Michael B. Green

General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and Strings

String theory is a promising framework for a consistent unification of Einstein's theory of gravity with the other forces in a manner that is consistent with quantum mechanics. As the talk will explain, string theory was originally formulated in terms of a series of 'perturbative' approximations analogous to the Feynman diagrams that approximate conventional theories. However, recent developments aimed at unravelling the full structure of the theory have led to important insights that will also be described in the talk.