A Brief History of String Theory: From Dual Models to M-TheoryDuring its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An unexpectedly rich history is revealed, with deep connections to our most well-established physical theories. Fully self-contained and written in a lively fashion, the book will appeal to a wide variety of readers from novice to specialist. |
Contents
| 1 | |
19591973 | 19 |
2 Particle Physics in the Sixties | 20 |
3 The Veneziano Model | 51 |
4 The Hadronic String | 71 |
5 Supersymmetric Strings and Field Theoretic Limits | 97 |
19741984 | 110 |
6 An Early Demise? | 113 |
7 Theoretical Exaptation in String Theory | 133 |
Other editions - View all
A Brief History of String Theory: From Dual Models to M-Theory Dean Rickles No preview available - 2014 |
A Brief History of String Theory: From Dual Models to M-Theory Dean Rickles No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
algebra anomaly cancellation approach birth of string black hole bootstrap bosonic Calabi-Yau manifolds Cambridge University Press chapter Chew chiral Clavelli closed strings compactification construction corresponding coupling D-branes degrees of freedom describing diagrams dimensional dual models dual resonance model dual string dual theory duality fermions Feynman Fubini gauge group gauge theory Gell-Mann hadrons heterotic string history of string idea Image source infinite invariance involving John Schwarz low energy M-theory Mandelstam massless mathematical Nambu Neveu Nielsen non-perturbative Note Nuclear Physics open strings orbifolds oscillators paper particle physics perturbation Physical Review physicists Physics Letters Polchinski Pomeron problem quantized quantum field theory quantum gravity quarks Ramond Regge trajectories relativistic result S-matrix S-matrix theory Scherk solutions space spacetime spin string models string picture string theory strong interactions structure supergravity superstring theory supersymmetry Susskind symmetry T-duality tachyon theoretical two-dimensional unitarity Veneziano model vertex Virasoro Witten World Scientific worldsheet Yang-Mills