Is String Theory an actual theory or is it more of a hypothesis?
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M$4 Answers
Many are convinced that string theory is either missing things or just has to be rewritten. For this reason, there are tons of variations to string theory. So when you use the term "String Theory", you are actually being rather vague. Like I said, there are so many different versions that have yet to be proven or disproved.
The first step to really finding the correct answer is sorting out which ones are definitively wrong and which ones could be right. Once we narrow down the choices, it will be significantly easier to find the answer.
But this is easier said than done. To narrow down these choices at all, we will have to first have a better understanding of quantum mechanics and perhaps nature as a whole. The potential to eliminate the nonsensical from the sensible might be years away.
String theory is similar to the quantum theory of gravity (the 'Theory of Everything'). We will have to learn more before even attempting to solve the biggest questions in the universe. Or multiverse, as some convincingly suggest.
Some string theories require 11 dimensions, or more! But with every little flaw, and the inability to disprove it, we waste years of time and research. The first step is advancing technology to the point where we can adequately observe particles. This will lead to a better understanding of quantum mechanics. And with every new discovery comes a greater chance of solving the biggest mysteries humankind has yet to encounter.
FOR A COLLECTION OF GREAT VIDEOS EXPLAINING STRING THEORY FOR THE COMMON FOLK, follow the link. It is very informative.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/
Other informative websites include the following:
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/hep-th/pdf/9506/9506126v2.pdf
http://theory.tifr.res.in/~mukhi/Physics/string2.html
http://www.superstringtheory.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
Here is a very direct answer to your question. IT IS A HYPOTHETICAL THEORY.
"The line between theory and hypothesis can become blurry when it comes to very active and new areas of science. For instance, M-theory, an extension of string theory, is a body of knowledge that attempts to define how everything in the universe works, explaining quantum phenomena along with cosmological and everything in between. Unfortunately, M-theory is largely unproven. It makes a lot of sense (as far as descriptions of the quantum world make sense), but hasn't really been tested yet. M-theory can be more precisely be described as a hypothetical theory."
From,
http://physics.suite101.com/article.cfm/theory_vs__hypothesis_vs__law
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M$From;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
"Many detractors criticize string theory because it has not yet provided quantitative experimental predictions. Like any other quantum theory of gravity, it is widely believed that testing the theory directly by experiment would require prohibitively expensive feats of engineering. Whether there are stringent indirect tests of the theory is not yet known."
A good place to start studying string theory is here;
http://www.superstringtheory.com/
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M$
These are very basic resources. And it cannot be both.
The reason that it is both is that there is disagreement in the scientific community as to whether the concept has enough validity to have passed from being a hypothesis (or an idea) to a theory (an idea that has a substantial body of evidence to support it).
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M$It was set up to avoid point-interactions between particles which would lead to infinite interaction energies (like the electric force between two charged particles would become infinite at infinitesimal distances), to increase the ‘interaction-area’ to avoid such infinities.
The conceptual error of string theory (and physics at large) is the assumption that particles only are the source of their properties, the cause of their interactions, so any force between should be either attractive or repulsive.
However, if in a universe which creates itself, particles have to create one another, if they ultimately are as much the product as the source of their interactions, then so is the force between them, meaning that such infinities never arise in reality.
For more details see www.quantumgravity.nl.
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M$
