Ask a Scientist February 18, 2007

This Month's Topic: String Theory Demystified

Modern physics has reduced the complexity of the world to two grand theories: (1) general relativity, the theory of gravity, and (2) quantum mechanics, the theory of the very small. Each theory agrees with experiment beautifully, but only in its own realm. Where the two realms overlap — inside black holes, say, and deep inside the atomic nucleus — these two mighty theories contradict each other. Most physicists agree that string theory offers our best hope of reconciliation. It is a candidate "theory of everything" that shows promise in explaining the "standard model" of all ordinary matter. But can string theory go further? Can it make predictions that are testable? Can it be mathematically elegant? Theorists like Shamit Kachru are working to find out.

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