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The Ultimate Physics: A Brief History of String Theory

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 THE ULTIMATE PHYSICS:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF STRING THEORY

Castaly Fan (Chin-Ching Fan)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Physicists have always ushered brand new stages for constructing a perfect
model to describe nature. Nowadays, there are plenty of theories appeared, and parts
of them haven’t been proven yet. However, as Paul Dirac’s saying,

“It is more important to have beauty in one's equations

than to have them fit experiment.” 1

String theory is a typical example. It is not only a physical theory, but also a
combination of mathematics and even aesthetics. Now, let us delve into the
development of this subtle theory.

INTRODUCTION

Since the two cornerstones – general relativity (GR) and quantum mechanics
(QM) – had been established in 21st century, the contour of macroscopic and
microscopic physics has been gradually clear. But they are two extremely different
theories. Not until did quantum field theory (QFT) and standard model (SM) develop,
numerous theoretical physicists started pursuing the unification of theories. In other
words, they in attempt to describe natural interactions through by a theory, including
quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and electroweak
interaction. QFT offered a framework of interpreting strong interaction, weak
interaction, and electromagnetic interaction. Here, the course of unifying physical
theories seems made a great stride. Nevertheless, the gravity, which described by
general relativity, still hasn’t obtained an accurate interpretation. Thus, QFT isn’t a
real “Theory of Everything” (ToE). Despite the fact that lots of high energy theories
have been experimentally proven, gravitational interaction still cannot be included in

1
Dirac (1963) “The evolution of the Physicist's Picture of Nature”. Scientific American 208 (5).
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the framework of grand unified theory (GUT). Is a perfect theory of everything exists?
Or is it just like a mirage? These predicaments have a thread of chance since late
1960s.

Tab I The current situation of unified theories.

Interaction Framework Current theory Further theory
Gravitational General relativity Quantum
Interaction Gravity
Strong QFT, QCD GUT T
Interaction SM, o
Electromagnetic Gauge Theory QED, E
Interaction Electroweak Theory
Weak Electroweak Theory
Interaction

Have the course of unifying physical theories already approached the end? As the
proverb goes, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” There was a theory emerged
fortuitously. It comes from the theory of strong interaction in 1960s, and eventually
turns into a great unified theory via the endeavors of physicists as well as
mathematicians. This is “string theory”, which almost develops a perfect blueprint for
the theory of everything.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF SPACETIME CONCEPT

After Newton’s absolute time and space as well as Minkowski’s spacetime

concept, the follow-up spacetime concept was attribute to general relativity. In 1915,
Einstein wrote down an equation to describe the dynamics of curved spacetime. This
so-called Einstein Field Equation implies that mass and energy of matters generate
gravity, and then cause spacetime being curved.

After this equation put forward, Kaluza-Klein theory (KK theory) generalizing
4-dimensional spacetime in GR to 5-dimensional spacetime and combining gravity
with electromagnetic interaction in 5-spacetime subtly. Then, where is the fifth
dimension? According to KK theory, the 5th dimensions are compactified on extreme
small circles, and particles are able to move along the circles. It’s crucial that KK
theory is historically the first extra dimensional model, and ushers in the course of
unifying natural interactions.

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 As for quantum mechanics, it describes the microscopic physical phenomenon.
Generally, it interprets the spacetime under Planck scale (10-35 m) as the random
structure, namely, quantum foam, and it describes particles by wave functions.
Subsequently, Dirac merged special relativity into quantum mechanics, and wrote
down an equation for spin-1/2 massive particles. Dirac equation also implied the
existence of antiparticles and was usually regarded as the inception of quantum field
theory.

2. THE GOAL OF GRAND UNIFICATION

The ultimate objective of physics lies in accurately describing the vast cosmos.
More precisely, it’s undeniable that there is an interaction existed before the fore
natural interactions were distinguished. If physicists unify these interactions, which
implies combining general relativity with quantum mechanics, then will realize the
birth of universe.

One of other types of unified field theories is guage theory, which combines
mathematically group theory with physically Lagrangian, describes three interactions
of QFT in a mathematical framework. Theoretically, at the moment of Big Bang
(within 10-43 s), the temperature up to 1032 K, which corresponding to 1019 GeV’s
energy. As time elapsed, the temperatue and the energy lower, and the four
interactions were distinguished gradually. It’s hardly possible to prove such high
energy theoies by experiment.

Tab 2.1 The unified theories and the corresponding energy scales.
Unified theory Interactions Energy Scale Time
(After Big Bang)
Electroweak 102 GeV low 10-18 m Large 10-12 s Early
Interaction
○
E + ○
W

GUT 1016 GeV 10-32 m 10-35 s

○
E ,○
W + ○
S

Quantum 1019 GeV 10-35 m 10-43 s

Gravity (QG)
○
E ,○
W ,○
S + ○
G
high Small Very early

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Fig 2.1 The diagram of unifying 4 natural interactions. If one unifies all interactions, it is equivalent to
reconstruct the scenario at the moment of Big Bang.

3. THE ORIGIN OF STRING THEORY

In mathematics and physics, “infinity” or “divergent” is a meaningless result. In

QFT, “renormalization” is a way dealing with divergent problems. Nonetheless, QFT
isn’t the ultimate theory because the inclusion of gravity is involved in more
microscopic scale, even inclusive of the deformation of spacetime structure. Therefore,
renormalization cannot be used in the theories which gravity included.

In 1960s, the theories about strong interaction manifest the existence of infinite
hadrons. Besides, these particles are mostly unstable, and they cannot be compute by
the perturbative way. In 1968, Gabriele Veneziano accidentally found a formula can
interpret the amplitude of hadron. Shortly after, Leonard Susskind and Yoichiro
Nambu found that point-like particles can be interpreted as one-dimensional strings
through the formula above. As a consequence, the so called “string theory” has born.
We can also realize that string theory stems from mathematics, which plays a crucial
role in the development of string theory afterward.

String theory lays a foundation since Nambu and Polyakov figured out the
actions of strings. In the string theory, the tension and the vibration of strings are
respectively corresponding to the mass and the spin of particles. Then, how small is a
“string”? Theoretically, the scale of strings is equivalent to the Planck scale. As we
showed in table 2.1, the corresponding energy is approximately 1019 GeV, which is far
beyond the energy scale of LHC experiment. In general, strings can be classified as
open string and closed string. The surface which a string swept by is named
“worldsheet”, which is a Riemann surface, is usually used to study the interaction of
strings. In addition, the interaction of strings is usually determined by coupling
constant. The closed string coupling constant is equal to the square of open string
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coupling constant. As for the concept of strings’ vibration, it is analogous to the
standing wave in quantum mechanics. Accordingly, we can make a conclusion as
following:

1. String theory is essentially a quantum theory.

2. Different vibration modes of strings are corresponding to different particles.

Bosonic string theory is the first string theory. It has 26 dimensions, which
comes from the Riemann zeta function2. The important fact is that we can confirm
again string theory has deep association with mathematics. Although the bosonic
string theory can describe the bosons of SM, there are two deficiencies of the theory.
First, the existence of tachyon implies the instability of a theory3. Second, the theory
couldn’t describe other particles of SM such as fermions. At the same time, QCD has
sprung up whereas string theory couldn’t describe many facts about strong interaction.
Therefore, string theory had hit bottom for a few years.

4. THE FIRST SUPERSTRING REVOLUTION

Physicists have assumed the existence of a unique symmetry, that is,

supersymmetry. In general, it is symmetry which relates bosons to fermions, and it
can deal with lots of problems of particle physics as well as cosmology. When bosonic
string theory met downturn, parts of physicists haven’t given up. Shortly after,
Michael Green and John Schwartz evaluated the dimensions of spacetime, and
generalized supersymmetry from 10-dimensional to 4-dimensional spacetime.
Eventually, string theorists introduced supersymmetry to the spacetime through GSO
projection, which mapped out tachyons successfully. Thus, the real “superstring
theory” had born, and the success has brought from some eminent string theorists
such as John Schwarz and Michael Green led to the first superstring Revolution.

Moreover, there is a spin-2 massless fermion called graviton was predicted from
the era of bosonic string theory. Graviton serves as the closed string in string theory,
and the existence of graviton implies string theory is a “quantum gravity” theory.
During the first superstring revolution, physicists found the soliton solution in string
theory, which implies there are 2-dimensional “branes” even other higher dimensional
objects exist in string theory rather than 1-dimensional strings only. In 1989, Joseph

2
The most famous formula is: 𝜁(−1) = 1 + 2 + ⋯ = −1/12, which is a subtle mathematical result.
For this reason, it is also obvious that string theory is based on pure mathematics to some extent.
3
Physically, tachyon is a hypothetical particle which always moves faster than light.
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Polchinski found that open strings attached to a brane based on the Dirichlet boundary
condition of their endpoints. The brane is called “D-brane” or “Dp-brane”, where “p”
is referred to the dimensions of the D-brane. For instance, D0-brane is a point-like
particle, and D-1 brane is exceptionally named “instanton”.

Fig 4.1 The diagram of D-branes, which is the object open strings attached to.4

Superstring theory has 10 dimensions; the strings vibrate in 10-dimensinal

spacetime corresponding to the particles in 4-dimensional spacetime. One of great
stride during the first superstring revolution was the proposal of five types of
superstring theories: type I, type IIA, type IIB superstring theory; HO as well as HE.
The “heterotic string theory” is the combination of left-moving 26-dimensional
bosonic string and right-moving 10-dimensional superstring, which respectively
corresponding to the gauge group 𝑆𝑂(32) and 𝐸/ × 𝐸/ (Tab 5.1). Furthermore, the
low energy limit of superstring theory is the supergravity (SUGRA) theory, which can
be regarded as the combination of supersymmetry and gravity. On the whole, the main
accomplishments during the first superstring revolution as the following:

1. 1984: Green-Schwarz mechanism was introduced, which cancels the

gauge anomaly of type I superstring theory through 𝑆𝑂(32) gauge group.
2. 1985: The heterotic string theories were proposed, and five types of
superstring theories were established.
3. 1985: In 10-dimensional spacetime, the extremely small 6-dimensional
extra dimensions were compactified on the Calabi-Yau manifold, and then
obtain the 𝑁 = 1 supersymmetry.

4
Source from: Katrin Becker & Melanie Becker & John Schwarz (2007). String Theory and M-Theory:
A Modern Introduction. Cambridge Press.
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 Fig 4.2 Compactified spacetime: String theory predicted the spacetime has 10 dimensions, and the
6-dimensional space was hidden in the extremely small scale as the form of the Calabi-Yau manifold.
Based on mirror symmetry, Calabi-Yau manifolds exist everywhere.5

5. THE SECOND SUPERSTRING REVOLUTION

In 1995, Edward Witten pointed out: five types’ superstring theories are actually
the different parts of a theory, and each of them is connected by the dualities. The
mysterious theory is named “M-theory”. The theory has 11 dimensions, and the
leading role of strings have been replaced with “branes” here.

Tab 5.1 The features of bosonic string theory, superstring theories, and M-theory.
Theory Dimension String’s type Dp-brane
Bosonic string theory 26-D Open/closed 26

Super-str Type I 10-D Open/closed 1, 5, 9

ing
theory Type IIA Closed 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
Type IIB Closed -1, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
HO Closed None
HE Closed None
M-theory 11-D None None

Duality is a subtle relation between superstring and M-theory, such as T-duality,

S-duality, and U-duality (Tab 5.2). For instance, if one compactifying the type IIA
superstring theory on a circle with radius R, it would equivalent to the type IIB
superstring theory compactified on a circle with radius 1/R under T-duality

5
Source from: Brian Greene (1999). The Elegant Universe. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
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description. On the other hand, type IIB superstring theory contains D-string
(D1-brane) and F-string (fundamental string), and the D-string under strong coupling
limit is equivalent to the F-string under weak coupling limit, which means type IIB
superstring theory has the self S-duality. Besides, if one enlarges the coupling
constant of type IIA superstring or heterotic 𝐸/ × 𝐸/ string, the 1-dimensional string
would turn into the 2-dimensional brane (or torus), which implies the 10-dimensional
superstring theory becomes the 11-dimensional M-theory. In fact, the low energy limit
of M-theory is the 11-dimensional supergravity.

It’s subtle that we can open the new dimension through changing the coupling
constant. The fact is also viewed as the innovation of spacetime concept.

Tab 5.2 The typical dualities in the superstring theory.

Duality Factors Connected Theories
T-duality Radius of the compactified space IIA↔IIB HO↔HE
S-duality Coupling constant IIB↔IIB I↔HE
U-duality Coupling constant / dimension IIA↔M HE↔M

Fig 5.1 The dualities: there are dualities connected superstring theories with M-theory.

The discovery of branes, dualities, and M-theory bring about the second
superstring revolution. There are also plenty of theories had born during that period:

Ø String landscape: The stable vacua solution evaluated through string

theory is up to 10500; each of them represents a universe. It’s the proof of
multiverse based on string theory.
Ø Brane cosmology: Our universe is just a brane embedded on higher
dimensional spacetime. There’s only closed strings (gravitons) interact
between the branes, and the collision of branes is regarded as the Big Bang.
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 Ø AdS/CFT correspondence: Proposed by Juan Maldacena in 1997, the
correspondence associates the type IIB superstring theory in 10-dimensional
Anti-de Sitter space (AdS) with the conformal field theory (CFT) such as
supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in 4-dimensional spacetime. The
significance of AdS/CFT correspondence is the relation of quantum gravity
and quantum field theory. Thus, it’s also named “gauge/gravity duality”.
Ø Holographic principle: A hypothesis regards our universe as a
3-dimensional hologram projected by the 2-dimensional boundary.

In effect, AdS/CFT correspondence is the part of holographic principle.

Holographic principle implies the real world is 2-dimensional rather than
3-dimensional, and everything in the universe is just like the 3-dimensional
“hologram”! Recently, the most popular field of string theory is string
phenomenology such as the AdS/CFT correspondence and the string cosmology,
which attempts to interpret the real world by abstract string theory.

6. PROSPECT

In a nutshell, the development of string theory is pretty special. It comes from

strong interaction and turns into the candidate through twice revolutions. Also, string
theory is the product of both physics and mathematics. The theory reached the zenith
when M-theory and AdS/CFT correspondence were purposed. The most significant
connotation of AdS/CFT correspondence is that it abridges the distance of the
“abstract world” and the “real world”.

The theory of everything attempts to unify all natural interactions, and describe
the universe in detail by a theory. In other words, from microscopic quantum world to
macroscopic cosmos, physicists expect all phenomena can be described by a concise
equation. Currently, there’s no denying that string theory is the optimal candidate of
theory of everything. Not only does string theory become the ultimate theory, but
subvert our familiar spacetime concept. Without a doubt, string theory let us know ─
physics, mathematics, geometry, and aesthetics ─ they seem to have pretty
interdependent associations beyond our comprehension.

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 REFERENCE

1. Brian Greene (1999). The Elegant Universe. New York: W. W. Norton &
Company.
2. Juan M. Maldacena. (1998). The Large N Limit of Superconformal Field
Theories and Supergravity. Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics 2,
231-252
3. Katrin Becker & Melanie Becker & John H. Schwarz (2007). String Theory and
M-Theory: A Modern Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Leonard Susskind. (1995). The World as a Hologram. Journal of Mathematical
Physics, 36:6377-6396.
5. Michael B. Green & John H. Schwarz & Edward Witten(2012).Superstring
Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Paul Dirac. (1999). The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. UK: Oxford
University Press.
7. Shing-Tung Yau and Steven J. Nadis (2010). The Shape of Inner Space. US: Basic
Books.

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