The Little Book of String Theory
by Steven S. Gubser
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Description
The Little Book of String Theory offers a short, accessible, and entertaining introduction to one of the most talked-about areas of physics today. String theory has been called the "theory of everything." It seeks to describe all the fundamental forces of nature. It encompasses gravity and quantum mechanics in one unifying theory. But it is unproven and fraught with controversy. After reading this book, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions about string theory. Steve Gubser begins by show more explaining Einstein's famous equation E = mc2 , quantum mechanics, and black holes. He then gives readers a crash course in string theory and the core ideas behind it. In plain English and with a minimum of mathematics, Gubser covers strings, branes, string dualities, extra dimensions, curved spacetime, quantum fluctuations, symmetry, and supersymmetry. He describes efforts to link string theory to experimental physics and uses analogies that nonscientists can understand. How does Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu relate to quantum mechanics? What would it be like to fall into a black hole? Why is dancing a waltz similar to contemplating a string duality? Find out in the pages of this book. The Little Book of String Theory is the essential, most up-to-date beginner's guide to this elegant, multidimensional field of physics. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The bad news: some of Gubser's descriptions are quite baffling and confusing, even in the context of such relatively familiar string-theory concepts as D-branes. The good news: he mentions a lot of concepts (tachyon condensation, solitonic 5-branes, fermionic dimensions, five-color gauge symmetry, ...) one would be hard-pressed to find in any other popular-level account. Deciding, as I almost did, to skip this slim volume on the grounds that I had already read Musser's admirable "complete idiot's guide" on the subject would have been a big mistake.
Another popular science attempt that they had no idea what to do with.
Another popular science attempt that they had no idea what to do with.
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Author Information
7 Works 359 Members
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Little Book of String Theory
- Original publication date
- 2010
- Important places
- Large Hadron Collider
- Dedication
- To my father
- First words
- INTRODUCTION
String theory is a mystery. It's supposed to be the theory of everything. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The big question is, when the blanks get filled in, will the resulting picture reveal the world?
- Blurbers
- Maldecena, Juan; Witten, Edward; Schwartz, John H.
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Statistics
- Members
- 248
- Popularity
- 130,416
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.31)
- Languages
- 5 — English, German, Greek, Italian, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 1
