clifford_a-_pickover_surfing_through_hyperspacebookfi-org
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notes 219<br />
4. Unfortunately, there are so many different ways to create universes by compactifying<br />
the six dimensions that string theory is difficult to relate to the real universe. In<br />
1995, researchers suggested that if string theory takes into account the quantum effects<br />
of charged mini black holes, the thousands of 4-D solutions may collapse to only one.<br />
Tiny black holes, with no more mass than an elementary particle, and strings may be<br />
two descriptions of the same object. Thanks to the theory of mini black holes, physicists<br />
now hope to mathematically follow the evolution of the universe and select one particular<br />
Calabi-Yau compactification—a first step to a testable "theory of everything."<br />
Some trivia: Gabriele Veneziano, in the late 1960s, worked on string theories. However,<br />
interest in his patticular version of the theory faded when other physicists showed<br />
they would only work in twenty-six dimensions. Also, some researchers believe that all<br />
known elementary particles have unseen symmetric twins called sparticles.<br />
5. What we've learned in the 20th century is that the great ideas in physics have<br />
geometric foundations. —Edward Witten, Scientific American<br />
6. Just like the early years of Einstein's theory of relativity, string theory is simply a<br />
set of clever equations waiting for experimental verification. Unfottunately, it would<br />
take an atom smasher thousands of times as powerful as any on Earth to test the current<br />
version of string theory directly. It is hoped that, humans will refine the theoty to<br />
the point where it can be tested in real-world experiments. With Edward Witten<br />
directing his attention to string theory, the world hopes that he and his colleagues can<br />
crack the philosophical mystery that's dodged science ever since the ancient Greeks:<br />
What is the ultimate natute of the universe? What is the loom on which God weaves?<br />
Whatever that loom is, it has created a structurally rich universe. Most astronomers<br />
today believe that the universe is between eight and twenty-five billion years old, and<br />
has been expanding outward ever since. The universe seems to have a fractal nature<br />
with galaxies hanging together in clusters. These clustets form larger clusters (clusters<br />
of clusters). "Superclusters" are clusters of these clusters of clusters. In recent years,<br />
there have been other baffling theories and discoveries. Here are just a few:<br />
• In our universe a Great Wall exists consisting of a huge concentration of galaxies<br />
stretching across 500 million light-years of space.<br />
• In our universe a Great Attractor exists, a mysterious mass pulling much of the<br />
local universe toward the constellations Hydra and Centaurus.<br />
• There are Great Voids in our universe. These are regions of space where few<br />
galaxies can be found.<br />
• Inflation theory continues to be important in describing the evolution of our universe.<br />
Inflation theory suggests that the universe expanded like a drunken balloon-blower's<br />
balloon while the universe was in its first second of life.<br />
• The existence of dark matter also continues to be hypothesized. Dark matter may<br />
consist of subatomic particles that may account for most of the universe's mass.<br />
We don't know what dark matter is composed of, but theories include: neutrinos