Strings and All That!

Seminar:

Strings and All That !

Speaker: Dr. Faheem Hussain, National Centre for Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
Venue: Faisal Library, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

**Time and Date: 8/29/2005 (month/day/year) **

Report of the Lecture: “Strings and All That!”

The lecture organized by the UET chapter of the KSS(Khwarzimic Science Society), "Strings and All That!" (29 August, 2005) proved to be a splendid success, thanks to the efforts , Dr**. [EMAIL=“[email protected]”]Noor Sheikh(Dean of Electrical Enigineering ,Universit [EMAIL=“[email protected]”]Ali Abbas y of Enginering and Technology,Lahore) and their management team. The lecturer Dr. [EMAIL=“[email protected]”]Faheem Hussain did a commendable job. Here is a brief review written by [EMAIL=“[email protected]”]Muhammad Awais Aftab,** the first overall position holder in the F.Sc. examination taken with the Lahore Board:

I had the honour of attending this lecture today and it was a very

wonderful and enlightening experience.** Dr. Faheem Hussain** did a

fabulous job in explaining the theory properly and used a language

that was understandable by the majority of the audience.

First of all he explained the background of the theory: molecules,

atoms, nucleus, protons, and arriving at quarks, which in the words

of speaker are ‘very funny objects’ with ‘funny names’. He explained

the three generations and three colours of quarks. He briefly dallied

with the marriage of quantum mechanics and relativity, paving the way

for the String Theory.

He unfolded the theory, explaining

that “point” particles are not ‘points’ but rather ‘strings’ if

observed at the level of 10^-34 cm. The strings are either open

strings or closed strings, whose ‘vibrational modes’ determined which

particle they formed. There were also ‘super strings’, coined to

explain certain spin problems. Then he explained certain problems

raised by the theory such as the prediction of 10 dimensions. After

that he briefly touched the** M-theory**. He also referred to the

explanation of entropy of black hole by the String Theory.

Matter is becoming more and more “spooky” as the time passes, and it

is no longer the inert matter of the materialists of 19th century. The search for the ‘fundamental’ is still on…

Khwarzimic Society is doing a wonderful job by increasing scientific

awareness among public. Congratulations to the KSS team for

conducting such lectures.

Muhammad Awais Aftab