The theory of everything
In non-technical terms, M-theory presents an idea about the basic substance of the universe. M-theory was developed in 1995 by physicist Edward Witten. It is actually the unifying theory of superstrings. And superstring theory states that particles, previously thought of as tiny balls of energy, are in fact minute wiggling strings. It must be mentioned here that scientists are still trying to decipher the M-theory however so far, there are just only few leads. For example, physicists still are not sure whether M-theory exists as a single formation or only as a network. But they do ponder, however, over the possibility that perhaps this is the theory that Einstein thought to be "The theory of everything" concerning this and the other Universes.
But perhaps the most appealing factor concerning M-theory is that it has 11 space-time dimensions, not 10, as previously thought. The M-theory states that, space-time has ten space dimensions and one time dimension and firmly advances the idea that 7 of the dimensions are curled up so small that we don't even notice them which leaves us with the illusion that, there exist only 3 dimensions, the ones that we are familiar with today. Also according to M-theory, in this 11th dimension, a string could acquire enough energy to expand infinitely into what scientists refer as floating membrane. In physics, membrane is a two-dimensional entity assumed as a fundamental constituent of matter in superstring theories of particle physics. It is understood that our Universe exists on a floating membrane, along with infinite parallel Universes on their own membranes. From this foundation, it was further discovered that (mathematically) gravity might "leak" into our membrane from another nearby membrane, accounting for its relatively weak force in comparison to the other forces. Experts believe, perhaps it is here that lays the connectivity that M-theory talks about which allowed this idea to succeed in unifying all forces in the universe with one, elegant theory, the M-theory. But nobody's still sure as further research is in order in this regard. Aside from this, with additional study, M-theory also provided another crucial bit of information regarding how the phenomena of Big Bang might have occurred at the first place. And the answer is with two membranes colliding. And also according to this very theory, there lies about 10500 different Universes, each with its own set of laws! But only few would allow beings like us to exist.
M-theory, being a fundamental theory of physics that is a strong candidate for the theory of everything, is in actuality in a very preliminary stage. Already it has been up for intense assessment for lacking predictive power or being un-testable. But experts still believe that M-theory is the most general super-symmetric (a subtle kind of symmetry that cannot be associated with a transformation of ordinary space) theory of gravity. And for this very reason, according to Prof. Stephen Hawking, M-theory is the only candidate for a complete theory of the Universe.
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