Sunday, July 17, 2016

experimental physics - What differs string theory from philosophy or religion?




Possible Duplicate:
What experiment would disprove string theory?



A hypothesis without hard evidence sounds very much like philosophy or religion to me. All of them tries to establish a functional model explaining how the world works. In my understanding, string theory is an unprovable theory. What differs string theory from philosophy or religion?



Answer



How does string theory differ from philosophy or religion?





  • As the field of mathematics, string theory differs from philosophy and religion not by its experimental verifiability but by its methods.




  • It is mostly based on mathematical reasoning.




  • It uses basically the same tools that are used in other areas of quantum physics.





  • It has many points of contact with other areas of physics and mathematics.




  • It is studied in physics and math departments.




  • Some of those working on string theories are also highly regarded in other areas of theoretical physics or mathematics. (E.g. Witten got the Fields medal, the highest distinction in mathematics.)




  • Some concepts first discussed in string theory found later use in particle physics. (e.g., AdS/CFT, hep-th/9905111; hep-ph/0702210)





  • It may make one day testable predictions of previously unknown effects, and can then be checked for its validity.




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