Landshaft of string theory (anthropic landscape, landscape problem) - the existence in string theory of a huge number (10,100–10,500 [1] ) of false vacuums . Such a number of false vacuums is explained by the freedom of choice of Calabi - Yau spaces , which are responsible for the compactification of additional dimensions in string theory.
The idea of a landscape of string theory was proposed [2] by Leonard Sasskind to describe a specific implementation of the anthropic principle , which consists in the fact that fundamental physical constants have certain values not for some physical reasons, but because these values are necessary for the existence of life on Earth, including sensible observers measuring these values.
According to the critics of string theory, for example, Lee Smolin and David Gross , the landscape problem takes string theory out of the scope of science, as it becomes unfalsifiable : each false vacuum has its own low-energy - observable - physics, and the choice among them matches the well-known Standard model and with the observed value of the cosmological constant , it turns out to be an NP-complete task , that is, it cannot be carried out more efficiently than a complete enumeration of all the available options, which is now seems impossible [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Often quoted in the order of 10,500 . See M. Douglas, "The statistics of string / M theory vacua", JHEP 0305 , 46 (2003). arXiv : hep-th / 0303194 ; S. Ashok and M. Douglas, "Counting flux vacua", JHEP 0401 , 060 (2004).
- ↑ See the original article by string theory pioneer Leonard Sasskind .
- ↑ Frederik Denef, Michael R. Douglas. Computational complexity of the landscape (Eng.) // Annals of Physics. - 2006. - Vol. 322 , iss. 5 . - P. 1096–1142 . - DOI : 10.1016 / j.aop.2006.07.013 . - .
Literature
- Susskind L. Cosmic landscape: String theory and the illusion of the rational design of the universe. - SPb. : Peter, 2015.
See also
- String theory