Edward Witten
Edward Witten
Edward Wittenis an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth26 August 1951
CountryUnited States of America
physics strings theory
String theory is 21 st century physics that fell accidentally into the 20th century.
thinking littles strings
String theory is an attempt at a deeper description of nature by thinking of an elementary particle not as a little point but as a little loop of vibrating string.
might strings theory
So when you ask me how string theory might be tested, I can tell you what's likely to happen at accelerators or some parts of the theory that are likely to be tested.
important strings theory
One very important aspect of string theory is definitely testable. That was the prediction of supersymmetry, which emerged from string theory in the early '70s.
achieved basic forces kinds particles unity
Unity of the different forces and particles is achieved because they all come from different kinds of vibrations of the same basic string.
long might gravity
There was a long history of speculation that in quantum gravity, unlike Einstein's classical theory, it might be possible for the topology of spacetime to change.
giving shapes different
One of the basic things about a string is that it can vibrate in many different shapes or forms, which gives music its beauty.
moon nasty newton
1/r^2 has a nasty singularity at r=0, but it did not bother Newton-the Moon is far enough.
magic taste mystery
M stands for Magic, Mystery, or Matrixaccording to taste
enter familiar particle spreading
Spreading out the particle into a string is a step in the direction of making everything we're familiar with fuzzy. You enter a completely new world where things aren't at all what you're used to.
regardless supposed
Regardless of any deviations, it was clear I was supposed to end up in math and physics.
It's an exaggeration to say that I came up with M-theory.
trying
If you are a researcher, you are trying to figure out what the question is as well as what the answer is.
discovered particles physicists trying vibrate
You have that one basic string, but it can vibrate in many ways. But we're trying to get a lot of particles because experimental physicists have discovered a lot of particles.