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String Theory for the Scientifically Curious

Public outreach talk
Amanda Peet, University of Toronto

Details

What: Natural Philosophers' Club meeting (open to the general public)
When: March 13th 2012 at 19:30h
Where: Room MP408, 60 St George Street, MP building at UofT

Synopsis

String theory, a part of modern theoretical physics, has wiggled its way into the popular consciousness during the past decade. While the details are technically complicated, the basic idea is stunningly simple - that the fundamental Lego blocks making up matter and force are tiny vibrating strings (rather than infinitely small particles). Some people presenting string theory to the public, like Brian Greene, emphasize its mathematical beauty. By contrast, this presentation will focus on the powerful physics motivations for the invention and development of string theory.

Ideas on the menu will include: cosmology, particle physics, the epic clash between quantum mechanics and Einstein's general relativity, string theory basics, extra dimensions of space, D-branes, the Large Hadron Collider, and Stephen Hawking's black hole information paradox. The presentation will be largely self-contained; no physics or math background will be assumed, other than a layperson's curiosity about physical science.

Amanda Peet is a Professor of Physics and a Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Toronto. They hold a B.Sc.(Hons) from the University of Canterbury and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Their awards include a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. They were one of the string theorists interviewed in the three-part NOVA PBS documentary "Elegant Universe". They grew up in the South Pacific island nation of Aotearoa/New Zealand and have a web site at ap.io/home.

The talk itself will run for one hour. Afterwards, the speaker will field questions from the audience about the physics.

Slides

• All slides (4.5MB .pdf)

Resources for laypeople

Web sites and videos

• Powers of Ten
• The Particle Adventure: fundamentals of matter and force
• superstringtheory.com
• Prof. Leonard Susskind's lectures on Stanford's YouTube channel
• PBS NOVA 3-part TV documentary: Elegant Universe (my interview)
• PBS NOVA 4-part TV documentary: Fabric of the Cosmos

Books

• Universe on a T-shirt, by Dan Falk (Penguin, 2004)
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, by Brian Greene (Vintage, 2000)
• The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, by Brian Greene (Vintage, 2005)
• The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene (Vintage, 2011)
• Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, by Lisa Randall (Ecco, 2005)
• Knocking On Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World, by Lisa Randall (Ecco, 2011)
• Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design, by Leonard Susskind (Back Bay, 2005)
• The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics, by Leonard Susskind (Back Bay, 2009)

Resources for university physics students

Stuff I wrote

• Advice for aspiring string theorists (for high school and undergraduate students)
• Advice for prospective string theory graduate students
• Lecture notes from introductory graduate String Theory course

Stuff other people wrote

• String Theory in the Era of the Large Hadron Collider, by Michael Dine
• A First Course in String Theory, by Barton Zwiebach (2nd edition, Cambridge, 2009)
• String Theory (2 volumes) by Joseph Polchinski (Cambridge, 1998)

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Last updated: 2016/08/16