EPILOGUE 299
higher dimensions by looking at deviations from Newton's
famed inverse-square law at the millimeter scale. (If there is
a fourth spatial dimension, then gravity should fall by the inverse cube, not the inverse square.) The latest version of
string theory (M-theory) predicts there are eleven dimensions.
• Many labs are trying to detect dark matter, since the
Earth is moving in a cosmic wind of dark matter. String theory makes specific, testable predictions about the physical
properties of dark matter because dark matter is probably a
higher vibration of the string (e.g., the photino).
• It is hoped that a series of additional experiments (e.g.,
on neutrino polarization in the south pole) will detect the
presence of mini-black holes and other strange objects by
analyzing anomalies in cosmic rays, whose energies can
easily exceed those of the LHC. Cosmic ray experiments and
the LHC will open a new, exciting frontier beyond the Standard Model.
• And there are some physicists who hold out the possibility that the big bang was so explosive that perhaps a tiny
superstring was blown up into astronomical proportions. As
physicist Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University writes, "A
very exciting possibility is that superstrings ... can have astronomical dimensions ... We would then be able to observe them in the sky and directly test superstring theory."
(The probability of finding a huge, relic superstring that was
blown up during the big bang is quite small.)
Is PHYSICS INCOMPLETE?
In 1980 Stephen Hawking helped to spark interest in a theory of everything with his lecture entitled "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical
Physics?" in which he said, "We may see a complete theory within the
lifetime of some of those present here." He claimed that there was a
higher dimensions by looking at deviations from Newton's
famed inverse-square law at the millimeter scale. (If there is
a fourth spatial dimension, then gravity should fall by the inverse cube, not the inverse square.) The latest version of
string theory (M-theory) predicts there are eleven dimensions.
• Many labs are trying to detect dark matter, since the
Earth is moving in a cosmic wind of dark matter. String theory makes specific, testable predictions about the physical
properties of dark matter because dark matter is probably a
higher vibration of the string (e.g., the photino).
• It is hoped that a series of additional experiments (e.g.,
on neutrino polarization in the south pole) will detect the
presence of mini-black holes and other strange objects by
analyzing anomalies in cosmic rays, whose energies can
easily exceed those of the LHC. Cosmic ray experiments and
the LHC will open a new, exciting frontier beyond the Standard Model.
• And there are some physicists who hold out the possibility that the big bang was so explosive that perhaps a tiny
superstring was blown up into astronomical proportions. As
physicist Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University writes, "A
very exciting possibility is that superstrings ... can have astronomical dimensions ... We would then be able to observe them in the sky and directly test superstring theory."
(The probability of finding a huge, relic superstring that was
blown up during the big bang is quite small.)
Is PHYSICS INCOMPLETE?
In 1980 Stephen Hawking helped to spark interest in a theory of everything with his lecture entitled "Is the End in Sight for Theoretical
Physics?" in which he said, "We may see a complete theory within the
lifetime of some of those present here." He claimed that there was a