Universe theory meeting in India

The scientists hope to arrive at a 'theory of everything'

By Sanjeev Srivastava in Bombay

Nearly 300 physicists from across the world have gathered in the western Indian city of Bombay to discuss one of the hottest subjects in science: string theory.

Renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking is taking part

The five-day meeting, at the city's well-known Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, will allow leading figures in the field to compare notes.

String theory emerged in the 1980s and attempts to pull together our best description of the force of gravity - Einstein's general theory of relativity - with our best description of all the other forces in the cosmos - quantum theory.

In essence, it could give us a "theory of everything" to explain why the Universe is the way it is.

Strings

The scientists argue that instead of seeing matter as being built up from particles, we should view the Universe as being made up of tiny vibrating loops of energy about a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimetre in length.

When these strings - likened to those of a musical instrument - are played in different ways, the result is different kinds of matter and physical phenomena.

According to the organisers of the conference, this meeting is taking place at a time when the basic tenets of the string theory are relatively well developed.

Uniform view

They hope the meeting will make an attempt to arrive at a uniform orientation which will help provide clinching evidence in favour of the theory.

Among those attending the conference is the famous British cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking, author of the international best-seller A Brief History In Time.

This is the first time that the strings conference - an annual event for nearly 10 years - is being held outside the US and Western Europe.

The decision of the organisers to go to Bombay this year is being seen as an acknowledgement of the pioneering work Indian scientists have done in further bolstering string theory over the past few years.