String theory: a decade of progress

A. Güijosa

Departamento de Física de Altas Energías, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70–543, México D.F. 04510, e–mail: alberto@nucleares.unam.mx

Recibido el 1 de mayo de 2006
Aceptado el 1 de noviembre de 2006

Abstract

String theory aims at providing a complete description of the fundamental structure of our universe. Independently of whether or not it is eventually able to achieve this ambitious goal, over the years it has already proven to be an enormously rich theoretical structure, with several points of contact with other problems of interest in modern theoretical physics. In this article we review the basic ideas of string theory, and provide a brief overview of the achievements of the past ten years, which have radically improved our understanding of the theory.

Keywords: String theory; dualities; black holes.

Resumen

La teoría de cuerdas busca dar una descripción completa de la estructura fundamental de nuestro universo. Independientemente de si logra o no eventualmente alcanzar esta ambiciosa meta, en el transcurso de los años ha demostrado ya ser una estructura teórica enormemente rica, con varios puntos de contacto con otros problemas de interés en la física teórica moderna. Este artículo describe las ideas básicas de la teoría de cuerdas, y ofrece un breve panorama de los logros de los últimos diez años, los cuales han mejorado radicalmente nuestra comprensión de la teoría.

Descriptores: Teoría de cuerdas; dualidades; dualidad norma–gravedad; agujeros negros.

PACS: 11.25.–w; 11.25.Uv; 11.25.Tq; 04.70.Dy; 11.25.Yb; 04.60.–m

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