Simply put, a Superstring is not a new type of elementary particle that has been discovered. Rather, the one-dimensional “string” idea is the hypothetical shape of the most basic building block of matter. Before string theory was developed, a particle like an electron was thought to be a “mathematical point” in space-time, with zero volume but definite mass. This “point” would be “smeared’ across a given region, or put another way, “likely to occupy” a given region, since the location of a moving point with zero volume cannot be determined precisely at any given instance of time. Superstring theory says that instead of a “point”, elementary “particles” are actually tiny one-dimensional lines with either open or closed ends (in which case they become two-dimensional), and the length of a string is comprised of the other six “compacted dimensions” which equations that evolved from quantum mechanics predict. In exotic quantum mechanics and general relativity calculations, the mysterious (n-10) term kept appearing, which seemed to insist that our universe is comprised of ten dimensions (9 space and 1 time), not four (3 space and 1 time). This was clearly absurd because if there are six extra dimensions, where are they? The answer, it seems, is in a space so small and on a surface so unlikely that it’s no wonder it took us so long to imagine it. But why believe it? Because the Superstring theory explains the one enigma that not quantum mechanics nor general relativity can explain at high energy levels: GRAVITY.
© 1998 mikhtavim@hotmail.com
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