What are the Strings in String Theory?

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Uploaded 18-10-18 To learn more about 23andMe head to https://23andme.com/spacetime Why strings? What are they made of? How did physicists even come up with this bizarre idea? And what’s all this nonsense of extra dimensions? You can further support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Get your own Space Time t­-shirt at http://bit.ly/1QlzoBi Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime Facebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetime Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com Comment on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pbsspacetime Help translate our videos! https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_... Previous Episode: Computing a Universe Simulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GLgZvTCbaA Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Graphics by Luke Maroldi Assistant Editing and Sound Design by Mike Petrow Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com) In physics we like to reduce down our description of the mechanics of reality to the simplest possible form. We expect the most fundamental machinery to have the fewest possible moving parts – or free parameters. This is why the standard model of particle physics is considered incomplete. Its equations predict many things with stunning accuracy, but they first require us to tune many mathematical knobs and dials. We need to use physical measurement to fix 19 free parameters like the masses of particles. And then there’s gravity, which doesn’t fit into the standard model at all. So surely there exists a deeper set of cogs and wheels – a theory that brings all observable phenomena into the same mechanical framework. That would be a theory of everything, and this is the great hope of string theory. Special thanks to our Patreon Big Bang, Quasar and Hypernova Supporters: Big Bang Justin Lloyd Anton Lifshits CoolAsCats David Nicklas Fabrice Eap Juan Benet Quasar Dean Fuqua James Flowers Mark Rosenthal Roman Pinchuk Tambe Barsbay Vinnie Falco Hypernova Chuck Zegar Dan Harris Donal Botkin Edmund Fokschaner John Hofmann Jordan Young Joseph Salomone Martha Hunt Matthew O’Connor Ratfeast Thanks to our Patreon Gamma Ray Burst Supporters: Alexander Rodriguez Alexey Eromenko Brandon Cook Brandon Labonte Daniel Lyons David Crane Fabian Olesen Fauzan Ardhana Greg Allen Greg Weiss Jack Frosch James Hughes JJ Bagnell Jon Folks Joseph Emison Josh Thomas Kevin Warne Malte Ubl Mark Vasile Nathan Leniz Nicholas Rose Nick Virtue Scott Gossett Shannan Catalano Shawn Azman Tommy Mogensen سلطان الخليفي Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices