String Theory:

A Romance of Many Dimensions

By Nathaniel Craig

T
he fabric of the universe ap-
pears to unfold in four unique
directions. It is within this di-
mensional space that we live our lives,
moving freely in three while being
swept forever along in the fourth. Such
dimensions are integral to our picture
of physics, lying at the very heart of
mechanics, cosmology, and relativity.
Yet as physical theory becomes in-
creasingly advanced and our concep-
tion of the universe transcends per-
ception, additional dimensions
emerge in the framework of space.
Their origins lie in the quest to attain
a complete understanding of our el-
egant universe.
Lingering Doubts
Progress in physics lies in the uni-
fication of diverse phenomena under
the aegis of theory. In-
deed, the most momen-
crete” forces of the universe—the elec-
tromagnetic, strong, and weak forces—
have come together in the imposing
edifice of the Standard Model. Yet cer-
tain unsettling flaws remain in our
theoretical model, some of which chal-
lenge longstanding assumptions re-
garding the nature of the universe (1).
Perhaps the most disturbing of
such flaws lies in the apparent incom-
patibility of general relativity and
quantum mechanics. The former, so
adept at describing the large-scale
structure of the universe and the in-
teraction of gravity and matter, is
predicated upon continuity in the fab-
ric of space and time. The latter, fun-
damental to our understanding of the
microscale, is permeated by probabi-
listic fluctuations on the smallest con-
ceivable length scales. All attempts to
unite the two theories have met with
abject failure (2).
Of further interest is the unique-
ness of gravity in the Standard Model.
Centuries after Newton’s formulation
of the laws of gravitation, the weak-
ness of the force (compared to its three
companions, the electromagnetic,
strong, and weak forces) remains un-
accounted for and unincorporated into
a greater theory of universal forces.
Based upon the scaling strength of
gravity described by Newton, gravita-
tional attraction becomes comparable
to those of the other forces only around
10-35 meters, a distance known as the
Planck length. It is here that the uni-
fication of forces is thought to occur,
some 10 16 times smaller than the
lengths accessible by modern particle
colliders.
Inherently related to the chasm
between gravity and the other three

Credit: Weinberg, Steven. “A Unified Physics by 2050?” Scientific American. (December 1999):
tous advances of the past
have been ones of
consilience, including
Newton’s unification of
terrestrial and celestial
mechanics, the conver-
gence of optics with
theories of electromag-
netism under Maxwell,
Einstein’s unification of
spatial geometry and
gravitation, and the
68-75.

confluence of atomic
physics and chemistry
under quantum me- The Hierarchy Problem: Current experimentation at energies up to 200 GeV has yielded a zoo of particles in close agreement
with the Standard Model. The crux of the problem lies in accounting for the tremendous gap between the electroweak and
chanics. More recently,
gravitational scales.
three of the four “dis-

winter 2002 Harvard Science Review 57

forces is a question known as the hier-

Credit: Weinberg, Steven. “A Unified Physics by 2050?” Scientific American.

archy problem. Experimentation in the
100-1000 GeV realm has already
yielded the unification of electromag-
netic and weak forces at lengths 1016
larger than the Planck length; such a
gap between the electroweak and gravi-
tational scales remains unexplained by

(December 1999): 68-75.

the Standard Model. Physicists have
posited a variety of theories to this
end, including the incorporation of a
new principle of supersymmetry—an
abstract symmetry between particles of
integral spin (bosons) and fractional
spin (fermions). Supersymmetry suc-
ceeds in resolving several key challenges
to the standard model, but it alone
brings physics no closer to the grand
unification of the four forces or the reso-
lution of relativistic and quantum in-
compatibilities. The ongoing quest for
unification has drawn theoreticians
into a reconsideration of our funda-
mental notions of dimensionality.
Cosmic Velcro
The existence of additional spatial
dimensions beyond the perceptible
three is truly at variance with our in-
tuitive understanding of space and
time. In 1919, however, a Polish math-
ematician by the name of Theodore
Kaluza formulated the first persuasive
arguments for the existence of further
spatial dimensions. Working to extend
the equations of Einstein’s general rela-
tivity to an additional circular dimen-
sion (a stretch permitted by the math-
ematical formalism of the theory),
Kaluza produced equations essentially
analogous to Einstein’s that proved to
correspond precisely to the equations
of electromagnetic force developed by
Maxwell some 40 years earlier. Subse-
quent work by Swedish mathematician
Oskar Klein revealed that an additional
circular dimension could exist on
length scales shorter than the Planck
length, and thus well beyond experi-
mental accessibility. The work of
Kaluza and Klein pointed to once-in-
conceivable conclusions: not only is the
A New Take on Matter: String theory describes our familiar pointlike particles, such as these
quarks, in terms of fundamental oscillators.
existence of a compact, circular spatial
dimension possible, but it could have
a profound impact upon the physics
of the universe without being observ-
able in the macroscopic realm.
Though the concept itself is attrac-
tive in an abstract sense, it seems diffi-
cult to grasp the appearance of a com-
pact, circular dimension. A normal
two-dimensional space is rather easy
to conceptualize: motion is confined
to two directions within a plane, much
like a bacterium on a sheet of paper.
By adding a third, circular dimension,
the sheet of paper becomes more like a
piece of Velcro: circular loops extend
from every point of the two-dimensional
sheet. In moving from one point to
another, an object must traverse the
two-dimensional space and an addi-
tional circular loop. For objects sub-
stantially larger than the radius of the
loop, the additional dimension would
be too minute to be noticeable; space
for such objects would seem to consist
only of the two extended dimensions.
Despite tremendous progress, how-
ever, unification through Kaluza-Klein
dimensions remains elusive. In search
of a more complete answer, higher-di-
mensional physics entered the vaunted
realm of string theory.
A Heartbreaking Work of
Staggering Genius
To date the greatest promise for the
unification of general relativity and
quantum mechanics lies in the hands
of string theory. Born of attempts to
characterize certain features of the
strong force, it later came to offer the
hope of unifying gravity with existing
quantum theory. Though the math-
ematics of string theory is almost
hopelessly complex, the fundamental
notion possesses an astonishing sim-
plicity: rather than pointlike particles,
the fundamental constituents of the
universe are one-dimensional filaments
whose vibrations give rise to the ob-
served zoo of elementary particles. The
size of these fundamental strings ap-
pears to be on the order of the Planck
length, 10 -35 meters. Consequently,
any fluctuations in space of smaller
length (such as those introduced by
quantum mechanics) have no effect
upon the behavior of strings. Should
theoretical predictions prove correct,
this aspect of string theory would re-
solve the apparent incompatibility of
quantum mechanics and general rela-
tivity (3).
String theory, like past panaceas of
physics, has not been free of its own
unique problems as early calculations
yielded negative probabilities and
other intractable flaws in its predictive
power. Further investigation revealed,
however, that such calculations were
highly sensitive to the number of de-
grees of freedom possessed by the vi-
brating string (or, equivalently, the
number of dimensions in which the
string was free to vibrate). Negative
probabilities arose from a mismatch

58 Harvard Science Review winter 2002


Brane Worlds: In the present 11-dimensional string theory, six dimensions are curled into a Calabi-Yau
manifold. The remaining four spatial dimensions contain two three-dimensional mirror planes called 3-
branes, separated by a characteristic radius. Alternatively, Randall and Sundrum suggest that the
universe may contain only one 3-brane in an infinitely large universe.
between the requirements of theory
and the constraints apparently im-
posed by reality. If strings were allowed
to vibrate in nine spatial directions, the
conflicting probabilities disappeared.
The geometry of these extra dimen-
sions restricts the various resonant vi-
brational patterns of the strings; these
resonant vibrations, in turn, determine
experimental properties like mass and
charge that define observed particles.
As a result, the geometry of higher-di-
mensional spaces must necessarily be
limited to certain particular forms to
ensure that string theory matches ex-
perimental observations. Such condi-
tions are satisfied by a class of six-di-
mensional geometrical shapes known
as Calabi-Yau spaces; additional di-
mensions with the geometry of Calabi-
Yau manifolds produce our observed
particle zoo from the vibrations of fun-
damental strings.
The dominant view on string
theory has changed significantly dur-
ing the past decades. Attempts to unify
disparate versions of string theory have
led to the genesis of M-theory, an even
more fundamental unifying theory in-
corporating additional structures be-
yond the initial one-dimensional
strings (4). Among these are higher
dimensional objects called p-branes (p-
dimensional “membranes”) arising as
possibility of profoundly different be-
havior at smaller lengths.
The observed inverse square law of
Credit: Gibbons, Gary. “Brane-Worlds.” Science. 287 (2000): 49-50.
gravitation is a necessary consequence
of three-dimensionality. That is, lines
of gravitational force propagate out-
wards over spherical shells of increas-
ing area and, as surface area increases
with the square of the distance, the
strength of the field is effectively “di-
luted” at the same rate. Larger num-
bers of dimensions would alter the scal-
ing of gravitational strength accord-
ingly; for any n spatial dimensions,
gravity would weaken with an inverse
n-1 power law. Our apparent existence
in a three-dimensional world precludes
the possibility of having additional ex-
tended spatial dimensions, but there is
solutions to the Einstein equation in little to prohibit us from considering
the low energy limit of string theory an extra dimension curled into a small
(5). This novel approach offers con- circle of radius R. If we look at field
siderable hope for further refining lines emanating from a tiny point
string theory in a realm that will likely mass, assuming that this extra curled
prove richly rewarding. dimension exists, we see that they are
free to spread uniformly in all four di-
Brobdingnagian Spacetime mensions when they are closer to the
mass than R, and hence the force of
In recent years, theorists have be- gravity falls with distance cubed. Once
gun to develop higher-dimensional the lines have spread out to the full
theories that challenge our assumptions circumference of the curled dimension,
of space-time and gravity. The inverse however, they may only spread
square scaling of gravity, accepted as a through the three extended dimen-
general law ever since its development sions; for distances greater than R the
by Newton, implies that the strength force varies with the inverse square of
of gravity is considerable only near 10-35 the distance. Thus we would remain
meters. It is upon this assumption that oblivious to changes in gravity caused
most notions of unification are predi- by compact dimensions with a curved
cated. Yet verification of Newton’s scal- radius of less than 1 mm (enormously
ing law exists only for distances greater “large” when compared to the size of
than 1 mm, leaving wide open the those generated by string theory), leav-
Credit: Arkani-Hamed, N., Savas Dimopolous, and Dvali.
“The Universe’s Unseen Dimensions.” Scientific Ameri-
can. (August 2000): 62-69.
Curled Dimensions: The existence of a compact circular dimension modifies the propagation of field
lines through space. At distances smaller than the curled radius, lines of force spread through all
dimensions.
winter 2002 Harvard Science Review 59

Adjacent Folds: The existence of parallel worlds on adjacent folds of the same spatial membrane
may explain the gravitational interaction attributed to so-called “dark matter”.
ing open the possibility of identifying
extra dimensions with more refined
experiments.
Among the more significant conse-
quences of additional “large”-radius
curved dimensions is the strengthen-
ing of gravity at small distances. Con-
sequentially, the modified scaling of
gravity with extra dimensions would
cause gravity to reach “Planck-scale
strength” well above 10-35 meter, al-
lowing for a resolution to the vexing
hierarchy problem through the inclu-
sion of enough extra dimensions to
move the Planck scale close to the
electroweak scale (6).
In another variation upon the
theme of additional “large” dimen-
sions, physicists Lisa Randall and
Raman Sundrum have posited the ex-
istence of an extra dimension of infi-
nite extent supplementing our observ-
able three spatial dimensions. The
Randall-Sundrum theory imagines a
slab of curved ambient spacetime
bound at each end by a three-brane
(one of which is our world, the other
of which is some “hidden” world) (7).
Particles in our universe interact gravi-
tationally with the ambient dimension
and the additional hidden world but
remain, as before, confined to our
three-brane. The elaborate hierarchy of
scales observed in our universe may be
accounted for simply by the curvature
of the ambient spacetime alone (8).
This and other creative variations upon
extradimensional theory possess im-
mense potential to eventually realize
the unification of gravity with particle
physics, fundamentally altering our
60 Harvard Science Review winter 2002
the unification of forces draw nearer,
Credit: Arkani-Hamed, N., Savas Dimopolous, and Georgi
Dvali. “The Universe’s Unseen Dimensions.” Scientific
but many present mysteries of cosmol-
ogy and high-energy physics, such as
the observed mass of neutrinos and the
American. (August 2000): 62-69.
origin of “dark matter,” may find an-
swers as well. Far more than a flight of
theoretical fantasy, the physics of ex-
tra dimensions may forever change our
conception of space and time. The tale
of our universe, at heart, may prove to
be a romance of many dimensions.
conception of the universe itself. Nathaniel Craig is a first-year physics and
philosophy concentrator living in
Derridean Dimensionality Pennypacker.
Among the most fascinating recent
developments in higher-dimensional
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