By Sarah Murnane
There are two explanations in physics to explain the element of the universe we live in: string theory, and quantum theory (or quantum mechanics). You may have heard of quantum theory before, it is attributed to the early work of Albert Einstein, but was fully realised in the early 1920s by a plethora of extremely clever physicists. This theory calculates how the physical things in our universe behave the way they do on an atomic level. It explains how the molecules, atoms and subatomic particle behave. These are things that we can test, and clearly attribute to the theories and science found in quantum theory.
The theory unfortunately has a tipping point. While it is great at explaining the small stuff, it cannot explain bigger phenomena. When you try and use this maths to explain larger concepts, such as gravity, it ceases to function. Since these gaps are significant, physicists assumed that there must be an alternative and more comprehensive explanation. Hence, the birth of string theory.
String theory attempts to fill that gaps that quantum theory left behind. It tries to explain larger phenomenon such as gravity or black holes by imagining particles as vibrating strings, these vibrations then have wider effects on our universe. This provided an elegant mathematical solution to the holes of what quantum theory could not explain. Yet again, there was one massive problem with string theory: there was no way to test it. Not a single part of the theory has ever been experimentally proved.
In recent years, many physicists have lost faith in string theory ever producing something quantifiable. Since there is no way to attempt to prove their theories, they wonder what is the point in continuing? Some attempts have been made to re-ignite the theory, that there must be something to gain from it, but it has become vastly less popular. Now physicists are trying to find another explanation. They have gone back to the drawing board, if you will.
What this whole story makes me think about is the extent that people will go to not to be wrong. In this case, humans will burn through money and resources for decades instead of admitting that maybe they were wrong. These physicists pursed every last possible option before finally concluding that they could go no further. In a way this shows humans indomitable spirit, but also makes me wonder, why do we purse things romantically that make no sense? Like in string theory, we will find a million other theories to explain someone’s supposedly unexplainable behaviour. We are all blind to the emotions of others, no matter how hard we try. You can spend your whole life wondering why someone never ended up with you, or invent an entire delicate solution to why your relationship never worked out. It is more likely that things just did not work out, and there is probably no explanation for it that we can understand right now. Things are sometimes simply unexplainable.