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The discovery of the AdS/CFT correspondence was a major advance in physicists' understanding of string theory and quantum gravity. One reason for this is that the correspondence provides a formulation of string theory in terms of quantum field theory, which is well understood by comparison.
This is true for string theory as well, but in string theory it is often more intuitive to understand why the non-physical states should be disposed of. The simplest example is the photon: a photon is a vector particle (it has an inner "arrow" which points to some direction, its polarization). Mathematically, it can point towards any direction ...
In 1974, Joël Scherk and John Schwarz suggested that string theory was therefore not a theory of nuclear physics as many theorists had thought but instead a theory of quantum gravity. [53] At the same time, it was realized that hadrons are actually made of quarks, and the string theory approach was abandoned in favor of quantum chromodynamics.
String theory is a theoretical framework that attempts to reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. In string theory, the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how strings propagate through space and interact with each other.
The duality represents a major advance in understanding of string theory and quantum gravity. [12] This is because it provides a non-perturbative formulation of string theory with certain boundary conditions and because it is the most successful realization of the holographic principle.
Development of a quantum theory of gravity therefore requires different means than those used for the other forces. [1] According to superstring theory, or more generally string theory, the fundamental constituents of reality are strings with radius on the order of the Planck length (about 10 −33 cm). An appealing feature of string theory is ...
In string theory, the strings may be open (forming a segment with two endpoints) or closed (forming a loop like a circle) and may have other special properties. [1] Prior to 1995, there were five known versions of string theory incorporating the idea of supersymmetry (these five are known as superstring theories) and two versions without supersymmetry known as bosonic string theories, which ...
This connection has led to important insights into gauge theory and quantum field theory. For example, it led to the discovery of the AdS/CFT correspondence , a theoretical tool that physicists use to translate difficult problems in gauge theory into more mathematically tractable problems in string theory.