Strings May Tie Quantum Gravity to Quantum Chromodynamics

Although string theorists explore bizarre multidimensional spaces filled with tiny loops and membranelike objects, they are ultimately seeking a description of the real world. They may have come close with a recent hypothesis that links a ten‐dimensional string theory to a gauge field theory in the four dimensions of our ordinary world. The theorists' great hope is that this connection extends to the specific gauge theory describing quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which governs the strong interactions.