Why does string theory require multiple dimensions?

This is basically why we need multiple dimensions if string theory is going to prevail. The way strings vibrate determine what type of particle it is. But what physicists also discovered is that that the strings needed more space than just our three dimensions to express all their vibrational patterns.

What would happen if we had two time dimensions?

University of Southern California. Two-dimensions of time would make time travel possible. Instead of being linear, at some point time loops back on itself. In this way, you could travel back or forward in time.

Are the strings in string theory one dimensional?

In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings.

What are the dimensions of string theory?

Current versions of string theory require 10 dimensions total, while an even more hypothetical über-string theory known as M-theory requires 11. But when we look around the universe, we only ever see the usual three spatial dimensions plus the dimension of time.

What does string theory prove?

String theory suggests that matter can be broken down beyond electrons and quarks into tiny loops of vibrating strings. Those strings move and vibrate at different frequencies, giving particles distinctive properties like mass and charge.

Why do strings vibrate in string theory?

The string expresses its fundamental pattern, or its first harmonic, when the degree of motion applied to it causes it to vibrate at its “natural frequency.” At this frequency, the movement of the string is such that when the vibrational wave bounces off of the fixed end on the left, the reflected wave adds to the …

What does string theory try to explain?

String theory proposes that the fundamental constituents of the universe are one-dimensional “strings” rather than point-like particles. What we perceive as particles are actually vibrations in loops of string, each with its own characteristic frequency.

Does string theory predict the number of dimensions of spacetime?

Image © R. Dijkgraaf. But string theory has one very unique consequence that no other theory of physics before has had: it predicts the number of dimensions of spacetime. For the mathematics of string theory to be consistent, the number of dimensions of spacetime must be 10. Initially people took this to be a criticism of string theory.

What are some criticisms of string theory?

Initially people took this to be a criticism of string theory. If it predicts 10 dimensions and you look around and only see four (three spatial dimensions and one time dimensions) then you might ask: “Where are the other six dimensions?” But Kaluza and Klein had solved that problem 60 years earlier: they rolled the other dimensions up.

What is the difference between bosonic string theory and M theory?

One notable feature of string theories is that these theories require extra dimensions of spacetime for their mathematical consistency. In bosonic string theory, spacetime is 26-dimensional, while in superstring theory it is 10-dimensional, and in M-theory it is 11-dimensional.

Is string theory a consistent theory of gravity?

In coming to understand this calculation, Edward Witten became convinced that string theory was truly a consistent theory of gravity, and he became a high-profile advocate. Following Witten’s lead, between 1984 and 1986, hundreds of physicists started to work in this field, and this is sometimes called the first superstring revolution .