Will string theory be proven?
Bigger is better if you're looking for smaller. The Large Hadron Collider is being constructed by CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.
Brian Greene: These ideas, which we have long thought to be way beyond testability, we’ve realized that there’s at least a chance, a glimmer of a hope, that in the next few years some of these ideas may be subject to testability.
That’s Brian Greene of Columbia University – physicist – string theorist – co-founder of the World Science Festival. Today, he’s talking about the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest particle accelerator, scheduled for completion in summer 2008.
Brian Greene: This machine will slam protons against protons at incredibly high speeds. There’s a chance that in debris from those collisions we may be able to see a hint that string theory is correct.
String theory suggests that there are tiny filaments, or strings, vibrating inside the tiniest particles of matter.
Brian Greene: There’s a long shot possibility that you might, in essence, hear harmonics, hear the resonances of strings in these collisions. And that’s what people will be looking for.
If string theory is right, there’s a lot on the line for physics.
Brian Greene: Certainly, if these ideas are right, this might well be the unified theory that Albert Einstein was looking for. These may be the deepest laws governing the finest constituents making up everything in the universe.
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It does not matter how beautiful and elegant a theory is, if it is not based on observations and cannot be verified by experimental data, it is not SCIENCE. In my book GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF THE SUN and an article “New Concepts in Gravitation,” published in Physics Essays, volume 18, pages 37-49, I have presented a new theory of gravitation based on Kepler’s third law which has been verified to very high precision. Also, please see “Problems with the Gravitational Constant” in Infinite Energy, Vlume 10, Issue 59, 2005, page 39.
Mathematics, which is the most advanced science, should be used to analyze observations and experimental data. It should not be used to create a new physical science based on hypothetical equations.
Is the risk of creating Stable Micro Black Holes that could annihilate the Earth and all Life on it worth experimenting to see whether String Theory is right or wrong?
See http://lhcconcerns.com/
If all the taxpayers’ money and numerous scientists’ talent and time wasted to find the nonexistent gravitational waves (LIGO), the frame-dragging (Gravity Probe B), and prove the imaginary string theory (LHC) had been used in research on alternate energy: harnessing of the solar energy and other means of producing clean and affordable energy, the world today would be a better place to live.
There seems to be a general confusion about that if a theory has not YET been tested by experiment then it is not science. In any case, to say that string theory has not been tested is a little harsh as compatibility with all the observations supporting the standard model is no mean feat given that it might not have been (unlike e.g. a genuine non-science like intelligent design that by construction can never be tested by measurement past or future. It remains to be seen whether string theory survives future observation.
i seen no other way to get this out … why isnt it yet possible for cold fusion or free energy i have a theory i want answers to with magnites and electricity thank you…………….EAZY
Pari, while I understand what you mean about the spending of money, bear in mind that velcro came from NASA, Silly Putty was an accident in creating rubber, and potato chips were the result of an angry waitress. You never know what experimenting and the results of trial and error will yield.
Thanks for your comment K7Leetha. To prove Einstein’s purely mathematical theory of general relativity has so far cost the taxpayers more than one billion dollars.
Many of Einstein’s experiments were done hypothetically. Seeing as how many of his ideas were absolutely impossible to fully test in his time, and a few of them still are in such a position. As for the math on the string theory, it has been done, which is what makes it such an outstanding theory. There is no way to “see” the strings but somehow the math surrounding the idea works.