The World in Eleven Dimensions

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A unified theory encompassing all physical phenomena is a key objective in theoretical physics. In the early 1980s, physicists turned to eleven-dimensional supergravity, hoping it would yield a superunified theory. However, in 1984, ten-dimensional superstrings emerged, presenting one-dimensional objects whose vibrational modes correspond to elementary particles. Superstrings offered a finite perturbative theory of gravity that, when compactified to four dimensions, appeared capable of explaining the Standard Model. Despite these achievements, doubts lingered about superstrings. The discovery of the elementary supermembrane and its dual, the solitonic superfivebrane, in 1987 and 1992 introduced new supersymmetric extended objects with two and five dimensions, respectively, in an eleven-dimensional spacetime. Since 1996, perturbative superstrings have been replaced by M-theory, a nonperturbative framework that encompasses supermembranes and superfivebranes, incorporates string theories, and has eleven-dimensional supergravity as its low-energy limit. M-theory marks a significant advancement since the superstring revolution of 1984. This book compiles seminal papers that have influenced our understanding of this eleven-dimensional framework, featuring commentaries on their significance and extensive bibliographies, making it valuable for researchers and postgraduate students in particle physics, mathematical physics, gravitation