From: mk_thisisit
String theory is a concept that emerged around 1984, during what was termed the “string revolution” in physics [00:01:51]. Initially, it was optimistically and “senselessly” called the “theory of everything” [00:02:01]. This theory aimed to answer fundamental questions, such as the number of dimensions we live in [00:01:18]. Professor Krzysztof Majner dedicated 17 years to studying string theory, even writing his doctoral thesis on the subject [00:00:21], [00:01:31], [00:01:33]. However, he ultimately found that it did not fulfill its initial promise [00:01:38].
Limitations and Criticisms
Despite its initial hype, string theory presented several significant limitations:
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Failure to Answer Basic Questions Professor Majner concluded that string theory does not answer the basic questions he asked himself when he began his research [00:00:24], [00:01:38].
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Impact on General Relativity According to Professor Majner, string theory “ruins” the general theory of relativity [00:00:27]. He emphasizes the incredible beauty of Einstein’s theory and its equations [00:00:31], [00:03:30]. In string theory, gravity is merely one of many manifestations and its inherent beauty is not visible or distinguished [00:03:40], [00:03:45].
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Lack of Correspondence to Observed Reality To this day, no version of string theory has been created that accurately describes or corresponds to the world we observe [00:00:38], [00:02:26].
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Multiplicity of Theories It was initially believed that there was only one string theory, which contributed to the “theory of everything” moniker [00:02:09]. However, it turned out that there are actually many such theories [00:02:18].
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Nature of “Strings” The “strings” in string theory are not flexible as one might imagine, but rather rigid, rod-like objects [00:02:34], [00:02:40]. These objects are billions of times smaller than an atomic nucleus, making them effectively point objects at low energies, thus transitioning into the theory of elementary particles [00:02:43], [00:02:50]. Despite this, no string theory exists today that can derive the known elementary particles after this transition [00:02:54], [00:02:57].
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Inability to Describe the Early Universe String theory has not provided answers regarding what happens in the very early universe, a period where the theory of elementary particles breaks down [00:03:05], [00:03:08].
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Simplistic Approach Professor Majner characterized string theory as “too simple” to solve the complex problems it set out to address [00:04:14]. He states that it hasn’t genuinely contributed to understanding what physicists want to comprehend [00:04:40].
Mathematical Contributions
While its contributions to physics have been questioned, string theory has had a significant impact on mathematics. It is noted that the Fields Medal, considered the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize, has been awarded for work stemming from string theory applied to mathematics [00:04:23], [00:04:31], [00:04:35].
Conclusion
Due to these significant limitations, Professor Majner left string theory in the 1990s, pursuing other areas like “horse symmetry” [00:03:51], [00:03:54]. He still views string theory as a “beautiful nice try” and a “very interesting idea,” but ultimately one that did not solve the fundamental problems it aimed to address [00:04:00], [00:04:07], [00:04:10].