String Theory: Electromagnetism, Strong Nuclear, Weak Nuclear And Gravity (Essay Sample)

String Theory
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String Theory
The evolution of fundamental physics can be constructed as a series of unification. Its beginnings can be traced to Newton’s introduction of universal gravitational force that provided a unified explanation of celestial and gravitational phenomena of earth. Many physicists have tried unifying the four fundamental forces- electromagnetism, strong nuclear, weak nuclear and gravity- in quantum mechanism and quantum field theory, but gravity has been the outlier, unable to reconcile with the other three. In order to solve the problem and ensure unification, string theory was developed, and it has demonstrated a remarkable mathematical success in uniting all the four forces.
String theory has been the leading candidate over the past two decades for a theory that consistently unifies all fundamental forces of nature, including gravity (Becker, Schwarz & Becker, 2007). The basic characteristic of the theory is that its elementary constituents are extended strings rather than point like particles as depicted in other theories like quantum field theory (Kiritsis, 2013). Rather than picturing particles as a point, the theory evinces the particles as tiny string like, vibrating filaments that vibrate in different patterns (Kiritsis, 2013). The main aim of the theory is to unify gravity and quantum mechanics and provide a single theory encompassing all forces of nature. It also aspires at providing a new understanding of time, space and additional dimensions as yet undiscovered (Ashtekar & Pullin, 2017).
String theory can be useful in the following ways; Firstly, it provides a unified quantum description of all interactions of nature, both gravitational and non-gravitational (Kiritsis, 2013). Also, it provides a theoretically well founded guideline for particle physics beyond the standard model (Kiritsis, 2013). Secondly, it offers a natural arena for application of modern mathematical concepts (Becker, Schwarz & Becker, 2007). The intuition of string theorists has contributed significantly to new developments and insights within pure mathematics, for instance the concept of the mirror symmetry (Kiritsis, 2013). In line with this, the theory has led to an exuberantly fruitful correlation between mathematics and physics. Lastly, Ashtekar and Pullin (2017) also explicates that the theory provides a different and better understanding of the coupled field theories via the concepts of holography.
As much as string theory tries to conciliate general relativity and quantum physics in order to describe the quantum behavior of the gravitational field, other theories have been developed contrary to the principles of the string theory. One of the key competing theories is Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). According to Ashtekar and Pullin (2017), the theory combines two extremely developed and successful theories, general relativity and quantum field theory into one, with ...