Not even wrong. The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law.

zbMATH Open1128.81025MaRDI QIDQ5395366FDOQ5395366

Authors: Peter Woit 

Publication date: 2 November 2006

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zbMATH Keywords

conformal field theoryM-theorystring theorygauge theorymirror symmetryquantum field theorytopological sigma modeltopological quantum field theoryKac-Moody groupsself-duality equationsWess-Zumino-Witten modelDonaldson theoryMaldacena conjectureChern-Simons-Witten theoryWitten's magical equation

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Applications of vector bundles and moduli spaces in mathematical physics (twistor theory, instantons, quantum field theory) (14D21) Topology of surfaces (Donaldson polynomials, Seiberg-Witten invariants) (14J80) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to quantum theory (81-02) Infinite-dimensional groups and algebras motivated by physics, including Virasoro, Kac-Moody, (W)-algebras and other current algebras and their representations (81R10) Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory (81T13) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30) Two-dimensional field theories, conformal field theories, etc. in quantum mechanics (81T40) Topological field theories in quantum mechanics (81T45) Strong interaction, including quantum chromodynamics (81V05) String and superstring theories in gravitational theory (83E30) Quantum field theory on lattices (81T25) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to relativity and gravitational theory (83-01) Recreational mathematics (00A08) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to quantum theory (81-01)

Cited In (33)

• Arithmetic, set theory, reduction and explanation
• STRING THEORY, THE CRISIS IN PARTICLE PHYSICS AND THE ASCENT OF METAPHORIC ARGUMENTS
• Emergence as a computability-theoretic phenomenon
• Reflections on the deBroglie-Bohm quantum potential
• The Madelung picture as a foundation of geometric quantum theory
• Reverse physics: from laws to physical assumptions
• String theory and general methodology: a mutual evaluation
• Analysis of impossibility of testing spatial noncommutativity using Rydberg atoms in the vicinity of saddle-point in crossed electric and magnetic fields
• A generalization of the Lorentz ether to gravity with general-relativistic limit
• The status of modern five-dimensional gravity (a short review: why physics needs the fifth dimension)
• Induction: a logical analysis
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• A critical look at 50 years particle theory from the perspective of the crossing property
• The electric charge and magnetisation distribution of the nucleon: evidence of a subatomic Turing wave pattern
• Lost Causes in and beyond Physics
• Mathematical Physics
• Physics beyond the multiverse: naturalness and the quest for a fundamental theory
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• The gauge-string duality and heavy ion collisions
• Miracles, misconceptions and scotomas in the theory of solitary waves
• The role of heuristic appraisal in conflicting assessments of string theory
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• Why string theory?
• To explain or to predict?
• A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF PROFESSOR ABDUS SALAM

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