The Theory of Everything

A week ago I watched a show on Channel 9 talking about String Theory. While I took Physics Honors in HS and magically tested out of it in college with the CLEP test, I wouldn't call myself a physics guru; however this show was very interesting. I found it so interesting that I took notes on it and am presenting it in extreamly SHORT form here, just because I like having something different to write about that interests me and goes beyond my normal scope of everyday writing. Keep in mind that this is absolutely no way is meant to be a 'paper' with supporting notes etc, just something I thought interesting enough to share, hopefully it will be remotely accurate.

The show starts with the Big Bang theory as being the beginning of time and space as we know it. Then Newton develops the theory of Gravitation which explains more or less the theory of how large things work. Einstein follows with his theory of Relativity which mostly explains how small things work. Following his discoveries, is the Theory of Quantum Mechanics which explains how even smaller particles work including the Strong nuclear force, the Weak nuclear force (responsible for radiation), and Electomagnavitity. While each theory is accurate in its own domain, the program suggests that they are disasterous when trying to combine these theories. Thus evovled String Theory, which suggests that there are even smaller parts to the smallest parts of an atom (W,S, EM) known as vibrating strands of energy called strings.

Gariel Veneziano discovered the Gamma Function which explained mathmatically the strong force which then became the birth of String Theory (no don't ask me how it works in math because somewhere I was lost in the math shuffle). Leonard Susskind added that the exchange of messenger particles creates what we feel as force impling the combination of both theories. The program then goes back to the Standard Model which is EW, S but then is missing Gravity. Hence the conundrum of having two seperate theories that work by themselves, but not together. String Theory then is the attempt to explain everything. This is why it is sometimes known as "The Theory of Everything."

In the beginning stages of String Theory there were some problems. One of which was the 'creation' of the tachion (now here my notes are slighting so I'm sure I might be messing this up) and then 10 different dimensions. The 10 different dimensions stemmed from the mathematical anomilies that were calculated while divising the String Theory. John Scwartz and Michael Green came up with the graviton (I think, again my notes here are too short and I can't remember what I meant) and worked on the mathematical depth to encompass all the forces. They worked for years on the mathematical equations of String Theory to eliminate the mathematical dilemas. When the numbers finally worked, they ended up with 6 dimensions to the universe. They proposed that quarks are the smallest 'particle' of the universe and these vibrating strands called strings are what make up each unique atom of the universe. These unique strands then, with their 6 dimensions, cause the strings to vibrate precisely at the known values or constants of our universe. Hence String Theory is then able to combine the major accepted theories in physics and combine them as a "Grand Cosmic Symphony" of vibrating strings. The math proves the theory valid, however skeptics state that no experiment or observation can prove it wrong. So is it physics or philosophy?

While I am NOT even close to being any kind of physics buff, especially in the complicated math department, the program convinced me well-enough that String Theorists might be on to something. It would be cool to have one theory which explains everything, rather than two conflicting theories which are right, but don't meet in the middle. I also really liked the program because they used musical instruments as their examples to explain things for lay people like me. Obviously since I'm a music teacher, that metaphor really hit home. Vibrating strands as the smallest tiny spec of matter in the universe make a lot of sense to me, being that the theory also correlates to the physics of music. :)