The Elegant Universe Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

by Greene, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780393058581
• ISBN10: 0393058581
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Now with a new preface (not in any other edition) that will review the enormous public reception of the relatively obscure string theory'”made possible by this book and an increased number of adherents amongst physicists'” The Elegant Universe "sets a standard that will be hard to beat" ( New York Times Book Review ). Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter'”from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas'”is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy. Today physicists and mathematicians throughout the world are feverishly working on one of the most ambitious theories ever proposed: superstring theory. String theory, as it is often called, is the key to the Unified Field Theory that eluded Einstein for more than thirty years. Finally, the century-old antagonism between the large and the small-General Relativity and Quantum Theory-is resolved. String theory proclaims that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe, from the frantic dancing of subatomic quarks to the majestic swirling of heavenly galaxies, are reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy, a billionth of a billionth the size of an atom. In this brilliantly articulated and refreshingly clear book, Greene relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind twentieth-century physics' search for a theory of everything. Through the masterful use of metaphor and analogy, The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated viscerally accessible and thoroughly entertaining, bringing us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.

Author Biography

Brian Greene is currently a professor of physics and of mathematics, and codirector of The Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics.

Table of Contents

2003 Preface	vii
Preface	xi
Part I: The Edge of Knowledge
1. Tied Up with String	3	(20)
Part II: The Dilemma of Space, Time, and the Quanta
2. Space, Time, and the Eye of the Beholder	23	(30)
3. of Warps and Ripples	53	(32)
4. Microscopic Weirdness	85	(32)
5. The Need for a New Theory: General Relativity vs. Quantum Mechanics	117	(18)
Part III: The Cosmic Symphony
6. Nothing but Music: The Essentials of Superstring Theory	135	(31)
7. The "Super" in Superstrings	166	(18)
8. More Dimensions Than Meet the Eye	184	(26)
9. The Smoking Gun: Experimental Signatures	210	(21)
Part IV: String Theory and the Fabric of Spacetime
10. Quantum Geometry	231	(32)
11. Tearing the Fabric of Space	263	(20)
12. Beyond Strings: In Search of M-Theory	283	(37)
13. Black Holes: A String/M-Theory Perspective	320	(25)
14. Reflections on Cosmology	345	(28)
Part V: Unification in the Twenty-First Century
15. Prospects	373	(16)
Notes	389	(24)
Glossary of Scientific Terms	413	(14)
References and Suggestions for Further Reading	427	(2)
Index	429