The Little Book of String Theory

TheLittleBookofStringTheoryoffersashort,accessible,andentertainingintroductiontooneofthemosttalked-aboutareasofphysicstoday.Stringtheoryhasbeencalledthe"theoryofeverything."Itseekstodescribeallthefundamentalforcesofnature.Itencompassesgravityandquantummechanicsinoneunifyingtheory.Butitisunprovenandfraughtwithcontroversy.Afterreadingthisbook,you'llbeabletodrawyourownconclusionsaboutstringtheory.SteveGubserbeginsbyexplainingEinstein'sfamousequationE=mc2,quantummechanics,andblackholes.Hethengivesreadersacrashcourseinstringtheoryandthecoreideasbehindit.InplainEnglishandwithaminimumofmathematics,Gubsercoversstrings,branes,stringdualities,extradimensions,curvedspacetime,quantumfluctuations,symmetry,andsupersymmetry.Hedescribeseffortstolinkstringtheorytoexperimentalphysicsandusesanalogiesthatnonscientistscanunderstand.HowdoesChopin'sFantasie-Imprompturelatetoquantummechanics?Whatwoulditbeliketofallintoablackhole?Whyisdancingawaltzsimilartocontemplatingastringduality?Findoutinthepagesofthisbook.TheLittleBookofStringTheoryistheessential,mostup-to-datebeginner'sguidetothiselegant,multidimensionalfieldofphysics.