Exploring the Basics of String Theory: Making Physics Accessible to All

[Tom McCurdy]

String Theory--- I need more

I loved learning about string theory and truly which there were more hours in the day so I could finish reading the books I started in the summer. However I keep finding that I can't stop writing about string theory, something i thought was good at first, but now is getting annoying. It seems like I am pushing string theoy into things it should not go into. I have written about string theory for college applications, and today on the writing SAT II, i believe I screwed myself. The topic was
"A great decision was when _____"

My basic answer was when

Super Symmetery was incorperated into String Theory.

The problem is that I tend to forget how little physics people have. I mentioned the word quark to my mom, and she had no clue what it was. Instead of having time to revise my essay I spent the time trying to "dumb" it down. I need something to write about physics related, perferbly related to String theory that baisc people could understand.

That is my goal of the toe site, if I ever get back to it... damn college apps... I want to make string theory-- easy and friendly to new commers to physics

Anyway this probably should be more of a journal entry but it is my rambling for the night.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Well. I don't think your answer will hurt you on the SAT; they're not looking at content as much as ability to respond meaningfully. And you did. Although it wasn't a decision as much as a happy discovery. Incorporating supersymmetry gave the string physicists suppression of tachyons, which was important to them at the time (today the view of tachyons is more nuanced), as well as providing fermions. Supersymmetry is the only methed quantum field theorists know for getting fermions without just putting them in by hand. (I have to be careful here; there's good stuff in the standard model of the nature of "given fermions, what will they be like?'. But there's nothing in Yang-Mills theory that says you have to have fermions.)

Oh I should point out that Frank "Tony" Smith has a different method of getting fermions into a field theory, which is currently being discussed on sci.physics.strings. Alas, Smith isn't the greatest expositor of his own thought. He really needs a co-author.

 

[Moose352]

Hey Tom,

I took the same SAT!

The topic you picked is fine, in theory at least. The thing you have to remember is that normal high school teachers are grading this, and if they don't understand the topic you are writing about, they will subconsciously take a dislike for your essay. That's at least what people have told me. Especially considering that you only had 20 minutes, it would have been impossible to write on such a narrow field and still maintain any semblance of coherency.

I wrote about Kennedy's decision to commit the US to land on the moon. Still ran out of time though.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

Indeed, infact selfAdjoint's response was pretty close to my essay...

I touched on the problems of tachyon and why it was bad to go faster than c. I did not elaborate though I kept the physics down to a minimum. I tried to express that the choice was for scientists to accept the pre super-string theory version with its tachyon although it violated relativity, or to look for away around the tachyon.

-I am predicting low 600's for the writing section (I hope)

Math and physics went much better

What were the other 2 you took moose

 

[Moose352]

I took Math IIc and Physics late last year, those were easy. See the trick is not to take more than two at a time. By the last one, I stop caring and just put down answers.

Not sure what to expect on writing. I think I probably got about 2-6 wrong on the multiple choice, but my essay was really sketchy. I hope I got > 750.

Good luck!

 

[Tom McCurdy]

What did you get on math and physics last year?

 

[Moose352]

I got 800s on both.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

Congrats-- that is really impressive

 

[da_willem]

I keep finding that I can't stop writing about string theory

Any chance you wrote (or are willing to write ) an introduction suitable for a 3rd year physics student? I would like to learn about it but find all the literature or too difficult or not deep anough. So I would love to read an introduction to string theory with formulas that I can understand. So not using advanced QFT and the most complex algebra's...

 

[Tom McCurdy]

My intro lecture is probably what you consider to be too lght... but you can go to www.quantumninja.com/toe and read my paper... england lecture rough copy
I also have audio available and a power point available

 

[Tom McCurdy]

I recently registerd the domain www.utoe.org and will be working on the site during winter break hopefully... which is when I find out about college applications...

 

[KonradKorzenowski]

apple to atoms to quarks to strings simple OK