Christine the Astrophysicist

humblybumbly asked: Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on String Theory?

Well I don’t know much about the topic other than what I’ve read or seen on tv programs, which is all pretty much the same information. String Theory (ST), along with the other contenders for the Theory of Everything (TOE), I think have some good aspects to them. For ST, I like the fact that gravity is pretty much built into the theory and that it acknowledges the existence of a graviton state.

One thing that makes this theory a little unattractive is the fact that it’s not background independent, i.e. the usage of defined equations that are independent of the shape of spacetime. This is where the other TOE contenders, Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) and Causal Dynamical Triangulation (CDT), gain more popularity.