What is the difference between string theory and M theory?
In string theory, spacetime is ten-dimensional (nine spatial dimensions, and one time dimension), while in M-theory it is eleven-dimensional (ten spatial dimensions, and one time dimension).
What is string theory in simple terms?
String theory proposes that the fundamental constituents of the universe are one-dimensional “strings” rather than point-like particles. String theory also requires six or seven extra dimensions of space, and it contains ways of relating large extra dimensions to small ones.
What is the alternative to string theory?
JB: Loop quantum gravity is an alternative to string theory, which in its earliest formulation says that particles are composed of one-dimensional lines or strings of energy. Different particles, in this theory, represent different vibrational patterns in these strings.
When did Edward Witten discover the string theory?
Then, in 1995, the physicist Edward Witten discovered the mother of all string theories. He found various indications that the perturbative string theories fit together into a coherent nonperturbative theory, which he dubbed M-theory.
Is the M theory the same as string theory?
M-theory unifies in a single mathematical structure all five consistent versions of string theory (as well as a particle description called supergravity). It looks like each of those theories in different physical regimes.
Which is the mother of all string theories?
The mother of all string theories passes a litmus test that, so far, no other candidate theory of quantum gravity has been able to match. M-theory unifies in a single mathematical structure all five consistent versions of string theory (as well as a particle description called supergravity).
How many variations of string theory are there?
At the time of the proposal, there were 5 variations of string theory, but Witten put forth the idea that each was a manifestation of a single underlying theory.
