STRING THEORY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS

RELATED BOOK
String Theory For Dummies

By Andrew Zimmerman Jones, Daniel Robbins

One hope scientists have is that string theory will explain some of the unusual results in
quantum physics or, at the least, reconcile it with general relativity. Quantum physics
traces its roots back to 1900, when German physicist Max Planck proposed a solution
to a thermodynamics problem a problem having to do with heat.

He resolved the problem by introducing a mathematical trick if he assumed that

energy was bundled in discrete packets, or quanta, the problem went away. (It proved to
be brilliant because it worked.) In the process of doing this, Planck used a quantity
known as Plancks constant, which has proved essential to quantum physics and
string theory.

Planck used this quantum concept the concept that many physical quantities come in
discrete units to solve a problem in physics, but even Planck himself assumed that
this was just a clever mathematical process to remove the infinity. It would take five
years for Albert Einstein to continue the quantum revolution in physics.
The blackbody radiation problem, which Planck was trying to solve, is a basic
thermodynamics problem where you have an object that is so hot that it glows inside. A
small hole allows the light to escape, and it can be studied. The problem is that in the
1800s, experiments and theories in this area didnt match up.
A hot object radiates heat in the form of light (hot coals in a fire or the metal rings on
electric stoves are both good examples of this). If this object were open inside, like an
oven or a metal box, the heat would bounce around inside.
This sort of object was called a blackbody because the object itself doesnt reflect
light, only radiates heat and throughout the 1800s, various theoretical work in
thermodynamics had examined the way heat behaved inside a blackbody.
Now assume that theres a small opening like a window in the oven, through
which light can escape. Studying this light reveals information about the heat energy
within the blackbody.
Essentially, the heat inside a blackbody took the form of electromagnetic waves, and
because the oven is metal, theyre standing waves, with nodes where they meet the
side of the oven. This fact along with an understanding of electromagnetics and
thermodynamics can be used to calculate the relationship between lights intensity
(or brightness) and wavelength.

The result is that as the wavelength of light gets very small (the ultraviolet range of
electromagnetic energy), the intensity is supposed to increase dramatically,
approaching infinity.

In nature, scientists never actually observe infinities, and this was no exception. The
research showed that there were maximum intensities in the ultraviolet range, which
completely contradicted the theoretical expectations, as shown in this figure. This
discrepancy came to be known as the ultraviolet catastrophe.

The ultraviolet catastrophe threatened to undermine the theories of electromagnetics

and/or thermodynamics. Clearly, if they didnt match experiment, then one or both of the
theories contained errors.
When Planck resolved the ultraviolet catastrophe in 1900, he did so by introducing the
idea that the atom could only absorb or emit light in quanta (or discrete bundles of
energy). One implication of this radical assumption was that there would be less
radiation emitted at higher energies.
By introducing the idea of discrete energy packets by quantizing energy Planck
produced a solution that resolved the situation without having to dramatically revise the
existing theories (at least at that time).
Plancks insight came when he looked at the data and tried to figure out what was going
on. Clearly, the long wavelength predictions were close to matching with experiment,
but the short wavelength light was not. The theory was over-predicting the amount of
light that would be produced at short wavelengths, so he needed a way to limit this short
wavelength.
Knowing some things about waves, Planck knew that the wavelength and frequency
were inversely related. So if youre talking about waves with short wavelength, youre
also talking about waves with high frequency. All he had to do was find a way to lower
the amount of radiation at high frequencies.
Planck reworked the equations, assuming that the atoms could only emit or absorb
energy in finite quantities. The energy and frequency were related by a proportion
called Plancks constant. Physicists use the variable h to represent Plancks constant in
his resulting physics equations.
The resulting equation worked to explain the experimental results of blackbody
radiation. Planck, and apparently everyone else, thought this was just a mathematical
sleight of hand that had resolved the problem in one strange, special case. Little did
anyone realize that Planck had just laid the foundation for the strangest scientific
discoveries in the history of the world.

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