Conrad 1

Ethan S. Conrad

Malcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

March 30th, 2019

All Tied Up With String: How Does String Theory Fit in Modern Physics? Commented [CA1]: Lowercase

At the turn of the century, a young physicist turned the world of physics upside with a theory that Commented [CA2]: No in-text citations on first 2 pages

Shorten Paper, summarize side points and emphasize main

would become an integral part of the understanding of how gravity and light interact with each point

other. This physicist was an Albert Einstein, of course, and what was so unusual about his Commented [CA3]: Awkward Phrasing

research was that it veered in a different direction than that of his peers, who were more largely

focused on the emerging idea of quantum mechanics, or quantum physics depending who is

speaking; I will most likely use both nomenclatures. Einstein himself, while respecting quantum Commented [CA4]: Remove

physics, also despised it. One way to sum his thoughts up is through his quote: “God does not

play dice with the universe”. This states that he doesn’t agree with the unpredictable aspects of Commented [CA5]: In quotation

the universe that is brought on with the principles of quantum mechanics; rather, he is a fan of a Commented [CA6]: Are

universe that runs like clockwork. Another prominent physicist that stirred the community as

well as becoming quite the pop-culture icon, Stephen Hawking, countered Einstein saying: “Thus

Einstein is doubly wrong when he said, ‘God does not play dice’. Not only does God definitely

play dice, but he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can’t be seen”. To Commented [CA7]: In quotation

decipher this a bit, he agrees with quantum physics and its fundamental unpredictability as well

as the idea that comes with it about quantum tunneling; but we will unbag that later, perhaps. Commented [CA8]: summarize
Commented [CA9]: Awkward
We can already see that there is a disconnect between the ideas of these two men that are

both regarded highly within contemporary society, but they also have something that connects
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them as well. Both men dedicated the back half of their careers to finding the unifying theory Commented [CA10]: “something in common”/”a
similarity”
that would bridge the gap between relativity and quantum mechanics. The problem between the

two goes as follows: in their own respects, both theories work perfectly at describing the

universe, but when you try to connect them, they do not play well together and break down

completely.

Kind of a fountain of youth or holy grail of modern physics is the idea of a grand unified

field theory, or as it is also more commonly referred to, the Theory of Everything. This “Theory

of Everything” remained/remains elusive to both Einstein and Hawking to the day they died; Commented [CA11]: Remained

however, the answer may have arrived in the form of a theory known as “String Theory”. You

may have heard this mentioned before through a show called “The Big Bang Theory” where a

young theoretical physicist named Sheldon does research on it. To understand what the theory is Commented [CA12]: Possibly Omit

and how it does a bang-up job on unifying the two theories that it does, you will first need an Commented [CA13]: phrase

elementary understanding of the three aspects of physics that predate the idea: classical

mechanics (Galilean/Newtonian/Classical physics), relativity (special and general), and quantum

mechanics. I don’t expect you to be an expert in either by the end nor do I plan on going to in-

depth with the mathematics, just enough of the ideas to have basic understanding. Commented [CA14]: Omit. Also write in past tense, as if
you have already written the paper

Newtonian Physics and the Origin of Gravity:

Even if you haven’t taken physics in high school or college, you have most likely heard

of Isaac Newton and his three laws of motion. If not, then to summarize he was an English clerk

that pondered the laws of universe in his free time, became the father of calculus, and determined

three physical laws that still hold true today. Those laws are as follows: an object with no force

acting on it will remain either at rest or continue moving in a straight line until a force acts on it;
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force is the product of mass and acceleration; and if something has force acting on it, that

something will react with an equal amount of force in the opposite direction. Newton can also be Commented [CA15]: Common Knowledge, Possibly Omit

credited for having developed the law of universal gravitation which states that all objects of

mass exert some gravity that will attract two bodies together. Take, for example, the earth and a

person. Due to Newton’s third law, the earth exerts a force of gravity which is strong enough to

keep the person fastened to it, but the person also exerts a force on the gravity that fastens the

earth to them. Because the mass of the person is essentially non-existent compared to the mass of

the earth, the earth would not “feel” the pull from the person as the person would feel the pull of

the earth, as the force of gravity is directly proportional to the mass of an object. Commented [CA16]: Omit

Galilean Relativity:

Now that we have an idea of Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation, we have

a firm understanding of the origins of the idea of gravity, which will help when me move on to

the Einstein’s relativity, although we are now there yet. Right now, we will discuss the Commented [CA17]: Introduce
Commented [CA18]: Omit
beginnings of relativity: Galilean relativity. Galileo stated that two observers moving at a

constant speed and direction would calculate the same results for all mechanical experiments.

Another way to put this is that the laws of motion are the same within all frames of reference

(Lamb). Imagine this, you are driving down the road at sixty miles per hour and you friend in the

back seat tosses a bottle to the front at a speed of five miles per hour and accidentally hits you

with it; don’t really worry about the numbers, as I am just trying to make a point. Relative to

those in the car and the car itself, the cd is only traveling forward at a speed of five miles per

hour because the people inside are moving at the same speed of the car. Now imagine a person is

standing on the side of the road in his car which has unfortunately broken down; if he was to
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witness the who escapade goes down, he would see a car go by with a speed of sixty miles per

hour with the cd moving an additional five miles per hour within the car. The outside observer,

in total, would see the cd moving at a speed of sixty-five miles per hour since he is standing still

in relation to the car. Even though the cd would hit you and you would only feel the impact of it

moving five miles per hour, the outside observer would feel the force of it traveling at a

whopping sixty-five miles per hour. What if you shine a flashlight forward rather than throwing a Commented [CA19]: Summarize or omit

cd? This is where the problem arises. According to Galilean relativity, the light would travel

sixty miles per hour faster to the observer which is incorrect. This was proven by two American

physicists, Albert A. Michelson and Edward Morley, in 1879 where they found that the speed of

light travels at a constant 186,000 miles per second whether the source is stationary or moving,

thus creating a problem with the prediction set forth by Galileo (Lamb).

Einstein’s Special Relativity:

Before we dive in and I confuse you with terms you might now know, lets get some Commented [CA20]: Formal
Commented [CA21]: Let’s
nomenclature and small details out of the way. The reason this is called “Special relativity” is

because it only applies to very specific situations where the different frames of reference are not

accelerating; meaning that the frames of reference are either stationary or moving with a constant

acceleration (Crash Course). These frames of reference are called inertial reference frames

(Crash Course). Special relativity was introduced in 1905 by Albert Einstein and is good for

explaining the behavior of things when they are moving at very fast speeds, more specifically a

fraction of the speed of light. When things are moving this fast, traditional Newtonian physics

doesn’t always work the way we want it to. Special relativity is built around two main

assumptions, also know as postulates (Crash Course). The first one states that the laws of physics Commented [CA22]: Known
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are the same for all inertial reference frames (Crash Course). This means it does not matter

which frame of reference the observer is in, the equations used will apply no matter what, this is

because there is no way to distinguish between reference frames. Let us recall the example we

used in the previous section. For the observer sitting in the car as it passes the person on the side

of the street is that he is sitting perfectly still as the person on the outside zooms by; while the

person on the outside stays still while the car moves past it. The second postulate states the speed

of light will remain the same for all observers in a vacuum (Crash Course). I am sure that you are

aware that I am not referring to a vacuum cleaner but just in the slight chance you do not know

what I mean; a vacuum refers to the absence of matter, including air. So the speed of light,

186,000 miles per second, for any observers whether or not the source of the light is moving or

not. Commented [CA23]: Informal and common knowledge

Let us say that we paint some big flames on the side of the car which make the car super-

fast; half the speed of light fast. The second postulate states that the light come from the

headlights, despite the car’s insane velocity, is still only traveling at 186,000 miles per hour.

Take the equation for distance, d, which is the product of velocity, v, multiplied by time, t:

𝑑 =𝑣 ×𝑡

Special relativity states that since the velocity of the speed of light is constant, then the only

things able to change in the equation are the time it takes to reach a certain distance, or the

distance able to be covered in a certain time (Crash Course). When time is the variable that is

changing, it is called time dilation and when distance is the variable changing, it is called length Commented [CA24]:

contraction (Dave). Commented [CA25]: Remove Italics

Time dilation occurs when another reference frame is moving relative to the one that you

are in, so time in the moving reference frame slows down relative to the time the non-moving
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reference frame measures. Let us give our observers some names; the observer standing Commented [CA26]: Source

stationary is named Jimmy and the one in the car is named John. Imagine this on a two-

dimensional plane, like a graph. John shines a flashlight at a mirror in the car that is five meters,

5m, away (imagine the car is really big). For John, everything is simple, the light travels five

meters to the mirror and five meters back at the speed of light with no disparity because the

mirror and John are both moving at the same speed and appear stationary to each other. Jimmy

also sees the light bounce of the mirror, as well; however, the car which contains both the mirror

and John and is changing its position in relation to the stationary Jimmy. Imagine the light’s path

as three points: its starting point from John, the mirror, and then back to John. The light will

travel diagonally to the mirror which has traveled sideways a distance from its original point and

then back to John which has traveled another distance sideways that is double his original

position. That may be a little hard to comprehend so I drew it out (keep in mind I am not an

artist).

This figure shows what John observes. Commented [CA27]: Omit Images, describe in words
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This figure shows what Jimmy observes.

The result of the observation from Jimmy’s perspective is he sees the light travel diagonally and

create a triangle. From Jimmy’s point of view, the light travels a greater distance than that from

John’s point of view. Going back to the equation for distance previously mentioned, and with

special relativity telling us that the speed of light remains constant, we can conclude that because

the light travels a greater distance from Jimmy’s reference point, it will also take more time to

travel that distance. Jimmy and John are both measuring the same order of events, but because

Jimmy has measured a greater time, time has slowed down for John. This is time dilation. I wont

bog you down with too much math, but the equation of time dilation goes as follows (Dave):

1
𝛾 =
2
√1 − 𝑣2
𝑐

Where v is the velocity of the moving reference frame and c is the speed of light. Gamma must

always be greater than the 1 because the velocity of the moving object must be less than the

speed of light. Velocity cannot reach the speed of light because if it does then the denominator of

the fraction becomes zero and the fraction becomes impossible. So, the time of the moving

reference frame can be modeled by:

𝑡 = 𝛾𝑡0
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Where t is the time of the stationary reference frame with respect to the events in question which

is equal to gamma, γ, multiplied by t0, the time of the moving reference frame with respect to the

events in question. Imagine Jimmy and John time out a trip traveling in his car which is moving

at half the speed of light. At the end of John’s trip, John looks at his watch and sees that an hour

has passed for him. John is at rest with respect to the events in question because he is not moving

relative to the car; however, Jimmy is. Using the equations above, we can see that while only an

hour has passed for John, nearly an hour 1.15 hours has passed for Jimmy.

Because time can pass with different magnitudes relative to a person’s frame of

reference, there is no such thing as things happening exactly at the same time for two people:

simultaneity. However close the times may be, they will not be exact. Let us say two bolts of

lighting strikes each side of Jimmy and he perceives the strike at the same time, John will see the

bolt that strike closest to him first, and the one farther away from him second as he passes by at a

different time interval than Jimmy.

Length contraction means that if something is moving relative to you, its length will seem

shorter than if it was not moving. You can find out just how much somethings length contracts

by using the equation (Dave):

𝐿 = 𝛾𝐿0

Where L is the contracted length and L0 is the proper length, or the length that is observed by the

stationary reference point. Let us say that John measures his car to be sixty meters in length. As

John takes off at half the speed of light, the car will appear to be smaller to Jimmy and contracted

at a length of 51.9 meters while it would still appear to be 60 meters to John. This is because the

proper length to John is 60 meters since he is at rest in relation to what is being measured

compared to the moving reference frame which in this case is Jimmy. In contrast, John would see
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a distance that he traveled to from where Jimmy is standing as shorter compared to the distance

that Jimmy sees. This is because Jimmy is stationary to the proper length, in this case the

distance from Jimmy to John’s destination.

Even if you know nothing of Einstein, I am still certain that you know of or have at least

seen his most famous equation: the mass-energy equivalence outline.

𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2

This states that energy, E, is equal to mass, m, times the speed of light squared, c2. Although light

has no mass (Dave), it is still an integral part of the equation. Let us first look at the equation for

momentum:

𝜌 = 𝑚𝑣

Where ρ is momentum, m is mass, and v is velocity and reads as momentum is the product of

mass times velocity. Because momentum is directly proportional to both mass and velocity, as

either increases, so will momentum. But as velocity approaches the speed of light, relativistic

effects take place and relativistic momentum comes into play which includes an additional term:

gamma (Dave):
𝑚𝑣 𝑚𝑣
𝜌= =
𝛾 2
√1 − 𝑣2
𝑐

As velocity increases, so does its relationship with the speed of light, v2/c2, and overall gamma

decreases. When gamma decreases, relativistic momentum will increase overall. This square of

relativistic momentum, know as a Lorentz invariant, is conserved for all inertial reference frames

(Dave). For our everyday speeds, this is imperceptible which is one of the reasons that special

relativity goes unnoticed in out day to day lives. However, as an object’s velocity approaches the

speed of light, its momentum grows exponentially and approaches infinity (Dave). This is
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another strong case against any object of mass reaching the speed of light, because it would

require an object to have an infinite amount of energy to reach it. Through much derivation we

will get the familiar equation that states that energy and matter are the same, and to get the

energy from some matter, you take the mass and multiply it by the speed of light squared.

Einstein’s General Relativity:

Eleven years after his publication of his theory of special relativity, Einstein would

produce his theory of general relativity in 1916. The purpose of general relativity is to expand

special relativity from inertial reference frames (no acceleration) to all reference frames and

explain the geometry of spacetime itself (Dave). The mathematics that go into a proper

explanation to get a full understanding go way above the relativity sparse amount of differential

geometry and multivariable calculus knowledge that I have so there will most likely be no

derivations included in this section. Before Einstein, it was believed that space follows a

Euclidean geometry (Dave); in simpler terms, think of high school geometry class, a planar

graph with an x and y axis. Einstein used his general relativity to prove this wrong showing that

just like bending a piece of paper with a shape on it distorts the shape, the fabric of space is

distorted by massive object such as our sun or the earth. Think of a piece of paper being two-

dimensional; when it is folded into a cylinder, it is wrapped around a third spatial dimension

giving it volume, a three-dimensional property. This also happens with the three spatial

dimensions of space when they are wrapped around a fourth spatial dimension where mass is the

property that causes space to bend that way (Dave). We now know this to be gravity, an idea

proposed by Newton with the equation:

𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺
𝑟2
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Which states that the force of gravity, Fg, is equal to the gravitation constant, G = 6.674*10-11,

multiplied by the mass of two objects, m1/m2, over a distance squared, r2. The problem that

Newton had was he did now know what caused the force of gravity which Einstein solved. A

simple thought exercise to picture the warping of space time is imagining a bowling ball on a

trampoline; it causes a big depression in the center and if you drop a marble in, it will be pulled

towards the bowling ball.

Space and time are no longer seen as two separate entities independent of one another,

rather they are connected to create what is called spacetime. Spacetime governs the movement of

matter while matter governs the warping of spacetime. General relativity has been confirmed by

things such as gravitational lensing, where the light of a star is bent around another massive body

to where the stars position appears to be somewhere else. As surprising as it may sound, gravity

can bend the path of light. One extreme example comes with a blackhole. Because the gravity of

a blackhole is so intense, if a star were to behind it, the light that comes from the star and reaches

you is bent around the blackhole to where it appears that it is two stars on each side of the event

horizon. Because of spacetime, we do not live in a purely three-dimensional world. Another

thought experiment is imagining you are setting up a meeting with a friend. The place you want

to meet at is on the third level of building. The vital information you would give them not only

the street that building is on, but the floor as well. But you would also give them a time. So far

we have covered Newtonian physics, which is great at explaining normal sized things moving at

slow speeds, and relativity, which is good explaining big things moving at large speeds. Next up

is quantum mechanics that explains small things moving at slow speeds.

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Quantum Mechanics:

It is elementary knowledge to know that atoms are the microscopic legos that make up

everything we eat, touch, and are. However, they are not the smallest component of matter. You

may think that this also a given, since atoms are made up of a nucleus contain protons neutrons

being orbited by electrons. But it gets even smaller. To begin, nothing is known with absolute

certainty in the world of quantum mechanics; the position of a particle is chalked up to a

reasonable estimate of where it might be rather than a definite point (Walliman). This means that

the universe in fundamentally random and can only be measured in probabilities that something

will happen which is a much different school of thought compared to classical mechanics or

relativity. Referring to these components as particles is also not one hundred percent accurate, as

they are represented mathematically as wavefunctions which we use to find their approximate

positions at a given time (Walliman). Whereas the wavefunction works as a great tool to

determine what an electron will do, quantum physicists have no idea if wavefunctions actually

exist because they are never actually seen. This is because when an electron is measured, it

appears as a point like particle so there is a sort of “quantum world” where the particles are

waves and the real world where they are particles (Walliman). This is where Schrödinger’s box

comes from; we do not know if a particle is a wave or a particle until we measure and observe it

where the measurement collapses the wavefunction. There is a gap in the knowledge of this since

we have no mathematics to describe the collapse of a wavefunction.

Electrons are both a wave and a particle which was proven through the double slit

experiment where electrons were shot through two narrow openings and an interference pattern,

a property of two colliding waves, was formed on the wall behind it. The weirdest part of the

experiment is that an electron had the highest probability of popping up in the center of the
 Conrad 13

interference pattern which was in between and behind the two slits (Walliman). However, when

the measurement of the wave is taken, all that is found is a particle and there is nothing said on

how the wavefunction breaks down, which is true not only for the electron, but for everything in

the universe.

The term superposition comes from the idea of adding two wave functions that have a

single probability arch where the particle may be (Walliman). When added, the particle has a

very high probability of being either two places but a very low probability of being in the middle,

as seen in this figure.

This springs the idea that particle can be in two places at once since the exact location cannot be

determined. Superposition just means the adding together of waves and is not that special as it

has already been observed through the double slit experiment.

Imagine two electron waves collide and become mixed up, this means that

mathematically they are now one wave function and will describe both electrons perfectly over
 Conrad 14

an infinite distance (Walliman); the measurement of one electron will predict the outcome of the

other. This phenomenon is known as quantum entanglement and gave Einstein a fit due to the

idea that instantly knowing the outcome of one side though the measurement of another has a

sense of faster than light communication, something that is proven impossible by relativity.

However, entanglement cannot be used to communicate because the measurements yield random

results. The correlation between two entangled electrons over a vast distance provides a link

between the two electrons known as a non-locality (Walliman).

When a wavefunction meets a barrier, it decays exponentially within the barrier, but if the

barrier is thin enough then it can pass through and exist on the other side, meaning there is a

chance of an electron on the other side. This is known as quantum tunneling. Quantum tunneling

is what allows nuclear fusion to happen in the sun. When two hydrogen atoms collide, there is a

small chance that their protons will tunnel through each other and combine producing helium,

the exhaustive gas that is produced by the sun (Walliman).

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that you can only know certain things precisely,

not everything. This stems from the facts that when using wavefunctions to determine certain

values of momentum or position, the only way to find the momentum of an electron is through a

sine wave which has many different wavelengths meaning there are an infinite number of

positions where it could be. On the contrast, you can find the electron’s position with a

wavefunction that only has one wavelength but there is no way to determine the momentum

(Walliman).

Quantum mechanics gets its name from the idea of energy quantization. One of the first

quantum effects people noticed was atomic spectra which is when atoms give off light as their

electrons move from higher to lower energy fields. A guitar string gives off a certain
 Conrad 15

distinguishable note based on the frequency in which it vibrates (which resembles a

wavefunction) due to being fastened at both ends. We would say that the wavelengths are

quantized, meaning only certain types of wavelengths can exist given their conditions. If that

string were to be in a circle it would have the same principle to account for wave interference

patterns and must match up to avoid cancelling each other out. This is what happens to electrons

in an atom. The electron wave is constrained by an atom are quantized to a specific wavelength.

Short wavelengths have higher a higher energy while long wavelengths have a lower energy.

When an electron jumps from a higher wavelength to a lower one, color is emitted as quantized

photon of light (Walliman).

Quantum mechanics also shows us there are fundamental particles that make up even

protons and neutrons and four fundamental forces, three of which we know about. This

collection is called the Standard Model (Goldberg). There are two fundamental types of particles,

the fermions which include quarks, electrons, and neutrinos. Quarks and electrons are

responsible for all types of matter where neutrinos are almost completely non-reactive and do to

much (Goldberg). The other fundamental particles are called bosons allow the fundamental

forces. These particles include photons, W and Z Bosons, gluons, and the Higgs-Boson. To

derive all the particles, just like general relativity, takes a whole lot of math so I’ll just explain

the interactions, starting with fermions. All fermions are spinning either counterclockwise, know

as “spin-up” or clockwise, known as “spin-down” (Goldberg). Since fermions are charged and

spinning, the produce a magnetic field, although the magnetic field of both directionally spinning

electrons tends more negative. Because of the similarity between electrons, they can be known as

the same particle with different states, also known as symmetry. The relation between electrons

and neutrinos is almost as close as spin-up and spin-down electrons, meaning they are almost the
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same. Neutrinos and electrons are both very light, have the same spin patterns, and fall into the

lepton group (Goldberg). For the weak nuclear force, electrons and neutrinos are

interchangeable. However, for the electromagnetic force, this does not go. Mostly because

neutrinos are charge neutral whereas electrons are primarily negatively charged. All symmetry is

particular to a fundamental force (Goldberg). To change the spin of an electron it has to have a

proton. To change an electron to a neutrino, the W and Z Boson is required and thus invented in

the large hadron collider. This came with a complication, naturally. W and Z bosons were

predicted to be massless but instead were hundreds of times more massive than protons. Thus,

the Higgs-Boson was created to give mass to the W and Z Bosons (Goldberg). Quarks work the

same way as electrons and neutrinos do but instead their charge is indicated by color and are

made interchangeable by a mediator particle (Goldberg). The mediator particle for quarks is

called a gluon and is the particle that corresponds to the strong nuclear force.

String Theory:

In their own respects, quantum mechanics and relativity work out great individually.

Relativity explains large things moving very fast while quantum mechanics is good things that

are small and slow. Whenever they are brought together is when it starts to break down. In

quantum mechanics, all the fundamental forces have a particle that is associated with them

except gravity, which is just of a geometric theory that explains spacetime. To describe we need

precise measurements that just are not obtainable with quantum mechanics due to the uncertainty

principle. Similarly, when gravity is thought of as a particle, the mathematics of quantum

mechanics break down (Kurzgesagt).

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String theory works off point-particle theory in which we treat particles that are actually

wave like in nature as points (Kurzgesagt). In doing so we have had great success up until trying

to unify relativity and quantum mechanics. The physicists thought “what is more complex than a

point” and come up with the idea of lines, or strings (Kurzgesagt). String theory describe

elementary particles as different vibrational modes of a one-dimensional string. Just as vibrating

strings in out world give us musical notes, in string theory, vibrating strings give us different

particles including gravity. In other proposed theories, gravity has to be forced in and, in most

cases, breaks the whole operation whereas with string theory, gravity and the idea of the graviton

particle not only works out but is an integral part that would be harder to remove than just work

with (Spacetime).

So that must be it, right? It satisfies gravity on a quantum level and everyone’s happy?

Not exactly. While the mathematics worked out in such an easy way that it was almost spooky

while the theory was still being developed, a road block quickly emerged. This was that for

strings to exists, the needed to be compressed into six other spatial dimensions including our

four. Mathematicians and physicists alike began running into mathematical road blocks of

problems with increasing difficulty. The main point against string theory, however, rests on the

fact that it just cannot be tested. Because these strings are about the size of the Planck length

which is a billionth of a billionth of a meter in diameter, there is no possible way to test or

measure any calculations with any precision (Spacetime). Due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty

principle, there is no possible way for us to prove string theory truly is the theory of everything,

but we also cannot rule it out.

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Conclusion:

Brian Greene, a physicist who is known through his books “The Elegant Universe” and

“The Fabric of the Cosmos” can be quoted in saying: “String theory is a 22nd century tool that we

so happen to have stumbled upon early with no idea how to use it”. It is like being given the

instructions on how to build a wagon and having to build a race car; while many aspects are

different, the fundamentals are the same and with enough time, you can work your way into it.

String theory is a mind-bogglingly complex topic built on the backs of equally ornate and

difficult topics to understand. There is not too much I can say with my current level of

understand that will, without a doubt, take years of research to even begin to grasp at the

understanding required to understand this. While in its current state string theory has not brought

us the elusive theory of everything, it does provide a useful tool to help us further our

understanding on the natural laws that govern out mysterious universe.

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Works Cited:

ABC, Science. Time Dilation - Einstein's Theory Of Relativity Explained!, YouTube, 13 Apr. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuD34tEpRFw.

CrashCourse. YouTube, YouTube, 23 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AInCqm5nCzw.

Dave, Professor. Special Relativity Part 2: Time Dilation and the Twin Paradox, YouTube, 15 May

2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIEeSiT3SI4.

Dave, Professor. Special Relativity Part 3: Length Contraction, YouTube, 18 May 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPzGAksFCbs.

Dave, Professor. Special Relativity Part 4: Mass-Energy Equivalence or E = mc², YouTube, 22 May

2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBQjsOaRHxg.

Dave, Professor. General Relativity: The Curvature of Spacetime, YouTube, 25 May 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7V3koyL7Mc.

Goldberg, Dave. Where Does the Standard Model of Physics Come from?, io9, 16 Dec. 2015,

io9.gizmodo.com/where-does-the-standard-model-of-physics-come-from-599641558.

Lamb, Robert. “What Is Relativity?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018,

science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/what-is-relativity.htm.

Spacetime, PBS. Why String Theory Is Right, YouTube, 7 Nov. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTa9YcTe1k.

Spacetime, PBS. Why String Theory Is Wrong, YouTube, 20 Dec. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhpGdumLRqs&t=293s.
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Kurzgesagt. String Theory Explained – What Is The True Nature of Reality?, YouTube, 1 Mar.

2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da-2h2B4faU.

Walliman, Dominic. If You Don't Understand Quantum Physics, Try This!, YouTube, 25 Feb. 2019,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usu9xZfabPM.