Superstring Theory: what do you think?

[GiLtY]

I was browsing through MSNBC when I came across a brief slide show on superstring theory. To those that don't know (I highly doubt it as most of the ppl in this particular forum is well equipped with knowledge), Superstring is a theory that tries to achieve Einstein's Unified Theory (or something to that extent). In Einstein's Unified Theory he predicts that there's an equation that is able to describe all of the fundamental forces and whatnot.

I was quite amazed with such theory, what do you guys think? If there is a single equation that can describe all of the forces. Seems pretty wild to me but it might work!

PS. I apologize ahead of time for any possible misinformation given above.

Cheers.

--GiLtY

 

[Shalmanese]

Read "The elegant universe" by Brian Greene. One of the most clear and concise Science books I have ever read.

 

[ClueLis]

The superstring theory seems promising in the sense that it can account for occurances very well, but it has some glaring holes (such as, to prove it, you have to divide by infinity ).

 

[mooncancook]

is it really possible to describe the forces in the universe with mathematic equations? after all the world is not mathematic. is there such force as divine force?

 

[JHutch]

It has been said that mathematics *IS* the language of God.

JHutch

 

[GiLtY]

Originally posted by: JHutch
It has been said that mathematics *IS* the language of God.

JHutch

Kind of reminds the movie "Contact", where Jodie Foster said that Mathematic is the only universal language.

--GiLtY

 

[ClueLis]

Originally posted by: GiLtY

Originally posted by: JHutch
It has been said that mathematics *IS* the language of God.

JHutch

Kind of reminds the movie "Contact", where Jodie Foster said that Mathematic is the only universal language.

--GiLtY

Contact was written by Carl Sagan, one of the most prominent Astronomers and Physicists of the half century, so it's fitting that he said that.

 

[McGyver]

Originally posted by: GiLtY

Originally posted by: JHutch It has been said that mathematics *IS* the language of God. JHutch

Kind of reminds the movie "Contact", where Jodie Foster said that Mathematic is the only universal language. --GiLtY

Kind of reminds me that Jodie Foster is super HOT!

 

[Mingon]

I spent some time in denmark visiting schools, I was talking to 1 boy of about 11yrs old who had excellent english and asked to look at his Maths books (its my 'specialist subject'). I then preceded to pick out sentences and read them to him, he was amazed and asked if I understood Danish (which I dont). It was just simple stuff like hypotenuse etc.. but he was impressed.

 

[MisterPants]

Ask Wolfram if math is the universal language. Quantitative theories are limited by our ability to represent things mathematically.

 

[arcas]

Not exactly on topic. But when I was a physics grad student, our department would have a weekly colloquium during which a visitor would give a presentation to the department faculty. One such colloquium discussed string theory. Now, there were already a couple string theorists in the department and, as I found out, there were a couple faculty members who didn't buy into the theory at all. That was the only colloquia I ever attended where a physical brawl nearly broke out. I felt like I was in the audience on a Jerry Springer episode.

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: mooncancook
is it really possible to describe the forces in the universe with mathematic equations? after all the world is not mathematic. is there such force as divine force?

I beg to differ on that one. We may not fully understand it. Our mathematics may often not be a complete a rigorous description - but most of the time for simple and/or limited cases - we can use mathematics very well. I've not seen any evidence so far to suggest that as our knowledge as computational power grow we won't be able the universe with increasing accuracy in the future.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Fencer128

Originally posted by: mooncancook
is it really possible to describe the forces in the universe with mathematic equations? after all the world is not mathematic. is there such force as divine force?

I beg to differ on that one. We may not fully understand it. Our mathematics may often not be a complete a rigorous description - but most of the time for simple and/or limited cases - we can use mathematics very well. I've not seen any evidence so far to suggest that as our knowledge as computational power grow we won't be able the universe with increasing accuracy in the future.

Cheers,

Andy

That's similar to what I was thinking when I read mooncancook's post. We just don't have nearly enough information to describe the world mathematically. We would need one HELL of a quantum supercomputer to be able to just store all that data, much less process it. I believe that if a computer had an exact snapshot of a human body, down the the quantum particles in the atoms, it could likely predict how the person would react to almost any situation, because it could predict the functions of the brain exactly, based on the stored information already there. But that's a long way off. I doubt that computers are presently powerful enough to exactly predict the actions of a single cell.

 

[RossGr]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Fencer128

Originally posted by: mooncancook
is it really possible to describe the forces in the universe with mathematic equations? after all the world is not mathematic. is there such force as divine force?

I beg to differ on that one. We may not fully understand it. Our mathematics may often not be a complete a rigorous description - but most of the time for simple and/or limited cases - we can use mathematics very well. I've not seen any evidence so far to suggest that as our knowledge as computational power grow we won't be able the universe with increasing accuracy in the future.

Cheers,

Andy

That's similar to what I was thinking when I read mooncancook's post. We just don't have nearly enough information to describe the world mathematically. We would need one HELL of a quantum supercomputer to be able to just store all that data, much less process it. I believe that if a computer had an exact snapshot of a human body, down the the quantum particles in the atoms, it could likely predict how the person would react to almost any situation, because it could predict the functions of the brain exactly, based on the stored information already there. But that's a long way off. I doubt that computers are presently powerful enough to exactly predict the actions of a single cell.

Ever hear of a fellow called Heisenberg? His Uncertianty Principle pretty much laid to rest such schemes.
Currently we have very good physical mathematical models. The fact that we are communitating on this message board is a testimony to our ability to match mathematics to the real world. We also are able to send space probes deep into space with knowledge of where they are going and how to get them there, again a testimony to our ability to model the real world with mathematics. We communicate via radiowaves, these waves were initially predicted mathematically by Maxwell. It took something like 20yrs after Maxwell predicted them for Hertz to generate them. While our models may not be perfect they are very good. The match achieved between theory and experiment can be phenomanal.

I fully belive that the god is a mathematician.
See my "god said" link!

 

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally posted by: MisterPants
Ask Wolfram if math is the universal language. Quantitative theories are limited by our ability to represent things mathematically.

I always thought laughter and music were univeral languages too.

 

[roboninja]

Originally posted by: SecretAgentMan

Originally posted by: MisterPants
Ask Wolfram if math is the universal language. Quantitative theories are limited by our ability to represent things mathematically.

I always thought laughter and music were univeral languages too.

Have you ever heard Indian music? Not much universal about that

 

[RadioactiveHamzter]

Originally posted by: SecretAgentMan

Originally posted by: MisterPants
Ask Wolfram if math is the universal language. Quantitative theories are limited by our ability to represent things mathematically.

I always thought laughter and music were univeral languages too.

And would aliens laugh? I always thought it's an oddity that has no real use, aliens would find it quite odd to see someone keel over laughing

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Shalmanese
Read "The elegant universe" by Brian Greene. One of the most clear and concise Science books I have ever read.

Yeah, that is a great book. I got 2/3 of the way through it and then I up and lost it. It was just gone. ARGH.