String Theory

Claimed by kjoshi39.

The Main Idea

String theory is a theoretical framework aimed at addressing the short-comings of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and quantum mechanics - the two primary sources of the current understanding of physics and the universe. String theory is often referred to as the theory of everything - a just identification given its ability to "fill in the gaps" between classical physics and quantum physics. The Theory of General Relativity and quantum mechanics are the primary, established explanations for the way the universe works on a macro and micro scale, respectively. However, these two physical explanations address different ends of the spectrum of matter, in terms of relativistic effects, fundamental forces, and physical properties. Specifically, string theory provides explanations where modern physics fails. These fields of interest include the early universe, black holes, and atomic nuclei. In order to understand the purpose of the theory of everything it is vital to have a rudimentary understanding of General Relativity's purpose as well as relativistic quantum mechanic's purpose - that is, in terms of gravitational affects on matter and the fundamental physics of the universe. General Relativity serves an important purpose to determine the gravitational affects on planetary-sized objects and observable particles, for example. However, the "gap" of Einstein's theory lies within its inability to address elementary particles. General Relativity successfully explains macro-scaled particles, given it's ability to incorporate gravitational affects. However, the same cannot be said for quantum-scale particles. Accordingly, these elementary particles require relativistic quantum mechanics to explain its physical properties, with the underlying assumption that gravity's affect on this scale is negligible. This is the disconnect between current physical two major schools of thought in modern physics. As a result, the purpose of the String theory is realized in its ability to successful incorporate gravitational affects, independent of the scale of particles. Thus, the theory of everything emerged.

Relevant Mathematical Equations (Bekenstein-Hawking Formula)

[math]\displaystyle{ S= \frac{c^3kA}{4\hbar G} }[/math]

The Bekenstein-Hawking formula for entropy of a black hole, above, provides a theoretical value for the entropy of a black hole. While this equation provides an expected value that correlates to the entropy of a black hole according to macroscopic features resulting from its microstates, the formula lacks a derivation for a black hole's entropy based on counting microstates on a quantum-scale with consideration of gravitational aspects. Accordingly, validating this formula through gravity-elementary particle relationships is integral to validating String Theory.

See reference 1.

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