Andrew Zimmerman Jones - String Theory For Dummies

String Theory For Dummies®, 2nd edition

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022939030

ISBN: 978-1-119-88897-0 (pbk); ISBN: 978-1-119-88898-7 (ebk); ISBN: 978-1-119-88899-4 (ebk)

1 Cover

2 Title Page

3 Copyright

4 Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here

5 Part 1: Introducing String Theory Chapter 1: So What Is String Theory Anyway? String Theory: Seeing What Vibrating Strings Can Tell Us about the Universe Introducing the Key Elements of String Theory Understanding the Aim of String Theory Appreciating the Theory’s Amazing (and Controversial) Implications Why Is String Theory So Important? Chapter 2: The Physics Road Dead-Ends at Quantum Gravity Understanding Two Schools of Thought on Gravity Describing Matter: Physical and Energy-Filled Grasping for the Fundamental Forces of Physics Infinities: Why Einstein and the Quanta Don’t Get Along Unifying the Forces Chapter 3: Accomplishments and Failures of String Theory Celebrating String Theory’s Successes Considering String Theory’s Setbacks Looking into String Theory’s Future

6 Part 2: The Physics Upon Which String Theory Is Built Chapter 4: Putting String Theory in Context: Understanding the Method of Science Exploring the Practice of Science Understanding How Scientific Change Is Viewed Chapter 5: What You Must Know about Classical Physics This Crazy Little Thing Called Physics All Shook Up: Waves and Vibrations Newton’s Revolution: How Physics Was Born The Forces of Light: Electricity and Magnetism Chapter 6: Revolutionizing Space and Time: Einstein’s Relativity What Waves Light Waves? Searching for the Ether No Ether? No Problem: Introducing Special Relativity Changing Course: Introducing General Relativity Applying Einstein’s Work to the Mysteries of the Universe Kaluza-Klein Theory — String Theory’s Predecessor Chapter 7: Brushing Up on Quantum Theory Basics Unlocking the First Quanta: The Birth of Quantum Physics Fun with Photons: Einstein’s Nobel Idea of Light Waves and Particles Living Together Why We Can’t Measure It All: The Uncertainty Principle Dead Cats, Live Cats, and Probability in Quantum Physics Does Anyone Know What Quantum Theory Means? Quantum Units of Nature: Planck Units Chapter 8: The Standard Model of Particle Physics Atoms, Atoms, Everywhere Atoms: Introducing Atomic Theory Popping Open the Atomic Hood and Seeing What’s Inside The Quantum Picture of the Photon: Quantum Electrodynamics Digging into the Nucleus: Quantum Chromodynamics Looking into the Types of Particles Gauge Bosons: Particles Holding Other Particles Together Exploring the Theory of Where Mass Comes From From Big to Small: The Hierarchy Problem in Physics Chapter 9: Physics in Space: Considering Cosmology and Astrophysics The Enlightened Universe and the Birth of Modern Astrophysics Introducing the Idea of an Expanding Universe Finding a Beginning: The Big Bang Theory Using Inflation to Solve the Universe’s Problems of Flatness and Horizon Dark Matter: The Source of Extra Gravity Dark Energy: Pushing the Universe Apart Stretching the Fabric of Space-Time into a Black Hole

7 Part 3: Building String Theory: A Theory of Everything Chapter 10: Early Strings and Superstrings: Unearthing the Theory’s Beginnings Bosonic String Theory: The First String Theory Why Bosonic String Theory Doesn’t Describe Our Universe Supersymmetry Saves the Day: Superstring Theory Supersymmetry and Quantum Gravity in the Disco Era A Theory of Everything: The First Superstring Revolution But We’ve Got Five Theories! How to Fold Space: Introducing Calabi-Yau Manifolds String Theory Loses Steam Chapter 11: M-Theory and Beyond: Bringing String Theory Together Introducing the Unifying Theory: M-Theory Branes: Stretching Out a String Matrix Theory as a Potential M-Theory Chapter 12: Exploring Strings and Their Landscape Strings and Fields: String Field Theory String Theory Gets Surprised by Dark Energy Considering Proposals for Why Dimensions Sometimes Uncurl Understanding the Current Landscape: A Multitude of Theories Chapter 13: Gaining Insights from the Holographic Principle What’s a Hologram? Using Holograms to Understand Black Holes Considering AdS/CFT Correspondence Turning the Tables: Using Holography to Study Strongly Interacting Matter Chapter 14: Putting String Theory to the Test Understanding the Obstacles Analyzing Supersymmetry Testing Gravity from Extra Dimensions Disproving String Theory Sounds Easier Than It Is Bootstrapping Our Way into String Theory Looking for Evidence in the Cosmic Laboratory: Exploring the Universe Looking for Evidence Closer to Home: Using Particle Accelerators LHC finds a boson, but no superpartners yet