The Little Book of String Theory (Science Essentials, 11) by Steven S. Gubser (PDF)

Description

The essential beginner’s guide to string theoryThe 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 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.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Stephen S. Gubser, Winner of the 2017 Simons Investigator Award in Physics, Simons Foundation””The Little Book of String Theory by theoretical physicist Steven Gubser puts into words the abstract maths of some of the most challenging areas of physics, from energy and quantum mechanics to branes, supersymmetry and multiple dimensions.” ― Nature”Princeton theoretical physicist Steven S. Gubser opens The Little Book of String Theory with a simple–and highly accurate–sentence: ‘String theory is a mystery.’ You won’t get very far into this excellent book before you’ll be agreeing with him completely.” ― Washington Post”Gubser does a masterly job of introducing string theory in simple terms and without using math. His goal is not to convert people to the cause but to help them better understand the ideas. Cars on a freeway, the vibration of piano strings, and buoys in the ocean are among the examples from everyday life used to explain difficult concepts. This concise yet clear introduction to a conceptually difficult topic is recommended for lay readers in physics and for popular science collections.” ― Library Journal”This is an excellent introduction to string theory for those who are looking for a highly academic explanation. . . . For those new to string theory, this book is full of information and humor and will help readers see the universe in an entirely new way.” ― ForeWord”You will probably finish the book more confused than when you started, but in the best possible way: with profound questions and a desire to learn more.” ― New Scientist”What sets this book apart is that it has been written by one of the foremost experts on the subject. Many of the analogies from everyday life used to explain concepts from string theory are both original and very communicative. . . . I would recommend The Little Book of String Theory even to seasoned researchers in the field. This is a thought-provoking book. With explanations offered in simple words, imagination can fly faster and perhaps lead to new and unexplored areas in the quest for the fundamental theory.” ― Times Higher Education”The Little Book of String Theory succeeds in its mission to carry readers through the tangle of ideas to the intellectual loose ends that physicists love.”—Fred Bortz, Philadelphia Inquirer”But how do we non-mathematicians sort frayed ends from tight theory? Read Steven S. Gubser’s book. It’s clear, concise, turns formulas into words and leaves readers informed, if still incredulous, at the ability of great minds to imagine the unimaginable.”—Leigh Dayton, Australian”There is much in this book I did not understand, but I’ve seen plenty of popular physics books over the last few years. This is the first one in a long time that I both wanted to read and finished; it’s full of fresh material.”—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution blog”With Gubser as our guide science starts to seem less like the exclusive domain of the brainy, and more like a window into the universe that is open for everyone.”—Glenn Dallas, San Francisco Book Review”[T]his book is a concise survey of advanced ideas in particle physics and string theory. But it is also true that every single concept is explained in a very simple and accurate way. This makes the book, while without errors from a physicist’s point of view, accessible to a wide range of readers.”—Farhang Loran, Mathematical Reviews Review “This is an engaging and concise introduction to the main ideas in string theory. Gubser gives us a quick tour of the basic laws of physics as we understand them today, and then demonstrates how string theory seeks to go beyond them. He serves as an artful and attentive guide, as the reader explores the mysteries of quantum mechanics, black holes, strings, branes, supersymmetry, and extra dimensions in the pages of this book.”―Juan Maldacena, Institute for Advanced Study”Steve Gubser has written an engaging and thought-provoking account of what was achieved in physics in the last century and how physicists are seeking to go farther in the ambitious framework known as string theory. This is one of the most thoughtful books on this much-discussed topic, and readers will find much to ponder.”―Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study”This book offers a very nice short introduction to some of the basic ideas and implications of string theory. Gubser knows his subject.”―John H. Schwarz, coauthor of Special Relativity: From Einstein to Strings From the Inside Flap “This is an engaging and concise introduction to the main ideas in string theory. Gubser gives us a quick tour of the basic laws of physics as we understand them today, and then demonstrates how string theory seeks to go beyond them. He serves as an artful and attentive guide, as the reader explores the mysteries of quantum mechanics, black holes, strings, branes, supersymmetry, and extra dimensions in the pages of this book.”–Juan Maldacena, Institute for Advanced Study”Steve Gubser has written an engaging and thought-provoking account of what was achieved in physics in the last century and how physicists are seeking to go farther in the ambitious framework known as string theory. This is one of the most thoughtful books on this much-discussed topic, and readers will find much to ponder.”–Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study”This book offers a very nice short introduction to some of the basic ideas and implications of string theory. Gubser knows his subject.”–John H. Schwarz, coauthor ofSpecial Relativity: From Einstein to Strings From the Back Cover “This is an engaging and concise introduction to the main ideas in string theory. Gubser gives us a quick tour of the basic laws of physics as we understand them today, and then demonstrates how string theory seeks to go beyond them. He serves as an artful and attentive guide, as the reader explores the mysteries of quantum mechanics, black holes, strings, branes, supersymmetry, and extra dimensions in the pages of this book.”–Juan Maldacena, Institute for Advanced Study”Steve Gubser has written an engaging and thought-provoking account of what was achieved in physics in the last century and how physicists are seeking to go farther in the ambitious framework known as string theory. This is one of the most thoughtful books on this much-discussed topic, and readers will find much to ponder.”–Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study”This book offers a very nice short introduction to some of the basic ideas and implications of string theory. Gubser knows his subject.”–John H. Schwarz, coauthor of Special Relativity: From Einstein to Strings About the Author Steven S. Gubser 1972–2019) was professor of physics at Princeton University. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book starts with a brief introduction to the basic laws of physics, and the search for an ultimate theory to explain the physical reality. When the author starts describing the string theory, things get complicated. The reader must bear in mind that this is not an easy field to appreciate since it involves multi-dimensions of space and one time dimension; string theory has 26 dimensions, and superstring theory has 10 dimensions. Besides this, the fundamental particles exist as different vibrations of strings in multi spacetime. It is hard to envision how a four dimensional space would look like, and it would be even harder to appreciate the subject given the amount of mathematics that goes into constructing the theory. Although the book doesn’t involve any mathematics but the author does his best to make the difficult subject interesting.A brief summary of the book is as follows: In string theory, the myriad of fundamental particle types is replaced by a single fundamental building block, a string. These strings can be closed, like loops, or open, like a hair. A string is infinitely thin and has an infinitesimal length of 10e(-34) meters. As the string moves through time it traces out a tube or a sheet (the two-dimensional string worldsheet). Furthermore, the string is free to vibrate, and different vibrational modes of the string represent the different particle types. The particles known in nature are classified according to their spin into bosons (integer spin) or fermions (odd half integer spin). The bosons carry forces, for example, the photon carries electromagnetic force; the gluon carries the strong nuclear force, and the graviton carries gravitational force. Fermions make up the matter like the electron or the quark. The string theory described bosons, it does not describe fermions. By introducing supersymmetry to string theory, we can obtain a new theory that describes both bosons and fermions: This is the theory of superstrings. This theory requires that there must be a special kind of symmetry called supersymmetry, which means for every boson (particle that transmits a force) there is a corresponding fermion (particle that makes up matter). But the problem with this theory is that there are five different superstring theories that display no mathematical inconsistencies and seem to explain bosons and fermions. It turns out that these five are different aspects of one single theory called M theory. This theory is also viewed as an 11 dimensional theory that looks 10 dimensions in spacetime, and propose a membrane as opposed to a string as the fundamental building block. The 11th dimension of the string expands infinitely into a floating membrane. According to this theory, our universe exists on a floating membrane, along with infinite parallel universes on their own membranes. Calculations also suggest that gravity might “leak” into our membrane from another nearby membrane. Thus, accounting for its relatively weak force in comparison to the other three forces (weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force, and electromagnetic force.) One would like to question how could a superstring theory with ten spacetime dimensions turn into a supergravity theory with eleven spacetime dimensions? The duality relations between two superstring quantities relate very different theories; they equate large distance of one theory with small distance of another theory, and exchange strong coupling of one theory with weak coupling of another theory. This seems to suggest that there is another fundamental theory lurking behind this mystery that holds the key for physical reality. Another interesting feature is the compactification of six spaces (out of nine) to allow three spatial dimensions of our world, also lead to the generation of all the known particles of matter.The author notes three existing problems in physics by M theory; the tension in merging gravity and quantum physics; how strings vibrate and move in spacetime; and the evolution of spacetime from mathematical descriptions of strings. The greatest difficulties in unifying general relativity and quantum physics are due to the concept of renormalizabilty. When an electron is probed very close to it by an electric field, it splits into an electron and positron and a photon. The process multiplies due to its quantum physical uncertainties, and continues to form more photons and a cloud of progeny (virtual particles). The amazing thing is that you can keep track of this multiplicity of particles through renormalization, a mathematical method that tracks them all. The process also reduces (normalizes) the infinite mass and infinite charge of the electron (in the above picture) to its characteristic charge and mass. The trouble with gravitons is that you can’t renormalize the cloud of virtual gravitons that surround them. For instance, quantum physical calculation of the force between two gravitons becomes infinite. But unlike particles, strings also respond to one another like gravitons, but they do not form a cloud of virtual particles. This is because the particle interactions occur at a single point of spacetime (at zero distance between the interacting particles) leading to infinities. In string theory, the strings collide over a small but finite distance, and the string breaks smoothly over a distance. Thus we can combine quantum mechanics and gravity, and string excitation that carries the gravitational force with minimal problems.Another interesting concept that emerges from superstring-graviton discussion is the concept of spacetime itself. Although the superstring theory predicts gravitons from flat spacetime physics (classical physics) alone, but string theory also predicts the Einstein equation will be obeyed by a curved spacetime in which strings propagate. Actually the theory adds an infinite series of corrections to the theory of gravity. At distance scales much larger than a string, these corrections are small. But as the distance scale gets smaller, these corrections become larger until the Einstein equation no longer adequately describes the result. This illustrates that the spacetime is not fundamental according to superstring theory, but it emerges only at large distance scales or weak coupling. This has a far reaching philosophical implication about the nature of physical reality as we understand from our interaction with spacetime and matter.1.

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⭐”One of my resolutions is before I die to be able to have a general understanding of relativity, cosmology and related topics. This book was highly recommended to me in understanding string theory…..I was told by someone with no science background that she understood after reading this. Stay tuned!Well, not exactly! Professor Gubser does a spectacular job of introducing the concepts of strings, and “branes” (multidimensional surfaces), as well as explaining the concept of the black hole, which is one of the few constructs in all of this that I do understand. The friend who told me that I would “understand” string theory after reading this book was wrong….I have a better understanding of the concept.What I, and I suspect many others who are fascinated but somewhat learning disabled in these areas need is a book with some basic explanations, e.g.:1) If you have an 11 dimensional “thing” and we can only understand 4 dimensions (including time), what are the other 7 dimensions? Are they mathematical constructs which we cannot visualize?2) We need a concise definition and way to conceive of “spacetime”. This is truly right brain “stuff” and while we understand time and space, I don’t understand how they are one continuum. I THINKI am beginning to understand the relationship between time and the speed of light, but I need a lot more basics in this area.3) In regard to string theory, I have heard it said elsewhere that all subatomic particles are strings. Prof. Gubser seems to make this point as well, but I don’t feel that he does a great job of the big picture, i.e. what is the role of strings and branes in our world……where are they, is all matter made up of them, are they connected, etc.The book was valuable as it is well written and very understandable in parts on an unbelievably complex topic. I need the companion volume with all the answers to the questions that he raises.My “bucket list” item to understand this stuff before I die continues!Recommendations, anyone????????” (Updated 1 second ago)

⭐Gave as a gift to my husband. He loves this book. He loves learning about different theories, and started reading this book in Barnes and Noble. He was devastated when, the next day, it was gone. So, I bought it from here. He was so happy!

⭐Very basic book on the subject. The author does a good job in delivering an understanding of string theory in the most elementary manner possible. I most likely will not buy any more books on the subject as it is too “out there” for me! Particle physics makes more sense than branes, strings & dimensions greater than the four we all know exist.

⭐The typeface of the hardcover book is a bit too small to read comfortably. Maybe I should have twigged that from the title of the book — I thought it was referring to the tiny size of the strings rather than the printing font.As other reviewers have noted, this short and nontechnical book cannot and does not pretend to give a solid introduction to string theory. It seems that string theory is not yet ready for a popular-science exposition. There are interesting insights even though, at many points in the exposition, the authors states honestly that much of the key parts of the theory are too difficult to describe in a popular science book. Fascinating in bits, and if you hold the book close enough and have plenty of light the font is certainly read-able.

⭐Gubser tries to cover a very difficult subject too fast and with inadequate foundations at each stage for the next step of the exposition to be built on. By the final chapters I was skimming to extract what I could from the mass of loosely understood material. Compare this to Schum’s ‘Deep Down Things’ which uses continual reference to a number of images and examples to reinforce the development of the ideas.But it was worth buying the book for one insight: “Time running at different rates in different places IS gravity”

⭐Good read, yet still mind boggling with level physics, perhaps not best for someone with 0 knowledge in physics

⭐It was simply dreadful. Impenetrable account of a complicated scientific concept.

⭐I received the book very quickly and the content was easy to understand, great purchase!

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