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M-theory is a theory in physics that unifies all consistent versions of superstring theory. Edward Witten first conjectured the existence of such a theory at a string theory conference at the University of Southern California in 1995. Witten's announcement initiated a flurry of research activity known as the second superstring revolution. Prior to Witten's announcement,string theorists had identified five versions of superstring theory. Although these theories initially appeared to be very different,work by many physicists showed that the theories were related in intricate and nontrivial ways. Physicists found that apparently distinct theories could be unified by mathematical transformations called S-duality and T-duality. Witten's conjecture was based in part on the existence of these dualities and in part on the relationship of the string theories to a field theory called eleven-dimensional supergravity.
In physics,string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale,a string looks just like an ordinary particle,with its mass,charge,and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory,one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton,a quantum mechanical particle that carries the gravitational force. Thus,string theory is a theory of quantum gravity.
Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory,topological quantum field theory,and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the school of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory,quantum gravity,supersymmetric quantum field theories,and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990,he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union,for his mathematical insights in physics,such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity,and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.
In theoretical physics,supergravity is a modern field theory that combines the principles of supersymmetry and general relativity;this is in contrast to non-gravitational supersymmetric theories such as the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Supergravity is the gauge theory of local supersymmetry. Since the supersymmetry (SUSY) generators form together with the Poincaréalgebra a superalgebra,called the super-Poincaréalgebra,supersymmetry as a gauge theory makes gravity arise in a natural way.
In theoretical physics,the matrix theory is a quantum mechanical model proposed in 1997 by Tom Banks,Willy Fischler,Stephen Shenker,and Leonard Susskind;it is also known as BFSS matrix model,after the authors' initials.
John Henry Schwarz is an American theoretical physicist. Along with Yoichiro Nambu,Holger Bech Nielsen,Joël Scherk,Gabriele Veneziano,Michael Green,and Leonard Susskind,he is regarded as one of the founders of string theory.
In differential geometry,a G2 manifold or Joyce manifold is a seven-dimensional Riemannian manifold with holonomy group contained in G2. The group is one of the five exceptional simple Lie groups. It can be described as the automorphism group of the octonions,or equivalently,as a proper subgroup of special orthogonal group SO(7) that preserves a spinor in the eight-dimensional spinor representation or lastly as the subgroup of the general linear group GL(7) which preserves the non-degenerate 3-form ,the associative form. The Hodge dual, is then a parallel 4-form,the coassociative form. These forms are calibrations in the sense of Reese Harvey and H. Blaine Lawson,and thus define special classes of 3- and 4-dimensional submanifolds.
In theoretical physics,type II string theory is a unified term that includes both type IIA strings and type IIB strings theories. Type II string theory accounts for two of the five consistent superstring theories in ten dimensions. Both theories have extended supersymmetry which is maximal amount of supersymmetry —namely 32 supercharges —in ten dimensions. Both theories are based on oriented closed strings. On the worldsheet,they differ only in the choice of GSO projection.
In quantum field theory,the term moduli is sometimes used to refer to scalar fields whose potential energy function has continuous families of global minima. Such potential functions frequently occur in supersymmetric systems. The term "modulus" is borrowed from mathematics,where it is used synonymously with "parameter". The word moduli first appeared in 1857 in Bernhard Riemann's celebrated paper "Theorie der Abel'schen Functionen".
Malcolm John Perry is a British theoretical physicist and emeritus professor of theoretical physics at University of Cambridge and professor of theoretical physics at Queen Mary University of London. His research mainly concerns quantum gravity,black holes,general relativity,and supergravity.
Joël Scherk was a French theoretical physicist who studied string theory and supergravity.
Igor R. Klebanov is an American theoretical physicist. Since 1989,he has been a faculty member at Princeton University where he is currently a Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and the director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. In 2016,he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Since 2022,he is the director of the Simons Collaboration on Confinement and QCD Strings.
Sergio Ferrara is an Italian physicist working on theoretical physics of elementary particles and mathematical physics. He is renowned for the discovery of theories introducing supersymmetry as a symmetry of elementary particles and of supergravity,the first significant extension of Einstein's general relativity,based on the principle of "local supersymmetry". He is an emeritus staff member at CERN and a professor emeritus at the University of California,Los Angeles.
Warren Siegel is a theoretical physicist specializing in supersymmetric quantum field theory and string theory. He was a professor at the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook University. He retired in Fall of 2022.
This page is a glossary of terms in string theory,including related areas such as supergravity,supersymmetry,and high energy physics.
In four spacetime dimensions,N = 8 supergravity,speculated by Stephen Hawking,is the most symmetric quantum field theory which involves gravity and a finite number of fields. It can be found from a dimensional reduction of eleven-dimensional supergravity by making the size of seven of the dimensions go to zero. It has eight supersymmetries,which is the most any gravitational theory can have,since there are eight half-steps between spin 2 and spin −2. More supersymmetries would mean the particles would have superpartners with spins higher than 2. The only theories with spins higher than 2 which are consistent involve an infinite number of particles. Stephen Hawking in his Brief History of Time speculated that this theory could be the Theory of Everything. However,in later years this was abandoned in favour of string theory. There has been renewed interest in the 21st century,with the possibility that this theory may be finite.
Werner Nahm is a German theoretical physicist. He has made contributions to mathematical physics and fundamental theoretical physics.
Jonathan Anders Bagger is an American theoretical physicist,specializing in high energy physics and string theory and known for the Bagger–Lambert–Gustavsson action.
Melanie Becker was a physicist known for her research into string theory. She was a tenured professor of physics at Texas A&M University upon her death in 2020.
In theoretical physics,double field theory refers to formalisms that capture the T-duality property of string theory as a manifest symmetry of a field theory.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Katrin Becker - Faculty Member". TAMU Physics & Astronomy. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- 1 2 3 "Katrin Becker". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ↑ "Katrin Becker - Faculty Member". TAMU Physics & Astronomy. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ↑ "Dr. Melanie Becker Obituary 2020". Hillier Funeral Home & Cremations. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
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