12. Without warning, the rabbit disappeared into a deep dark black hole.
Alice tried to stop running, but not soon enough. She was sucked into the black
hole in a flash.
“This is just like what happens when you get too close to the black holes
that Ms. Heart was talking about in class the other day!” Alice thought, “Once
you pass the event horizon you can never escape it,” she repeated back to
herself exactly as Ms. Heart had taught it.
Steadily, she fell faster and faster and the light and images around her
seemed to warp and bend into the most peculiar display of colors and patterns
that she had ever seen. Finally, she saw a large bright white light emerge
from the kaleidoscope of colors. The hole seemed to have no bottom, and
in fact, she came right back out on the other side! Alice found herself in a
totally different land, unlike any she had read about in textbooks or seen on
television.
20. “This just doesn’t make any sense! How can these strange places I’ve
been to today be made up of such things that follow none of the physical laws
I have ever seen and instead have rules all their own? How can a rocket ship
shrink in front of my eyes? How can a particle act like a wave when you don’t
look but be a particle when you look at it? I wish to return to my world; maybe
someone up there can help me understand!”
With that, the caterpillar floated half of the orb that he had been eating
over to Alice, “Eat that and you will return to your normal size. It was grown
for you in my very own garden. It should do what you are expecting it to do,
but you never know!” Alice took a bite out of the mysterious orb of matter,
hoping the day didn’t get any weirder and immediately found her back to
normal size and in the beautiful garden. This time, however, she left the
cookies and vials alone, deciding instead to try to make her way home.
While walking through the garden she came across a festive party in progress.
It seemed, from the oddities in front of her, that she was still far from home.
As she walked closer to the party she saw a short, funny-looking man
in a tan suit with a large black hat on his head that was almost as big as he
was. And there at the end of the table was the rabbit having tea with them,
the same one that had led her into this whole mess in the first place. She
recognized the strange symbol on his vest. They were seated at a long table,
with mismatched tea sets scattered across it and various types of elaborately
decorated cookies and cakes.
“Excuse me, sirs. May I join you?” asked Alice. “I’ve had such a strange
adventure today and I’m not quite sure I can make much sense of any of it…”
she said politely, hoping this new acquaintance would help her sort out the
events of the day and explain who the strange rabbit creature was too. “No
room! No room!” The oddly dressed man exclaimed as he sang and toasted his
tea with the others.
“Oh but there are plenty of empty chairs here, no need to be so rude.” Alice
retorted as she took a spot at the end of the table nearest the man with the
22. large hat, determined to find out more about the rabbit. “Hmm, quite right.
Quite right after all my dear,” the man mumbled as he stopped his singing and
looked around at the chairs. Coming to rest his gaze on Alice sitting at the
head of the table he said finally, “My name is Theory, Mr. M. Theory. And what
is your name, young lady?” he asked as he sat back and sipped his tea most
properly now.
Alice replied, “My name is Alice sir. May I call you by your first name as
well Mr. Theory? What does the “M” stand for?”
In response, M. Theory’s eyes lit up. He jumped from his chair onto the
table in one fantastic leap, smiling and shouting “Master, Mathematical, Mother,
Mystery, Membrane, Magic, Matrix, or even Murky!!! Any of these. Or none of
these. Who knows? That’s not important. What is important is the story behind
the name!”
He pulled a photo out from his wallet, he showed it to Alice. The photo
was the strangest of all places that she had seen today! The landscape was like
a vast ocean with tiny little molecules floating in it, and not just that but
popping in and out of sight on the photo, like the cat nebula had done before
her very eyes earlier! “I was born,” he continued, “in a little place called
String Theory, an overlap of the Sea of Relativity and the Bay of Quantum
Theory. Our floating town was quite prosperous too, due to the great and
vast ocean that surrounded it and all its wealth of resources that we shared!
Bringing the small and the large together, we united Relativity with Quantum
Theory to make one great metropolis, the Unified Theory of Everything, or
String Theory, as we called it!”
“I’ve heard of both of these places today. They had such different rules
though, how can the two exist at the same time in the same place when they
are so different, it doesn’t make any sense to me?” said Alice.
“Oh but it does make sense my dear, you just need to visualize it in the right
fashion.” M. Theory began, “For example, the great and vast ocean surrounding
String Theory ripples with waves being caused by time moving across the
24. surface.”The ocean is a continuous field and the ripples are distinct. Both exist,
am I right??” M asked.
“Well yes, of course they do.” Alice replied, trying to follow and visualize
the story as best she could.
M.Theory went on, “Relativity is that ocean and Quantum Theory is
represented by those ripples. They both exist independently and can be
described separately but co-exist within the same world in the same place at
the same time. In fact, everything in our entire universe operates this very
same manner as well, even where you live, even where everyone lives in fact,
it’s just that some people refuse to see it. You have to choose to see it to
recognize it.”
Just then, the rabbit, who had been nervously picking at his cake and
sipping his tea, gently set both down on the table, turned and leaped off his
chair and began running down a path behind her. Alice turned to follow him
and thanked her host for the tea and story, and as she did so apologized for
having to leave in such a rush.
Turning a corner she ran straight into a very regal looking woman wearing
an elaborate red and black dress and an elegant crown atop her head.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” said Alice, “I was following the….”
The woman looked at her with a suspiciously raised brow. “Indeed! And
just where do you think you are going? Following the...what, young lady? You
can’t just go running through my land without earning your passage.”
“Oh my, I meant no disrespect, your Highness,” said Alice as she bowed
her finest courtesy. “But how shall I do that?” she continued.
“Ah ha! You, my dear” said the Queen, pointing her finger, “You will have
to answer three questions, and if you fail you will be thrown into the abyss of
space and time to spend eternity there, along with your little friend here.”
Immediately, she pointed to a small barred door that Alice had not
noticed before. And behind the barred door was her friend from class, Ryan!
He was being held captive by the red Queen.
26. “This is what happens to little girls and boys who have not earned their passage
through my land!” She said, laughing garishly.
Poor Alice thought that she was done for. For what of the many great
things in this world would the Queen ask her? And after all the strange events
of the day, she figured there were just as many questions the Queen could ask
about those worlds as well. Laughing to herself, Alice thought those worlds
certainly did not seem to operate under the logic she was familiar with.
“But first!” shouted the Queen, I will answer your question. You want to
know who my little rabbit friend is, don’t you?” The rabbit in the vest poked his
head out from behind the Queen, nervously twitching his little nose.
“Well yes I do indeed your majesty!” Alice said with great relief. “For I
have been chasing him all day to see what those strange markings are on his
vest and he has led me through the most unusual places.”
“Oh has he now…” said the Queen, looking down at the rabbit, who then
sheepishly looked back up and smiled at the Queen.
“Well, I suppose you must know, so I will tell you”. “He is a Graviton. He
keeps the peace between all the lands. I suppose you have been to Relativity
today and to the bay of Quantum Mechanics as well?” asked the Queen.
“Well yes I have your majesty! You know of them? I am so happy to fi-
nally be able to talk to someone about…”
“Stop, girl!” halted the Queen, “You will listen to me and only speak to
answer my questions.”
Alice pressed her lips and clasped her hands behind her back.
“And I suppose you have met M. Theory also, and did he tell you about
String Theory?” asked the Queen.
“Yes he did ma’am,” answered Alice.
“You have answered the first two questions correctly. And now the final
question…”
“I didn’t even know we started,” whispered Alice.
“What did you learn from M. Theory, my dear?” continued the Queen.
28. But the Queen just repeated, “You have to go home now. You have to go
home now, Alice.”
The ground began to horribly shake below her and things began crumbling
around her. Confused, Alice tried her best to get directions out of the Queen.
She was in tears by now.
“But, ma’am, please! Please help me find my way home!”
Yet the Queen persisted, “You have to go home now Alice. You have to go
home”.
Just then, Alice opened her eyes to find herself sitting under the tree by
the school. She had fallen asleep. Ms. Heart was gently nudging her shoulder.
“Alice” she said, “Alice you have to go home now. You’ve been asleep
here for quite some time.”
“Oh, Ms. Heart!” exclaimed Alice. “I am so happy to see you! I’ve had
the strangest adventure! A Graviton ran by, but I didn’t know it was a Graviton
at the time, and I followed it through a black hole to a strange place called
Relativity and an even stranger place called Quantum Mechanics. Then there
was this crazy tea party hosted by a weird little man named M. Theory who
told me about String Theory, and how, in fact, its rules govern everything in the
world around us--everything in the Universe! There was a Queen who held Ryan
captive and wouldn’t let me pass until I answered her questions.
“Well, Alice, it sounds like you have had quite a dream my dear!” said Ms.
Heart, “And it sounds like you have been doing your reading as well. I think
you will do well on your quiz tomorrow,” she added with a smile.
“Oh yeah, the quiz!” remembered Alice. “Yes, yes! I think I do get it
now,” said Alice enthusiastically.
“Alright. You should go home now, it’s getting late! See you in class
tomorrow.”
“Ok. Good night, Ms. Heart!” said Alice, with joyous disposition. She
stood up, stretched the sleep out, and with the textbook in hand, made her
way home.
30. Glossary
of terms
Graviton (White Rabbit): A graviton is a boson, or a force
carrier particle; the particle contains no mass and no charge that
mediates the gravitational force; gravitons may interact with
leptons and quarks; String Theory predicts the existence of gravitons
as closed strings with the minimum possible energy; (the proposed
messenger particle of the gravitational force)
Cat’s Eye Nebula (Cheshire Cat): It was discovered by
William Herschel in 1786; this planetary nebula is part of the
constellation of Draco; it is known as a mysterious, complex nebula
that comprises of magnificent jets, knots, and arc-like features; its
architecture points to have been caused by material ejected from a
binary central star, but the evidence is still uncertain
Acetylcholine (Caterpillar): It is a neurotransmitter that
plays a role in the skeletal muscle movement, as well as in the
regulation of smooth and cardiac muscle; a white crystalline
derivative of choline, that is released at the ends of nerve fibers
in the somatic and parasympathetic nervous systems: thus, it is
involved in the transmission of nerve impulses in the body (diffuses
to another nearby neuron where it will bind and activate a receptor
protein); becomes packaged into membrane-bound vesicles
31. Length Contraction: It refers to the “shortening” of length;
predicted by the theory of Special Relativity, it is the contraction
of a measured length of an object or a distance in a frame of
reference moving at nearly the speed of light; the shortening of an
object along its direction of motion as its speed nears the speed of
light (measured by an observer at rest with respect to the body)
Synchronicity: It is merely a pattern that repeats over time;
simultaneous; it is the coincidence of events that appear to be
related in a deep, meaningful way
Quantum Theory: It refers to the nature of matter;
energy is made of single units (quanta); matter + energy have the
properties of both waves + particles; correlates to the theory of
Relativity
M-Theory: It brings all of the string theories together; 11
dimensions of spacetime are identified and “11-dimensional theory”
unifies and supersedes all string assumptions; according to string
guru, Edward Witten, “M stands for Magic, Mystery, or Membrane,
according to taste”
Superstrings: It is thought that the fundamental constituents
of reality are strings of the Planck length which vibrate at resonant
frequencies
Black Holes: Black holes are places in space (evolutionary
endpoints of stars) where ordinary gravity has become so extreme
that it overwhelms all other forces in the Universe; once inside,
nothing can escape a black hole’s gravity (not even light); has a one-
way surface, called the event horizon, into which objects can fall;
it’s “black” due to its absorption of light that hits it; due to this
effect of gravitational time dilation, the distant observer will see
an object falling into a black hole slow down as it approaches the
event horizon, taking an infinite time to reach it