“Among the problems of the known string theories, as a theory of hadrons, was the fact that the spectrum of open strings contains massless spin 1 particles, and the spectrum of closed strings contains a massless spin 2 particle (as well as other massless particles), but there are no massless hadrons. In 1974, Joël Scherk and I decided to take string theory seriously as it stood, rather than forcing it to conform to our preconceptions. … Specifically, Scherk and Schwarz (1974) proposed trying to interpret string theory as a unified quantum theory of all forces including gravity. Neveu and Scherk (1972) had shown that string theory incorporates the correct gauge invariances to ensure agreement at low energies (compared to the scale given by the string tension) with Yang-Mills theory. Yoneya (1973,1974) and Scherk and Schwarz (1974) showed that it also contains gauge invariances that ensure agreement at low energies with general relativity.”

[Schwarz, J. H., The early history of string theory and supersymmetry, 2012, https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.0981]

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Among the problems of the known string theories, as a theory of hadrons, was the fact that the spectrum of open strings…" by John Henry Schwarz?
John Henry Schwarz photo
John Henry Schwarz 5
American theoretical physicist 1941

Related quotes

Sheldon L. Glashow photo
Edward Witten photo
David Gross photo
John C. Baez photo
David Gross photo
Edward Witten photo
Edward Witten photo

“It is very possible that a proper understanding of string theory will make the space-time continuum melt away…. String theory is a miracle through and through.”

Edward Witten (1951) American theoretical physicist

as quoted by K.C. Cole, "A Theory of Everything" New York Times Magazine (1987) Oct.18

Lee Smolin photo
Edward Witten photo
Edward Witten photo

“String theory is extremely attractive because gravity is forced upon us.”

Edward Witten (1951) American theoretical physicist

as quoted by Michio Kaku, Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension (1995)
Context: String theory is extremely attractive because gravity is forced upon us. All known consistent string theories include gravity, so while gravity is impossible in quantum field theory as we have known it, it is obligatory in string theory.

Related topics