Class #21 (Mar. 27) Reading Questions - The Fabric of the Cosmos

Chapter 13

1. What is M-theory and what does it accomplish?

2. What is a "brane"?

3. What is the "brane-world scenario" and how might this picture explain the weakness of the gravitational force (compared to the other three forces in nature)?

4. What is the colliding-branes model of cosmology? What "bangs" in this model?

Chapter 14

5. What is meant by gravitational frame dragging?

6. How can you measure waves in the fabric of space, i.e., gravitational waves?

7. Explain how gravity measurements at short distances might provide experimental evidence for the existence of extra hidden dimensions.

Your Question: Please give a well formulated question that you have regarding the material covered in this reading assignment.