How String Theory tries to explain the very essence of the structure of the universe

String theory is, perhaps, the strangest theory in modern theoretical physics, it tries to solve the riddle of the structure of the universe. And it is so unusual that it may well turn out to be not just a beautiful invention, but a theory that quite accurately describes the very essence of the entire universe.

Cross section of a Calabi – Yau quintic manifold. Manufactured using the techniques described in Hanson (1994), "Construction for Computer Visualization of Certain Complex Curves", Notes to Amer. Math. Soc. 41(9): 1156-1163.

An attempt to combine everything in one theory

Thus, various versions of String Theory are currently positioned as one of the main candidates for the title of a comprehensive universal theory, which in fact explains everything that exists.

In fact, this theory is nothing more than the Holy Grail of all theoretical physicists who have been engaged in the theory of elementary particles, as well as cosmology, throughout their lives.

So in the universal theory there are only a couple of formulas, which contain the whole quintessence of human knowledge about the ongoing interactions and the properties of fundamental particles of matter, of which ours and you are Universe.

So at the moment, string theory has been combined with the concept of supersymmetry, and, thus, the so-called superstring theory has turned out. And so far this is the maximum that scientists-theorists have been worthy of in the field of combining the theory of four main interactions (manifested forces of nature).

Superstring theory is based on the concept that absolutely any interaction in nature is explained exchange, the so-called carrier particles of the corresponding kind between particles entering into interaction.

For a simple understanding, it is permissible to imagine particles in the role of “bricks” of the universe, and those notorious carrier particles are the “cement” that binds the “bricks” together.

So if we turn to the standard model, then in it the role of "bricks" is assigned to quarks, and the role of "cement" is played by gauge bosons, which quarks exchange with each other.

But the theory of supersymmetry went much further. According to this theory, the quarks and leptons themselves are far from monolithic, but made of much more massive and not yet discovered experimentally particles, which, in turn, are interconnected by an even stronger "cement" of super-energetic particles-carriers of interactions.

Of course, modern computing systems of mankind are still incapable of penetrating so deeply into the world of the universe, but scientists have already given a name to these hypothetically existing particles. For example, there is a seelectron (supersymmetric analogue of an electron), a squart, etc.

So, in principle, it is not difficult to imagine the picture of the Universe that is proposed by these theories. On a scale of the order of 10-35m, or at least 20 orders of magnitude less than the diameter of such a "brick" as a proton, which, as you know, consists of three "glued" quarks. At the same time, the architecture of matter at this level is strikingly different from the world we are accustomed to.

With such small distances and equally huge energies, matter is a series of standing field waves (just like on musical instruments).

So this is how a huge number of harmonics (overtones), in addition to the main tone, can be excited on an ordinary guitar string in our space version.

And each state of the harmonic corresponds to its own energy state.

And again we return to the Theory of Relativity, namely to the Principle of Relativity. According to him, energy and mass are equivalent, and, therefore, the greater the frequency of the harmonic oscillation of the wave, the greater its energy, and hence the greater the mass of the observed particle.

In addition, according to Superstring Theory, their vibrations are performed in 11 dimensions at once. We are all accustomed to four dimensions (three spatial and one temporal), but in the field of superstrings, everything is somewhat more confusing.

Theorists try to bypass this "entanglement" of physics and even, as it were, not notice, and solve the dilemma of "unnecessary" measurements in such a way that they are supposedly "compactified" (collapsed), and therefore they cannot be observed with standard energies.

But scientists did not stop there and "finalized" the Superstring theory, and created the theory of multidimensional membranes. By and large, these are the same strings, only flat ones. The authors of the theory itself joke that membranes are as distinguishable from strings as vermicelli from noodles.

Despite its seeming universality, this theory has a number of weaknesses. So, until now, the theory has not been reduced to a strict mathematical form, since there is simply not enough mathematical apparatus to bring it into strict internal correspondence.

In addition, significant contradictions of some aspects of the theory with others have not yet been eliminated, and for the entire existence of the theory, no one of theorists and could not offer a single experiment where theoretical reasoning was tested in laboratory conditions.

And as long as not a single scientific experiment is carried out, the whole theory of superstrings and membranes will be just a beautiful play of the imagination.

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