Is String Theory a Theory of Quantum Gravity?

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String theory can only calculate things in unrealistic settings. This is not an argument that the theory is wrong, but that it's not aninetorys right,. My argumentveryarent that it's hard. And i think my own attitude is to sit somewher on the fence and allow string theory to inform my thinking about various kinds of issues. So as an example, let me take a more concrete example, this axion idea. I talked about the axion idea as opposed to two other ideas for understanding the strong sep problem or time reversal problem. Of in in kin that assessment, i said, well, the axion is best, but it's only best magelo want a problem

Modern particle physics is a victim of its own success. We have extremely good theories — so good that it’s hard to know exactly how to move beyond them, since they agree with all the experiments. Yet, there are strong indications from theoretical considerations and cosmological data that we need to do better. But the leading contenders, especially supersymmetry, haven’t yet shown up in our experiments, leading some to wonder whether anthropic selection is a better answer. Michael Dine gives us an expert’s survey of the current situation, with pointers to what might come next.

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Michael Dine received his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University. He is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz. Among his awards are fellowships from the Sloan Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, American Physical Society, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Sakurai Prize for theoretical particle physics. His new book is This Way to the Universe: A Theoretical Physicist’s Journey to the Edge of Reality.

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