Life on the edge:

Science to the extreme

Session 4:
String theory
& parallel
universes

Dr. Shirin Haque

Short courses 2013
National Science Centre

Course outline
12 January: session 1 : Special relativity - the effects of
travelling at extremely high speeds. Could be hazardous
to your health! General relativity.
19 January: session 2 : Quantum Mechanics - the
uncertain life of the extremely small.
26 January: session 3: Time travel and teleportation - the
real truth.
Your project--------- carnival and following week ---------- 16 February: session 4: Parallel Universes, multiverses,
string theory and other grandiose schemes.
23 February: session 5: tying it all in - is this the real life or
is it just a fantasy ? Where do we go from here? Multiple
choice.

The most incomprehensible

thing about our universe is that
it is comprehensible
- Einstein

Teleportation

Time travel

Grand unified theory

Standard model
Remarkable theory which fits all the
experimental data concerning
subatomic Physics.
Billions of dollars, the sweat of
thousands of Engineers and
Physicists and twenty Nobel prizes
have gone into assembling piece by
piece the standard model over the
last few decades.

At CERN 4th July, 2012

The $10B fireworks!

The God particle

Leon Lederman gave this name to
the Higgs boson in his book The God
Particle: If the Universe Is the
Answer, What Is the Question?
intended title, "the Goddamn
Particle," was rejected by the
publisher!

Classical field theory breaks

down!
Classical electromagnetic field theory

as r gets smaller, F infinity.

Infinities are not observed in nature!
Quantum field theory (QFT) - Quantized the field and
got rid of infinities.
Therefore it is the field theory of how particles
interact on extremely small scales.

What do we want??
Everything!! (TOE)

GUTs and TOEs.

A theory that brings gravity,
relativity and quantum physics
together is called a Theory of
Everything (TOE) or Grand unified
theory (GUT).

Quantum Field Theory (QFT)

quantum
Electrodynamics
QED
QCD
(how charged particles
interact)

quantum
Chromodynamics
(how nucleus is held together)

Quantum electrodynamics
(QED)
A quantum theory of the interactions of
charged particles with the
electromagnetic field. QED led to the
unification of electromagnetic and
weak forces implying that all forces are
one force under extreme conditions of
temperature and energy (like with the
Universe formed)

QED

Quantum Chromodynamics
(QCD)
QCD describes the forces that bind
quarks -instead of virtual photons, the
strong force is transferred by gluons
which overcomes the repulsive
electrostatic forces.

United we stand?
Quantum Gravity

Understanding of the fundamental

forces of Nature will require a
unification of quantum physics and
general relativity.
The development of a quantum
theory of spacetime, or quantum
gravity, begins with the discovery of
the graviton, a quantum particle of
spacetime.

Scale of things...
Quantum physics (smallest) classical
physics
(everyday experience general relativity
(grandest)

Why Stephen, this is

nonsense!

Hawking radiation GR
meets QFT

Hawking Radiation
Another example of quantum
gravity phenomenon is Hawking
radiation Hawking radiation
explores the behavior of particle
production near the event horizon
of quantum sized black holes.

String theory quantum

gravity
A bold theory that attempts to reconcile all
the physical properties of the universe into
a single unified and mathematical
framework.
Originates in 1968 to understand how
nuclear physics operates.
Strings universe is composed of vibrating
filaments of energy.
Gravity is a natural consequence of this
theory.

String theory - 1968

String Theory describes energy and
matter as being composed of tiny,
wiggling strands of energy that look
like strings. The pitch of a string's
vibration determines the nature of its
effect. Predicts 10 space time
dimensions!

 The basic indivisible building blocks of

nature are not point-like, which is a
feature of particles.
Rather they are wavelike....i.e. one
dimensional strings.
The current estimate of the size of
these strings is about 10-35m, far
smaller than we can see today, even
at CERN.

Mathematics...our only
hope!

 Characteristic size of string Planck

length
If a hydrogen atom were as big as
our galaxy, Planck length would be
the size of a hair.

Music to the ear!

Vibrating strings....
The different particles and forces are
just the fundamental strings vibrating
in a multitude of different ways.
Higher frequency E = hf greater
energy
E = mc^2, leads to formation of zoo
of particles with different masses.

What can a string do?

Strings have many modes of

vibrations

Kaluza-Klein theory
Kaluza, a German mathematician and
physicist, realized in 1919 that Maxwell's
equations of electricity and magnetism arise
naturally from Einstein's equations of general
relativity if he added an extra dimension.
Klein, a theoretical physicist in Sweden,
realized in the 1920s that extra dimensions
can be so small that we cannot observe
them directly.
-Basic ingredient of all string theories-

Kaluza and klein 19191920

One, two, three, four....five
dimensions!

Where are the extra

dimensions?
Curled up, compactification
In 3 D universe, F is prop. To 1/r^2,
in 9 D, 1/r^8.

Finding extra dimensions?

CERN

The mother of all theories...

the so-called M-theory. M stands for
mother (as in mother of all theories)
or membrane, or mystery, or even
matrix, magic, monster depending on
who you ask.

D-brane
Strong, weak and
electromagnetic forces are
carried by open strings, each
attached to their branes. Gravity
is carried by closed strings, free
to travel between branes

In essence, String Theory describes

space and time, matter and energy,
gravity and light, indeed all of God's
creation... as music.
Roy H. Williams

Prediction of string theory

Multiverse is a theory that our
universe is not the only one but
states that many universes exist
parallel to each other. The distinct
universes are known as parallel
universes.

The multiverse

Four levels of
universes

Which level?

Ours

level 1

level 2

Level 3 universe

Universes with all

possibilities

String theory and parallel

universes

"The most beautiful thing we can

experience is the mysterious. It is the
source of all true art and all science."
- Albert Einstein