Discovery Scenarios

Concerto for Strings

String theory is the most promising candidate to unify the laws of the large and the small. Its goal is to understand the nature of quantum gravity and its connection both to the other forces of nature and to the cosmos. In string theory, gravity is connected to particle physics through its effects on supersymmetry. If supersymmetry is discovered at the LHC and ILC, physicists will be able to test stringmotivated predictions for the properties of superpartner particles. Precise measurements of these superpartner properties could then be mapped to properties of gravity and strings at ultrahigh energies.

This is physics at the ragged edge of our current understanding, but preliminary studies have looked at the ability of linear collider experiments to detect the telltale harmonies of strings. Here linear collider precision is essential, since the string effects appear as small differences in the extrapolated values of the superpartner parameters. A combined analysis of simulated LHC and ILC data shows that it may be possible to match the fundamental parameters of the underlying string vibrations. While not a direct discovery of strings per se, such an achievement would truly be the realization of Einstein's boldest aspirations.