String theory is interesting for many bloggers because it revolutionizes new mathematical and physics postulates to co-mingle together. It is very unique in the unified quantum mathematical formulations. One of the most inclusive is the 11 dimensional "M" theory. This baby requires space time to achieve all eleven dimensions, as opposed to three spatial dimensions and the fourth dimension of time. Time keeps on slippin slippin slippin ... into the foooooooture!
My original string theories from the 1980s elaborate on special cases of the mystery eleventh dimension as being a very small circle ... or a "line", if you will, and if these formulations are considered as fundamental, then string theory requires ten dimensions. Are you with me? But anyhooo - the theory also describes universes like ours, with four observable space time dimensions, as well as universes with up to 10 flat space dimensions, and also cases where the position in some of the dimensions is not described by a real number, but by a completely different type of mathematical quantity. In layman or laywoman (hehee) terms, the notion of afore mentioned spacetime dimension is not fixed in string theory. It is best thought of as different in different circumstances, just as DCR has explained in his masterful science theater 7000 post, Ask dcr: String Theory
String theories include objects more general than strings. Lets call these "strings" Branes. The word brane, derived from "membrane", refers
to a variety of interrelated objects, such as D-branes, black P branes, and Neveu Schwarz 5 branes. Some physicists such as the legendary Doctor Shoal inject a few more, such as the Mush brane and the Del Boca Vista Brane. These are hyper extended objects that are charged sources for differential form generalizations of the vector potential electromagnetic playing field. Yes, objects are related to each other by a variety of dualities. Black hole mimicking black P branes are identified with D branes, which as everyone knows are endpoints for strings, and this identification is called Gaug Gravity Duality. Research on this equivalence has led Hollydale brains to fantastic new insights on quantum chromodynamics, the fundamental theory of the strong nuclear force. Use the force Luke, ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh ber.As you can see, this explains black matter in space time by the strong force bleeding through inter-related dimensions. Gravity is not the weak force after all !
