David S. Berman talks with
ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about
this month's Fast Breaking Paper in the field of
Physics.
Article Title: M-theory branes and their
interactions
Authors: Berman,
DS
Journal: PHYS REP-REV SECT PHYS LETT
Volume: 456
Issue: 3
Page: 89-126
Year: JAN 2008
* Univ London, Queen Mary Coll, Dept Phys, London E1 4NS,
England.
* Univ London, Queen Mary Coll, Dept Phys, London E1 4NS,
England.
RELATED: View a Research Front Map
from the field of Physics titled:
"
BAGGER-LAMBERT THEORY."
Why do you think your paper is highly
cited?
The paper catches the wave of exciting new developments in M-theory that
have taken place over the last year.
Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or
synthesis of knowledge?
"There still so much to be
done..."
M-theory is the fundamental description of nature that unifies string
theories and allows us to describe string theory when the strings are
strongly coupled. The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in our theoretical
understanding of how extended objects such as membranes interact in
M-theory.
Would you summarize the significance of your paper in
layman's terms?
The paper gives an overview of the progress and problems in the deep
foundations of M-theory as well as outlining some new ideas for possible
progress and new research directions.
How did you become involved in this research, and were
there any problems along the way?
I have been working almost continually in this field for 13 years and see
the questions posed by M-theory as crucial to our understanding of nature.
M-theory is about understanding the central questions in physics, such as
how to quantize gravity, and, as such, have always been of interest to me.
Where do you see your research leading in the
future?
There still so much to be done, especially in understanding the "fivebrane"
(a five dimensional object predicted by M-theory).
Do you foresee any social or political implications for
your research?
At the moment none. This is foundational fundamental research.
Dr. David Berman
Reader in Theoretical Physics
String Theory Group, Department of Physics
Queen Mary College
University of London
London, UK Web
RELATED: View a Research Front Map from the field of
Physics titled:
"BAGGER-LAMBERT
THEORY."
Keywords: m-theory, membranes interact, string theory, string
theories, physics, how to quantize gravity, fivebrane.