String (physics)

In string theory and theoretical physics, strings are hypothetical objects that are believed to be the elementary particles of the universe. If they exist, they would not be point-like particles, but rather 1-dimensional "strings" of energy that vibrate in various dimensions. The image to the right illustrates the various possible dimensions that a string could vibrate in. (Currently, physicists accept the fact that there are at least 11 dimensions in our universe: 1 time dimension and 10 spatial dimensions.) The length of the strings would be determined by Planck length:

${\displaystyle e_{p}={\sqrt {\frac {\hbar G}{c^{3}}}}}$

String theory
Fundamental objects
String Cosmic string Brane D-brane
Perturbative theory
Bosonic Superstring (Type I, Type II, Heterotic)
Non-perturbative results
S-duality T-duality U-duality M-theory F-theory AdS/CFT correspondence
Phenomenology
Phenomenology Cosmology Landscape
Mathematics
Geometric Langlands correspondence Mirror symmetry Monstrous moonshine Vertex algebra
Related concepts Theory of everything Conformal field theory Quantum gravity Supersymmetry Supergravity Twistor string theory N = 4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory Kaluza–Klein theory Multiverse Holographic principle
Theorists Aganagić Arkani-Hamed Atiyah Banks Berenstein Bousso Curtright Dijkgraaf Distler Douglas Duff Dvali Ferrara Fischler Friedan Gates Gliozzi Gopakumar Green Greene Gross Gubser Gukov Guth Hanson Harvey Hořava Horowitz Gibbons Kachru Kaku Kallosh Kaluza Kapustin Klebanov Knizhnik Kontsevich Klein Linde Maldacena Mandelstam Marolf Martinec Minwalla Moore Motl Mukhi Myers Nanopoulos Năstase Nekrasov Neveu Nielsen van Nieuwenhuizen Novikov Olive Ooguri Ovrut Polchinski Polyakov Rajaraman Ramond Randall Randjbar-Daemi Roček Rohm Sagnotti Scherk Schwarz Seiberg Sen Shenker Siegel Silverstein Sơn Staudacher Steinhardt Strominger Sundrum Susskind 't Hooft Townsend Trivedi Turok Vafa Veneziano Verlinde Verlinde Wess Witten Yau Yoneya Zamolodchikov Zamolodchikov Zaslow Zumino Zwiebach
History Glossary

It is still not known whether these strings actually exist. They are pretty much the main topic of string theory.