I ain't doing it. :wacko:
String Theory makes my branes hurt.
1. They call it a 'string' because they are extended objects which have distinctive end points, and the whole one dimensional structure oscillates, much like a string thats stretched and plucked.
2. When they mention curled dimensions, they basically mean that the higher dimensions, dimensions e, a, b, d on your scale, are so small as to be undetectable, and 'fold' in upon themselves.
There's many different theories as to how to rationalize the blatant contradiction of the 10 dimensions with the theory of relativity, one of which is curled dimensions, another of which is Calabi–Yau manifolds, but most involve an expansion of the dimensions of space/time, whereas I lean towards more of an expansion of the temporal dimensions, a good explanation of which could be found here:
Imagining the Ten Dimensions (http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php)
I'm desperately trying to remember the program that was on Channel 4 in the UK explaining string theory, it was very simplistic, and went off on tangents about gravity and electromagnetic forces that make up atoms, but it was quite good watching. I think it was the elegant universe?
http://xkcd.com/171/
I posted it before anyone else!
Sevenforce, it was The Elegant Universe, like you said. I watched it during the Fall. Amazing..
That video you posted was really interesting. Now, if they could just tell me how to jump through the different dimensions, like time, that would be even cooler!
Quote from: BWPS on May 11, 2008, 07:12:51 AMhttp://xkcd.com/171/
I posted it before anyone else!
Potential runner-up: http://xkcd.com/397/ (http://xkcd.com/397/)
[OT]I have never seen that xkcd site before, though I have seen a couple of the comic strips posted elsewhere. I must say, it was bittersweet reading a few dozen of those strips. I spent several years in grad school studying engineering and working separately in a computer science department. I was around lots of brilliant people who shared an interest in math, physics (which is why I am studiously avoiding this thread's topic), technology, proofs, language, abstraction, and pretty much everything else. We had conversations reminiscent of that comic all the time and, as often as it was (like the comic) nonproductive, it was some of the most stimulating and fulfilling time of my life. The comic reminds me just how much fun that was.[/OT]
Quote from: bearded on May 11, 2008, 04:17:35 AM
i'm trying to understand superstring theory. help, please!
1. calling it string is misleading, but which is it? is it an oscillating wave field, or is it a highly agitated point?
2. curled dimension doesn't make sense to me. when the physicists say they need 10 extra dimensions, do they mean each dimension is a square of the previous, such as the 3rd dimension is the 2nd squared, or do they mean it more in a linear fashion; x, y, z, t, m, c, e, a, b, d? looking at it from a simple geometric fashion, i think it's easy to see where the 'hidden' super symmetry partner is.
It's all wibbly-wobbly universy stuff, to paraphrase a certain doctor.
And the best description of of the compactified dimensions I've come across is like looking at a tube from really far away - it looks one dimensional (just length), but then up close seeing it has width as well. Or something like that.