String theory

What the term means here

A framework in which the fundamental objects are one-dimensional strings rather than point particles. Its consistency conditions require more than four spacetime dimensions and produce a graviton in the spectrum, which is why it is studied as a candidate theory of quantum gravity.

Why it matters to this question

Every question on this map is a question about string theory: whether its consistent solutions include a universe like the one we observe, with a small positive vacuum energy.

What this does not establish

String theory is not an experimentally confirmed description of nature. No prediction of it has been tested and confirmed at accessible energies. Its status here is that of a mathematical research framework, and this atlas makes no claim otherwise.