SparkNotes: The Elegant Universe: Quiz

1. According to the standard model, what is the elementary constituent of nature?

(A) A point particle

(B) A vibrating strand of string

(C) A two-dimensional blob

(D) A photon

2. How thick is a string?

(A) 10–33cm

(B) A string is zero dimensional, so it has no thickness

(C) A string’s length is 10–33cm, but it has no thickness

(D) Planck thickness

3. What is the weakest force of nature?

(A) Strong force

(B) Weak force

(C) Electromagnetism

(D) Gravity

4. Which fundamental forces does the standard model describe? (Check all that apply):

(A) Strong force

(B) Weak force

(C) Electromagnetism

(D) Gravity

5. What does it mean to describe a particle as “elementary” or “fundamental”?

(A) It is a tiny point

(B) It cannot be broken up or divided

(C) It contains electrons, protons, and neutrons, but nothing else

(D) There is no such thing as a fundamental particle

6. What are the problems with string theory today?

(A) It cannot be tested

(B) Its propositions cannot be proved

(C) Its equations are so complex that only approximations exist

(D) All of the above

7. The equivalence principle refers to which phenomenon?

(A) The similarities of the strong and weak force

(B) The impossibility of distinguishing between accelerated motion and gravity

(C) The plausibility of all competing versions of string theory

(D) The ability of quantum effects to cancel each other out

8. The uncertainty principle is a feature of which theoretical framework?

(A) Quantum mechanics

(B) Special relativity

(C) General relativity

(D) String theory

9. Has the universe always been the same size?

(A) Yes, and it always will be

(B) No, it expanded during the big bang only

(C) No, it has been expanding almost since the moment of its origin

(D) Scientists have not yet determined if the universe is expanding

10. How did black holes get their name?

(A) They are associated with lunar eclipses

(B) Nothing, not even light, can escape them

(C) Scientists know absolutely nothing about them

(D) They cause thunderstorms

11. What is the messenger particle of electromagnetism?

(A) Gluon

(B) Photon

(C) W and Z

(D) Neutrino

12. How does the existence of quantum foam clash with Einstein’s general theory of relativity?

(A) It moves faster than the speed of light

(B) It is weaker than gravity

(C) Einstein’s theory presupposes a smooth spatial fabric

(D) It doesn’t curve

13. After the first superstring revolution, how many viable versions of string theory emerged?

(A) Three

(B) Five

(C) Ten

(D) Eleven

14. How many dimensions of space does the current formulation of string theory require to be viable?

(A) Three

(B) Five

(C) Ten

(D) Eleven

15. Why did the existence of a tachyon bring about the collapse of bosonic string theory?

(A) It differed from its superpartner by three units

(B) It was fluctuating too violently to compute

(C) It had a negative mass

(D) None of the above

16. Bosonic and fermionic vibrational patterns differ by how much?

(A) A whole number

(B) A half unit

(C) Two

(D) They are identical

17. What does the M in M-theory stand for?

(A) Mysterious

(B) Mega

(C) Matrix

(D) No one knows

18. How many dimensions does a Calabi-Yau space have?

(A) Two

(B) Three

(C) Five

(D) Six

19. Who was the first scientist to argue that light exhibits wave properties?

(A) Newton

(B) Einstein

(C) Planck

(D) Feynman

20. What is the basic principle underlying special relativity?

(A) The uncertainty principle

(B) The equivalence principle

(C) The constancy of the speed of light

(D) The Euler beta function

21. What do string theorists think that the extra dimensions of space will look like?

(A) Tightly curled up strings

(B) .Two-dimensional branes

(C) Three-dimensional blobs

(D) All of the above

22. Supersymmetry predicts what about the elementary particles?

(A) For every known particle, a heavier superpartner exists

(B) Every particle has not one, but two, messenger particles

(C) Particles all vibrate in identical patterns

(D) More than one version of how particles vibrate is viable

23. Which of the following particles is thought to be massless?

(A) Photon

(B) Gluon

(C) Neutrino

(D) Electron

24. Which small-scale phenomenon creates the incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics?

(A) Anomalies

(B) Quantum foam

(C) Neutral electrons

(D) Half-integer vibrational patterns

25. What is the term for the approximations string theorists much make in their calculations?

(A) M-theory

(B) Perturbation theory

(C) Mirror symmetry

(D) Grand unification