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M-Theory (the Theory Formerly Known as Strings)

Posted in energy

Superunification underwent a major paradigm shift in 1984 when eleven-dimensional supergravity was knocked off its pedestal by ten-dimensional superstrings. This last year has witnessed a new shift of equal proportions:

Perturbative ten-dimensional superstrings have in their turn been superseded by.

A new non-perturbative theory called {\it $M$-theory}, which describes supermembranes and superfivebranes, which subsumes all five consistent string theories and whose low energy limit is, ironically, eleven-dimensional supergravity.

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