The world in eleven dimensions: a tribute to Oskar Klein
File(s)0111237v1.pdf (728.07 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Duff,M.J.
Type
Working Paper
Abstract
Current attempts to find a unified theory that would reconcile Einstein’s General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, and explain all known physical phenomena, invoke the Kaluza-Klein idea of extra spacetime dimensions. The best candidate is M-theory, which lives in eleven dimensions, the maximum allowed by
supersymmetry of the elementary particles. We give a non-technical account.
An Appendix provides an updated version of Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 satire
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Entitled Flatland, Modulo 8, it describes the adventures of a superstring theorist, A. Square, who inhabits a tendimensional world and is initially reluctant to accept the existence of an eleventh
dimension.
supersymmetry of the elementary particles. We give a non-technical account.
An Appendix provides an updated version of Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 satire
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Entitled Flatland, Modulo 8, it describes the adventures of a superstring theorist, A. Square, who inhabits a tendimensional world and is initially reluctant to accept the existence of an eleventh
dimension.
Date Issued
2001-11-26
Citation
2001
Publisher
arXiv
Copyright Statement
©2001 The Author(s).
Identifier
http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0111237
Subjects
hep-th
hep-th
gr-qc
hep-ph
physics.hist-ph
Publication Status
Published