Janice M. Vargas Rodríguez: String theory

Even after a whole century, Albert Einstein’s efforts to find a unifying theory are still appreciated and continued. Some physicists share his same curiosity and have even sacrificed their careers in order to turn Einstein’s vision into a reality. Their sole purpose is to find a grand theory that unifies every theory explaining our universe already discovered. For string theorists this theory is known as the string theory, which unites our theories of the interactions of large objects, known as general relativity, and the theories of interactions at micro scale, known as quantum mechanics. It is used as a way of describing all force and matter. Its basis is unbelievably small vibrating strands of energy called strings, which vibrate in different ways.

Such theory surfaced when scientists realized that our understanding of the universe is set on two groups of laws that disagree, therefore there had to be someway to unify them because our universe is so perfectly arranged. The consequences of this theory are a parallel universe and eleven dimensions, which are difficult to accept. In my research I read that we already know of four dimensions, so it is believed that the other six dimensions are curled up and that all of these dimensions determine the constants of nature. Explained like this, the theory doesn't sound so far out. However physicists encountered two mayor problems, which were a massless particle and anomalies, but after various years they were able to explain both. The massless particle is thought to be a graviton, a particle obeying gravity at the small scale, thus unifying every force, because gravity was the only force that did not seem to fit in the interactions of small particles until then. Afterwards, the anomalies were reduced, if not eliminated, by making corrections to the mathematical formulas.

The major problem string theory faces till this day is that there is very small hope of seeing the strings, at least with our technology, therefore this theory can be thought of as a philosophy simply because it cannot be tested. This is why physicists are mostly divided into physicists and string theorists. Just when string theory was gaining credibility it decomposed into five theories, which meant that the probability of someone smarter creating even more theories was high. Therefore, the theory took a step backward, because it included too many possibilities. It has not been discarded, but if physicists or young physicists to be do not take an interest in it, it will be forgotten.

To this day the theory is too safe and too hard to proof, reflecting more of a philosophy rather than a theory. Also, recent discoveries and experiments are ruling out super symmetry and with it string theory, because of their relationship. Therefore, string theory is facing too many challenges. The most important one is that it cannot be proven. If string theorists do not find a way to make their theory more believable it might be forgotten until years from now when someone encounters it by accident and finally proves it. The previous is very probable because there are so many theories that in their time seemed improbable, even crazy, but later on they became very important in our understanding of the universe. It is possible that we are not ready to open our minds to this theory and accept its consequences, just like our predecessors who did not want to accept that the world was round.