String Theory - Is It A Unified Theory Of Everything?

The most recent direction that physics has taken us in, is the idea that everything consists of tiny vibrating strings of energy. Physicists have known for some time that at the quantum level of reality, all physical things are made up of vibrating energy. This invisible framework makes up everything in our universe.

The problem science has faced is that one set of physical laws applies to and works for big things, and another completely different but equally successful set of laws (quantum physics) applies to very small things.

String theory is a mathematical equation that for the first time finds a way to bring these two sets of natural laws about our world together into a single unified theory that could apply to all things, big and small, while still incorporating these two highly functional and successful laws.

The problem physicists face is finding evidence in our physical environment that proves the theory by detecting and measuring it in some way. Given the size of strings, this is an almost impossible task. Our best efforts are directed at creating closed circuit environments like the one at CERN where a massless hypothetical elementary particle called a "graviton" will perhaps be detected by smashing particles together then looking for the graviton by its absence and any signature it leaves behind.

String theory only works if one accepts that there are at least 11 dimensions to reality. Only 4 dimensions are perceptible to us, 3 spacial ones plus 1 further dimension of time. Physicists believe the graviton (an "open" string) is capable of moving between dimensions unlike other strings, which are closed and attached to the membrane or "brane" of our universe by the force of gravity. The discovery of the graviton would provide the necessary proof for string theory and allow science to move forward with a unified theory of everything. This would be a major scientific breakthrough.

In a way, the whole string theory story creates a real problem for physicists whose job is to test, prove and uncover physical laws about our world. Although we now have what is regarded as "an elegant and highly probable" mathematical theory in string theory that unifies current physics, it also requires the mind-bending acceptance of a whole host of extra dimensions along with the idea that there are multiple universes out there and that this one was probably birthed or created by the big bang when two of these universes or "branes" brushed up against each other.


The question physicists probably now ask themselves is whether they are inexorably being drawn further and further away from quantifiable measurable material into the murky and scientifically unsatisfactory realm of philosophy or even a kind of mysticism. To their credit this doesn't seem to daunt them too much as they continually try to push the boundaries of their own knowledge and in turn, our understanding of the foundations of our physical world.