Daniel Robbins

In string theory, the multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one; many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes. A variety of different theories lend themselves to a multiverse viewpoint. In some theories, there are copies of you sitting right here right now reading this in other universes and other copies of you that are doing other things in other universes.

Albert Einstein was influenced by the concept of an unchanging universe. His general theory of relativity predicted a dynamic universe — one that changed substantially over time — so he introduced a term, called the cosmological constant, into the theory to make the universe static and eternal. This term represented a form of repulsive gravity that exactly balanced out the attractive pull of gravity, and it would prove to be a mistake when, several years later, astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding.

String theory is a type of high-energy theoretical physics, practiced largely by particle physicists. It’s a quantum field theory that describes the particles and forces in our universe based on the way that special extra dimensions within the theory are wrapped up into a very small size (a process called compactification).

A hologram is a 2-dimensional image that contains all the 3-dimensional information of an object. When viewing a hologram, you can tilt the image and see the orientation of the shape move. It’s as if you see the object in the picture from a different angle. The process of making a hologram is called holography.

In the light of all of the recent criticisms of string theory, many of which have some measure of validity or logic to them, you may be wondering how anyone could continue working on string theory. How could some of the most brilliant physicists in the world devote their careers to exploring a field that is apparently a house of cards?

General relativity was Einstein’s theory of gravity, published in 1915, which extended special relativity to take into account non-inertial frames of reference — areas that are accelerating with respect to each other. General relativity takes the form of field equations, describing the curvature of space-time and the distribution of matter throughout space-time.

Discovered in the 19th century, the electromagnetic force (or electromagnetism) is a unification of the electrostatic force and the magnetic force. In the mid-20th century, this force was explained in a framework of quantum mechanics called quantum electrodynamics, or QED. In this framework, the electromagnetic force is transferred by particles of light, called photons.

Although string theory is a young science, it has had many notable achievements. What follows are some landmark events in the history of string theory: 1968: Gabriele Veneziano originally proposes the dual resonance model. 1970: String theory is created when physicists interpret Veneziano’s model as describing a universe of vibrating strings.

String theory is a work in progress, so trying to pin down exactly what the science is, or what its fundamental elements are, can be kind of tricky. The key string theory features include: All objects in our universe are composed of vibrating filaments (strings) and membranes (branes) of energy. String theory attempts to reconcile general relativity (gravity) with quantum physics.