String Theory in Three Minutes

<p>20th-century physics says everything is made up of point particles with a bunch of different properties. But where do these properties come from and where does gravity fit in?</p> <p>Particle physics is a bit of a&nbsp;misnomer&nbsp;&mdash; modern understanding suggests these particles are excitations in quantum fields. So, really,&nbsp;<em>field&nbsp;</em>physics is more appropriate &mdash; this is incomplete too since we fail to explain gravity. Turns out, we can get a self-consistent explanation of all particles and gravity if we concede that they&rsquo;re tiny little strings. The way these strings vibrate determines their properties and ultimately, the particle. Instead of points tracing out lines (as in Feynman diagrams), these strings trace out two-dimensional surfaces as they move through space and time. This is how we describe interactions between them.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/quantaphy/string-theory-in-two-minutes-df16ac87f707"><strong>Website</strong></a></p>