String Theory
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| Interaction in the subatomic world.
Levels of magnification:
1. Macroscopic level - Matter 2. Molecular level 3. Atomic level -- Protons, neutrons, and electrons 4. Subatomic level -- Electron 5. Subatomic level - Quarks 6. String level |
Developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the basic idea behind all string theories is that the constituents of reality are ultimately strings of one-dimensional spatial dimension that are extremely small in size (possibly of the order of 10−35 m) which vibrate at specific resonant frequencies. Thus, any particle in the phenomenal world should be thought of as a tiny vibrating strings, rather than made up of discrete object points. This string can vibrate in different modes (just as a guitar string can produce different notes), with every mode appearing as a different particle (electron, photon, etc.). Strings can split and combine, which would appear as particles emitting and absorbing other particles, presumably giving rise to the known interactions between particles.