Status Updates From O Universo Elegante

Beginning understanding or seeing the constituents and ideas in string theory

“gravity, in this view, exists in order that all possible observational vantage points are on completely equal footing, i.e. so that the equivalence principle holds. Similarly, non-gravitational forces exist in order that nature respect their associated gauge symmetries… all of these symmetries, as well as super symmetry, emerge from string theory.”

“you don’t have to search far to locate where the Big Bang occurred, for it took place where you are now, as well as everywhere else. in the beginning, all locations we now see as separate were the same location.”

“although we had solid reason to believe that the powerful mirror relation holds for the shape progression leading to the tear—the pinching and growing a new sphere—we realized no one knew if the mirroring continued after the tear has occurred… if true, we would have demonstrated that space can tear”

(they did)

another unserious physics moniker:

mathematicians called the sequence of manipulations a Flop Transition* (relatable)

*imaged as slightly tearing the calabi-yau space at the pinch, opening it up, & gluing in another beachball-like shape that they then reinflate to a nice plump form. thus ‘flopping’ the original
beachball shape into a new orientation w/in the overall calabi-yau shape

at every point in the 3 familiar extended dimensions, string theory claims that there are six hitherto unanticipated dimensions, tightly curled up into one of these rather complicated looking 6 dimensional geometrical shapes: calabi-yau spaces

string theory requires extra space dimensions
that must be curled up to a very small size to be consistent with our never having seen them. but a tiny string can prove a tiny space; as a string moves about, oscillating as it goes, the geometrical form of the extra dimensions plays a critical role in determining its resonant vibration, thus establishing the masses and charges of fundamental particles

Physicsts are so unserious with naming things. I laughed out loud at this part—

the hypothetical super partners of neutrinos and quarks are Sneutrinos and Squarks.

“…this hypothetical particle has been named the Selectron, a contraction of ‘super symmetric’ and ‘electron’…
…for photons there should be ‘Photinos’ and for the gluons there should be ‘Gluinos’”

“one way that we learn about the structure of an object is by hurling other things at it and observing the precise way in which they are deflected.”
particle accelerators hurl bits of matter at each other (& other objects) and elaborate detectors analyze the resulting spray of debris. the size of the probe particle that we use sets the lower limit to the length scale to which we are sensitive.

“what appear to be different elementary particles are actually notes on a fundamental string. the universe, being composed of an enormous amount of these vibrating strings is akin to a cosmic symphony”

according to string theory, the properties of an elementary particle, it’s mass and various force charges, are determined by the precise resonant patterns of vibration that its internal string executes.
heavier particles have internal strings that vibrate more energetically

“from the ancient Pythagorean ‘music of the spheres’ to the harmonies of nature that have guided inquiry through the ages, we have collectively sought the song of nature in the gentle wanderings of celestial bodies and the riotous fulminations of subatomic particles”