String theory, the crisis in particle physics and the ascent of metaphoric arguments

Details String theory, the crisis in particle physics and the ascent of metaphoric arguments String theory, the crisis in particle physics and the ascent of metaphoric arguments

2006-03-14

arxiv.org/abs/physics/0603112v5

IJMPD 17, (2008) 2373-2431

Physics

Physics and Society

58 papges, completely rewritten, addition of references

Scientific paper

This essay presents a critical evaluation of the concepts of string theory and its impact on particle physics. The point of departure is a historical review of four decades of string theory within the broader context of six decades of failed attempts at an autonomous S-matrix approach to particle theory. The central message, contained in sections 5 and 6, is that string theory is not what its name suggests, namely a theory of of objects in spacetime whose localization is string- instead of point-like. Contrary to popular opinion the oscillators corresponding to the Fourier models of a quantum mechanical string do not cause a stringlike spatial extension of the object under discussion and neither does the "range space" of a chiral conformal QFT acquire the interpretation of string-like localized quantum matter. Rather the superstring represents a solution of a problem which enjoyed some popularity in the 60s: the construction of infinite component wave function with a (realistic) mass/spin spectrum. The mass/spin tower "sits" over one point and does not arise from a string in spacetime. The widespread acceptance of a theory whose interpretation has been based on metaphoric reasoning had a corroding influence on particle theory, a point which will be illustrated in the last section with some remarks of a more sociological nature.

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