The essential beginner's guide to string theory The Little Book of String Theory offers a short, accessible, and entertaining introduction to one of the most talked-about areas of physics today. String theory has been called the "theory of everything." It seeks to describe all the fundamental forces of nature. It encompasses gravity and quantum mechanics in one unifying theory. But it is unproven and fraught with controversy. After reading this book, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions about string theory. Steve Gubser begins by explaining Einstein's famous equation E = mc2, quantum mechanics, and black holes. He then gives readers a crash course in string theory and the core ideas behind it. In plain English and with a minimum of mathematics, Gubser covers strings, branes, string dualities, extra dimensions, curved spacetime, quantum fluctuations, symmetry, and supersymmetry. He describes efforts to link string theory to experimental physics and uses analogies that nonscientists can understand. How does Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu relate to quantum mechanics? What would it be like to fall into a black hole? Why is dancing a waltz similar to contemplating a string duality? Find out in the pages of this book. The Little Book of String Theory is the essential, most up-to-date beginner's guide to this elegant, multidimensional field of physics.

Physics World's 'Book of the Year' for 2016 An Entertaining and Enlightening Guide to the Who, What, and Why of String Theory, now also available in an updated reflowable electronic format compatible with mobile devices and e-readers. During the last 50 years, numerous physicists have tried to unravel the secrets of string theory. Yet why do these scientists work on a theory lacking experimental confirmation? Why String Theory? provides the answer, offering a highly readable and accessible panorama of the who, what, and why of this large aspect of modern theoretical physics. The author, a theoretical physics professor at the University of Oxford and a leading string theorist, explains what string theory is and where it originated. He describes how string theory fits into physics and why so many physicists and mathematicians find it appealing when working on topics from M-theory to monsters and from cosmology to superconductors.

A clear, plain-English guide to this complex scientific theory String theory is the hottest topic in physics right now, with books on the subject (pro and con) flying out of the stores. String Theory For Dummies offers an accessible introduction to this highly mathematical "theory of everything," which posits ten or more dimensions in an attempt to explain the basic nature of matter and energy. Written for both students and people interested in science, this guide explains concepts, discusses the string theory's hypotheses and predictions, and presents the math in an approachable manner. It features in-depth examples and an easy-to-understand style so that readers can understand this controversial, cutting-edge theory.

String theory has played a highly influential role in theoretical physics for nearly three decades and has substantially altered our view of the elementary building principles of the Universe. However, the theory remains empirically unconfirmed, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. So why do string theorists have such a strong belief in their theory? This book explores this question, offering a novel insight into the nature of theory assessment itself. Dawid approaches the topic from a unique position, having extensive experience in both philosophy and high-energy physics. He argues that string theory is just the most conspicuous example of a number of theories in high-energy physics where non-empirical theory assessment has an important part to play. Aimed at physicists and philosophers of science, the book does not use mathematical formalism and explains most technical terms.

This book attempts to explain why 'string theory' may provide the comprehensive underlying theory that describes and explains our world. It is an enthusiastic view of how compactified string/M-theories (plus data that may be reachable) seem to have the possibilities of leading to a comprehensive underlying theory of particle physics and cosmology, perhaps soon. We are living in a hugely exciting era for science, one during which it may be possible to achieve a real and true understanding of our physical world.

String theory is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern theoretical physics. This book guides the reader from the basics of string theory to recent developments. It introduces the basics of perturbative string theory, world-sheet supersymmetry, space-time supersymmetry, conformal field theory and the heterotic string, before describing modern developments, including D-branes, string dualities and M-theory. It then covers string geometry and flux compactifications, applications to cosmology and particle physics, black holes in string theory and M-theory, and the microscopic origin of black-hole entropy. It concludes with Matrix theory, the AdS/CFT duality and its generalizations. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in modern string theory, and will make an excellent textbook for a one-year course on string theory. It contains over 120 exercises with solutions, and over 200 homework problems with solutions available on a password protected website for lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521860697.

A systematic introduction to string phenomenology, outlining how string theory is connected to the real world of particle physics.

This engaging and beautifully written book gives an authoritative but accessible account of some of the most exciting and unexpected recent developments in theoretical physics. – Professor Lionel J Mason, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford String theory is often paraded as a theory of everything, but there are a large number of untold stories in which string theory gives us insight into other areas of physics. Here, Bill Spence does an excellent job of explaining the deep connections between string theory, particle physics, and the novel way of viewing space and time. – Professor David Tong, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge Foremost amongst Nature’s closest-guarded secrets is how to unite Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum theory – thereby creating a ‘quantum space-time’. This problem has been unsolved now for more than a century, with the standard methods of physics making little headway. It is clear that much more radical ideas are needed, and our front-line researchers are showing that string theory provides these. This book describes these extraordinary developments, which are helping us to think in entirely new ways about how physical reality may be structured at its deepest level. Amongst these ideas are that Everything can happen at the same time – it is all Now; Hidden spaces, large and small, are everywhere amongst us; The basic objects are ‘membranes’ that behave like soap bubbles and can explore the shape of spacetime in new ways; We are holographic projections from higher dimensions; You can take the ‘square root’ of gravity; Ideas from the ancient Greeks are resurfacing in a beautiful new form; And the very latest work shows that ‘staying positive’ is essential. The book is aimed at a general audience, using analogies, diagrams, and simple examples throughout. It is intended as a brief tour, enabling the reader to become aware of the main ideas and recent work. A full list of further resources is supplied. Bill Spence is the founding Director of the Centre for Research in String Theory at Queen Mary University of London. He has worked on string theory for over three decades.

The purpose of this book is to thoroughly prepare the reader for research in string theory at an intermediate level. As such it is not a compendium of results but intended as textbook in the sense that most of the material is organized in a pedagogical and self-contained fashion. Beyond the basics, a number of more advanced topics are introduced, such as conformal field theory, superstrings and string dualities - the text does not cover applications to black hole physics and cosmology, nor strings theory at finite temperatures. End-of-chapter references have been added to guide the reader wishing to pursue further studies or to start research in well-defined topics covered by this book.

Cosmology describes the evolution of the Universe and is based on a description of its beginning from quantum fluctuations. String theory is the only known consistent theory of quantum gravity that can deal with the highest energy scales near the Planck energy, relevant for cosmology's beginning. As a result, only string theory can give a fully consistent picture of cosmological origins. This book describes the best current avenues for obtaining cosmology from string theory. It is aimed at graduate students, and also researchers, with some familiarity with cosmology and string theory, however no detailed knowledge is required.