MUSIC & S-t-r-i-n-g t-h-e-o-r-y by Steve April on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

MUSIC & S-t-r-i-n-g t-h-e-o-r-y
String theory, a unifying theory in physics, comes with musical overtones that would sound very familar to musicians/artists. Here's a brief excerpt from a popular website.

Think of a guitar string that has been tuned by stretching the string under tension across the guitar. Depending on how the string is plucked and how much tension is in the string, different musical notes will be created by the string. These musical notes could be said to be excitation modes of that guitar string under tension.
In a similar manner, in string theory, the elementary particles we observe in particle accelerators could be thought of as the "musical notes" or excitation modes of elementary strings.
In string theory, as in guitar playing, the string must be stretched under tension in order to become excited. However, the strings in string theory are floating in spacetime, they aren't tied down to a guitar. Nonetheless, they have tension. The string tension in string theory is denoted by the quantity 1/(2 p a'), where a' is pronounced "alpha prime"and is equal to the square of the string length scale.

Strings are way too small to see by current or expected particle physics technology (or financing!!) and so string theorists must devise more clever methods to test the theory than just looking for little strings in particle experiments.

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Pulse Eternal

10/23/2008 1:15:38 AM ---- Updated 10/23/2008 1:16:00 AM

Ah...good ole quantum field theory.... I wonder if they're any closer to finding the Higgs Boson yet?

Looks like the LHC has warmed up on sector 34 a bit. It was at operating temperature. I wonder if they have a helium leak?

By the time they start the experiments, some of us may be on our way home (hopefully) and the rest of the planet will be a sordid mess!!

SuperPuss
SuperPuss video

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Steve April

10/23/2008 1:49:49 PM

Yeah, seems like they're having problems with their project. it would be neat if superstring theory could be verified (or not).

"the elegant universe" by brian greene is a fav book of mine. Very readable indeed.

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Bob Elliott

10/23/2008 2:02:18 PM

Been thinking about this a lot lately. I like the basic idea of strings behind it all, and I suppose it has some validity.

I think "String Theory" has largely been a failure, though. It has been the only game in town for a couple decades for the most part, and yet it has offered zero testable propositions and answered none of the basic problems phyiscs faces at present.

Just finishing a good book on that topic called "Trouble With Physics."

But I do feel music is a lot like whatever is behind it all, and each exploration in music space can be a bit like exploring the fabric of spacetime.

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Richard Scotti

10/23/2008 2:36:40 PM ---- Updated 10/23/2008 2:45:10 PM

Speaking of interesting books: You might enjoy "The Singularity Is Near" by Ray Kurzweil

I don't think we'll see a "Theory of Everything" in our lifetimes. Maybe we're not meant to know such mysteries, but Kurzweil goes into other theories that deal with equally important themes that are quite fascinating.

The String Theory? Some people believe that life is just god's guitar.

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Steve April

10/23/2008 4:18:06 PM

Hi Bob, good point, there's a big debate about that.

You're right Richard, isn't that about black holes?

God's guitar, a great thought...

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kranky king

10/23/2008 4:30:52 PM

String theory is in harmony with Frank Zappa's theory of the universe:

"THE BIG NOTE".

Another Zappa classic about the universe:

"One size fits all."

Can't argue with that.

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Hugh Hamilton

10/23/2008 6:23:53 PM ---- Updated 10/23/2008 6:24:33 PM

"The Trouble With Physics" as described by Bob E. reminds me of "The Trouble With Economics" as described by me (lol).

I'm still waiting for my physics friends to answer the question, "What is space?" I have two friends who are actual professors who decline to answer, and their cop-out on the subject is "We don't discuss space, we only deal in space-time." Then I ask, "Does space-time have mass?" The answer is generally something which I take to mean "No." Then I ask, "Well, if space-time doesn't have mass, how can it be curved?" They roll their eyes, I blow a gasket, and we get another beer.

xo,
H

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Hugh Hamilton

10/23/2008 6:26:18 PM

By the way, I think that space exists and time does not. I suppose that's why I'm not a physicist.

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Richard Scotti

10/23/2008 6:51:32 PM

Steve: "The Singularity Is Near" summary:

The great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is one of the best-known and controversial advocates for the role of machines in the future of humanity. In his latest, thrilling foray into the future, he envisions a singularity in which technological change becomes so rapid and so profound that our bodies and brains will merge with our machines. The Singularity Is Near portrays what life will be like after this human-machine civilization where our experiences shift from real reality to virtual reality and where our intelligence becomes nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than unaided human intelligence. In practical terms, this means that human aging and pollution will be reversed, world hunger will be solved, and our bodies and environment transformed by nanotechnology to overcome the limitations of biology, including death. We will be able to create virtually any physical product just from information, resulting in radical wealth creation. In addition to outlining these fantastic changes, Kurzweil also considers their social and philosophical ramifications. With its radical but optimistic view of the course of human development.

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
By Ray Kurzweil
Published by Viking
ISBN 0670033847, 9780670033843

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