string theory

Save This Word!

noun Physics.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby string theory

stringpiece, string player, string quartet, strings, strings attached, string theory, string tie, string together, string up, string variable, stringy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use string theory in a sentence

I called it a central extension, which was familiar terminology from other infinite-dimensional algebras seen in string theory.
How I Escaped My Troubles Through Science - Issue 104: Harmony|Subodh Patil|August 25, 2021|Nautilus
Several of the researchers at the Tata Institute were working on what seemed like impossibly simple transcriptions of string theory known as matrix models.
How I Escaped My Troubles Through Science - Issue 104: Harmony|Subodh Patil|August 25, 2021|Nautilus
This covers times when we could see actual evidence for some of the most fascinating theories of nature, such as string theory.
Big Bang: How We Are Trying to ‘Listen’ to It—and the New Physics It Could Unveil|Francesco Muia|July 16, 2021|Singularity Hub
In string theory, O-shaped loops representing gravitons act like pairs of S-shaped strings corresponding to carriers of other forces.
How Gravity Is a Double Copy of Other Forces|Charlie Wood|May 4, 2021|Quanta Magazine

Zvi Bern and Lance Dixon, later joined by Carrasco and Henrik Johansson, developed the procedure in the 2000s, advancing older work in string theory, a candidate quantum theory of gravity.
How Gravity Is a Double Copy of Other Forces|Charlie Wood|May 4, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Other models, such as string theory, propose more dimensions, but those are coiled up too small to be seen.
Is the Cosmos Just a Big Hologram?|Matthew R. Francis|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Maybe the rest are on a grad-school full ride getting a Ph.D. in string theory.
My Commencement Speech to Rutgers’ Geniuses: Go Forth and Fail|P. J. O’Rourke|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The entirety of string theory is the hidden reality, but we are able to experience only one of its possible configurations.
Welcome to the Multiverse!|Alexander Fabry|February 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
One of the embarrassments of string theory has been its inability to tell us why exactly our universe is the way it is.
Welcome to the Multiverse!|Alexander Fabry|February 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
I work in string theory, the field that eluded Einstein for the last 30 years of his life.
Is Paris Hilton Killing Science?|Nash Landesman|April 15, 2009|DAILY BEAST

Scientific definitions for string theory

string theory

[ strĭng ]

Any of various theories in physics hypothesizing that space-time has more than four dimensions, and that some of the dimensions are exceedingly small and stringlike in shape. Elementary particles in string theory are understood as standing waves in such space-time strings, rather than as pointlike objects. String theories attempt to unify gravity with the other fundamental forces.

Cultural definitions for string theory

string theory

In physics, a theory that views subatomic particles as string-like objects floating in space-time rather than as point-like objects. Space-time in string theory can have up to nine dimensions of space, plus the dimension of time.