Sep 2, 2010 08:28 GMT  ·  By

Scientists in the United Kingdom have recently developed a method of measuring string theory, a 50-year-old idea that was designed to reconcile general relativity and quantum mechanics into a single, unified Theory of Everything.

Physicists have been looking for this Holy Grail for many years, and String Theory was one of the proposed answers. However, until now, experts have had no way of actually testing its predictions.

Researchers at the Imperial College London (ICL) have recently determined that the calculations can be used to predict the behavior of particles that exist in a state known as quantum entanglement.

Given that this state can be instilled in particles, and then observed in the tightly-controlled confines of a scientific laboratory, it could be that String Theory in itself is now becoming testable.

General relativity is the part of physics that explains interactions at a large scale, whereas quantum mechanics explains how elementary particles interact at the nanoscale, or at even lower levels of miniaturization, Universe Today reports.

Generally, classical Newtonian physics cannot explain the peculiar behaviors that small particles display – hence the need for quantum mechanics.

But String Theory offers a bridge between the two types of physics, one that could finally lead to a global explanation of why things are the way they are in the Universe.

“If experiments prove that our predictions about quantum entanglement are correct, this will demonstrate that string theory 'works' to predict the behavior of entangled quantum systems, explains the lead author of the investigation, ICL professor Mike Duff.

He goes on to say that “this will not be proof that string theory is the right 'theory of everything' that is being sought by cosmologists and particle physicists.”

“However, it will be very important to theoreticians because it will demonstrate whether or not string theory works, even if its application is in an unexpected and unrelated area of physics,” Duff adds.

The expert got his inspiration from making this fortuitous connection whilst listening to a colleague presenting mathematical formulas related to quantum entanglement, at a scientific conference.

“I suddenly recognized his formulas as similar to some I had developed a few years earlier while using string theory to describe black holes. When I returned to the UK I checked my notebooks and confirmed that the maths from these very different areas was indeed identical,” Duff concludes.