Date: May 17, 2012

Title: Encore: The Sound of Strings: An Idea of Design

Podcasters: Micol Christopher & Matthew Graham

Link: This podcast Originally aired on August 22nd, 2010:
http://365daysofastronomy.org/2010/08/22/august-22nd-the-sound-of-strings-an-idea-of-design/

Description: Matthew Graham will describe some of the basics of string theory and provide his own insight into the creationist/science discourse.

Bios: Micol Christopher is a professor of astronomy at Mt. San Antonio College, a two-year school in Walnut, California, about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Matthew Graham is one of Micol Christopher’s astronomy students.

Today’s Sponsor: This episode of “365 days of Astronomy” has been sponsored by iTelescope.net – Expanding your horizons in astronomy today. The premier on-demand telescope network, at dark sky sites in Spain, New Mexico and Siding Spring, Australia.

Transcript:

Matthew: For the past forty years or so, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the extremely bold idea that the universe is not made of particles or single points of matter, but rather these extremely tiny little vibrating strings. The first person to initially try and push this idea, the idea that these ridiculously small vibrating strings were actually at the heart of every molecule and atom in our universe, was Leonard Susskind, a theoretical physicist. Unfortunately, he was not met with much approval and the idea of “String Theory” was left by the wayside.

Decades later and we are just now beginning to scratch the surface of what Susskind had first envisioned in the early 70′s. To try and sum it up, String Theory states that what we perceive to be the smallest particles in the universe are actually nowhere near such a title and that these infinitesimally small strings, residing somewhere around 10-33 centimeters in length, resonate at specific frequencies that cause them to become one thing or another; say a proton or an electron.

The truly great thing about this theory is that it allows for all four of the fundamental forms of energy in our universe to work in symmetry, making sense on both the smallest and largest scales. Up until the idea of String Theory was introduced, there was no way of resolving the differences between the theories of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

An example of these differences takes place inside the workings of a Black Hole. See, General Relativity applies to things on the very large, cosmic scale; Quantum Mechanics to the extremely small, molecular level. The problem? Which laws apply to the inside of a Black Hole: considering that it is both an extreme demonstration of gravity concerning something massively large, and therefore a place for Relativity, condensed to a very, very small scale, which would call for Quantum Mechanics? When trying to apply both equations the functions simply breakdown and give answers that don’t make sense. To put it plainly: you cannot have two conflicting sets of laws governing one universe.

String theory fixes this problem, providing a mathematical solution to unite all four forms of energy: Electromagnetism, the Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, and Gravity. However, the question then becomes “is it really science?” The inherent problem in dealing with something so small is that we cannot see it, and therefore cannot test it. The theory is “safe,” as any scientist would put it. Though strings have come a long way, most recently being dubbed “M” Theory by renowned physicist Edward Witten, they cannot answer some fundamental questions: such as the beginning of the universe.

Now, without stretching your brains too far, understand that String Theory, or M Theory, accounts for the existence of multiple dimensions. Yes, I mean different dimensions of existence, ones that we cannot perceive, and up to 11 of them in fact. These higher dimensions of existence essentially float next to each other, termed “branes,” and never touch. Or do they? One idea is that two branes collided at some point, causing what we call the Big Bang, and quite possibly continue to collide, creating multiple “pocket universes.” These “pocket universes” would literally exist right next to, or even on top of each other, and never realize it. Crazy right?

Well, let us take a look at what this could mean: that we exist, all matter and life as we know it, because we were lucky enough to be in the universe with just the right amount of everything in just the right way at just the right time. Or to put it in terms of String Theory: that everything as we know it exists because each of these strings is vibrating at just the right frequency, like the strings of an orchestra, to provide for our existence. A stretch? Maybe.

Considering that a single pinhead of DNA contains more information than can be stored in a stack of encyclopedias from the Earth to the Moon over 500 times, is it really all just an accident? Or what if in the beginning there was a voice, much like a composer directing that orchestra, and that voice spoke in very distinct ways so as to create very specific things in just the right way, at just the right time, in just the right place? The problem regresses back to the argument “what created the universe?” Well, the Jews called him Yaweh, you might know Him better as God. But of course this brings us to the inevitable question: then what created God?

This is a logical retort, but only in so far as I can throw a tank. If all matter as we know it is bound by certain laws, say the Law of Conservation of Energy in that nothing can come from nothing, then would not there have to be something outside these laws which was in place in order to create this “something?” Some scientists tend to believe that Creationists are looking for a “god of the gaps,” as they denote it. This is simply not true.

Creationists propose that all science can do, and has ever done, is seek to understand how God works. They do not say, “This is how it happened,” rather that, “Oh, this is how God makes it work.” We do not want to stop science; we simply want to be so bold as to say what science is looking at. What proof do you need of the painter besides the painting itself?

Micol: I hope that you have enjoyed this podcast from Matthew. On September 8th you will hear from 3 more of my students as they share their own personal encounters with the night sky and all its wonders. Thanks! Have a great day!

End of podcast:

365 Days of Astronomy
=====================
The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the New Media Working Group of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Audio post-production by Preston Gibson. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. Web design by Clockwork Active Media Systems. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes. Please consider supporting the podcast with a few dollars (or Euros!). Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. Until tomorrow…goodbye.