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String theory

From Citizendium - Reading time: 2 min

Authors [about]:
Edward Lulofs and others.
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The physics model String theory is an attempt to eliminate problems resulting from representing mass as point particles. Although mathematicians routinely accept when results evaluate to infinity, physicists struggle to find meaning as there seem to be few or no phenomenon in the visible universe that are infinite. The problem is that when assuming that matter is point like, that is, they have no structure, physical calculations evaluate to infinity. So point-like are replaced by one dimensional strings. The strings may be closed loops or open lengths, depending upon the particular String model.

This problem has been around since the 1890s when the first subatomic matter that is now considered fundamental in the Standard Model was first found: the electron. There have been many experiments measuring many different properties of electrons. Some of these experiments can find no structure for the electron, no matter how small a scale our accelerator machines can examine. Some experiments, such as looking at the intrinsic spin of the electron, seem to indicate that it is a featureless sphere whose surface spins at a speed greater than the speed of light. No one takes this result as meaning that there is motion faster than the speed of light. These apparent contradictions seem confusing to many people. These experiments are old, well known, and accepted. It is not mentioned often because the Standard Model can not explain these results. The Standard Model assumes that the electron has no structure.


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