Oxford University Physics Society: Christopher Beem "String theory and the Geometry of Spacetime"

String theory (in its most traditional form) postulates that the basic dynamical objects of the natural world (or perhaps of some other hypothetical world) are not the point particles of traditional particle physics, but instead are fundamental strings, which have a single dimension of spatial extent. When combined with the general principles of quantum theory, this string postulate has many surprising consequences which have motivated extensive research in the area over the past half century. In the first half of this lecture, I provided a speedy recap of several of string theory’s best known claims to fame, as well as some of the challenges facing the subject at present. In the second half of the lecture I explained that in a stringy world, our most basic intuitions of the structure of space(time) itself can be radically modified. These ideas are not only physically fascinating, but they have led to important insights in the world of pure mathematics. Books Prof Beem recommends as an introduction: A First Course in String Theory, by Barton Zwiebach Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, by Anthony Zee