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Physical Society Colloquium
An Introduction to the Brane World Gary Shiu University of Pennsylvania String theory is the leading candidate for the unified theory of all forces in Nature. Recent developments in string theory suggest the exciting possibility that stringy physics may be experimentally more accessible than previously thought. This is due to the ``brane world'' idea in which matter is confined on a four-dimensional membrane whereas gravity propagates in a higher-dimensional spacetime. In this talk, I will review some basic ideas of string theory and how we are led to the idea of the brane world. Some possible tests of these new ideas through particle physics and cosmology will be discussed.
Tuesday, March 5th 2002, 11:00 |