String Theory For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 20

Considering Other Ways to Explain the Universe

IN THIS CHAPTER

Some physicists are working in areas other than string theory — honest!

Working around the need for a theory of quantum gravity

Seeking new mathematical approaches while solving string theory problems

In the event that string theory proves false, or that there’s no “theory of everything” at all, some unexplained phenomena in the universe still require explanation. These issues mostly lie in the realm of cosmology, and include the flatness problem, dark matter, dark energy, and the details of the early universe.

Even though string theory is currently the dominant path being explored to answer most of these problems, some physicists have begun looking in other directions, beyond the theory of loop quantum gravity described in Chapter 19. These rebels (and, at times, outcasts) have refused, in many cases, to stick with the mainstream theoretical community in adopting the principles of string theory and have proposed new directions of inquiry that are sometimes extremely radical — though possibly no more radical, in their own ways, than string theory was in the 1970s.

In this chapter, we explain some of the alternative ...