Testing String Theory

Scientists have developed a test based on studies of how strongly W bosons scatter in high-energy particle collisions generated within a particle accelerator.

W bosons are special because they carry a property called the weak force, which provides a fundamental way for particles to interact with one another.

String Theory includes three mathematical assumptions — Lorentz invariance (the laws of physics are the same for all uniformly moving observers), analyticity (a smoothness criteria for the scattering of high-energy particles after a collision) and unitarity (all probabilities always add up to one). Our test sets bounds on these assumptions.

If the test does not find what the theory predicts about W boson scattering, it would be evidence that one of string theory's key mathematical assumptions is violated. In other words, string theory in its current form, would be proven impossible. If the bounds are satisfied, we would still not know that string theory is correct.


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Image Credit: Caltech - hologram

String theory attempts to unify nature's four fundamental forces — gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak forces — by positing that everything at the most basic level consists of strands of energy that vibrate at various rates and in multiple, undiscovered dimensions. These "strings" produce all known forces and particles in the universe, thus reconciling Einstein's theory of general relativity (the large) with quantum mechanics (the small).

Proponents say that string theory is elegant and beautiful. Dissenters argue that it does not make predictions that can be tested experimentally, so the theory cannot be proven or falsified. And no particle accelerator yet exists that can attain the high energies needed to detect strings. Because of this technical limitation, tests of string theory have remained elusive until now.

Since we don't have a complete understanding of string theory, it's impossible to rule out all possible models that are based on strings. However, most string theory models are based upon certain mathematical assumptions, and what we've shown is that such string theories have some definite predictions that can be tested.
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Famous Quotes: It is true without lying, certain and most true. That which is Below is like that which is Above and that which is Above is like that which is Below to do the miracles of the Only Thing. And as all things have been and arose from One by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation - Sir Isaac Newton
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