Читать книгу String Theory For Dummies - Andrew Zimmerman Jones - Страница 19

Hand in hand with the question of quantum gravity, string theory attempts to unify the four forces in the universe — electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and gravity — together into one unified theory. In our universe, these fundamental forces appear as four different phenomena, but string theorists believe that in the early universe (when there were incredibly high energy levels), these forces are all described by different types of strings interacting with each other.

That such a unification may be possible isn’t entirely surprising to physicists because they discovered 50 years ago that two of the forces are actually one and the same: The electromagnetic force and the weak force can be combined in the “electroweak” force. (If you’ve never heard of some of these forces, don’t worry! We discuss them individually in greater detail in Chapter 2 and throughout Part 2.)