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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the Planck tension?
(a) The pull between strings at the Planck length.
(b) The typical tension in a string.
(c) The vacuum-energy of a matter and anti-matter string pair.
(d) The attraction felt by a string through the strong force.

2. Einstein's equation, E=mc^2, states that which of the following are equivalent?
(a) Electricity and magnetism.
(b) Light and magnetism.
(c) Energy and light.
(d) Energy and mass.

3. Which of the follow best describes a boson?
(a) The supersymmetric version of a proton.
(b) A particle of matter.
(c) A particle of energy, a messenger particle for a force.
(d) The super-partner of a proton.

4. What is quantum foam?
(a) Particles that are scattered from their normal positions by quantum interference.
(b) The rapidly changing spatial distortions at the Planck length.
(c) The faint material ejected by black holes.
(d) The mixture of short-lived particles observed after a matter and anti-matter collision.

5. Black holes are dense and massive cosmological bodies. What unique distinction do they have?
(a) They are the only objects that emit gamma rays.
(b) They are the only types of stars that can produce uranium and heavier elements.
(c) Neutrinos always flow towards them.
(d) Light cannot escape their gravitational well.

6. General relativity is incompatible with _____.
(a) The photoelectric effect.
(b) Quantum mechanics.
(c) The big bang theory.
(d) State theory.

7. In Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2, what does "c" represent?
(a) The speed of the object.
(b) The object's density.
(c) The speed of light.
(d) The frequency of light.

8. What is the Planck energy?
(a) The typical energy of a messenger particle.
(b) The energy required to create a string.
(c) The typical energy of a vibrating string.
(d) The energy required to change a string's pattern.

9. What is the quantum, or messenger particle, of gravity?
(a) The gravino.
(b) The Calabi-Yau particle.
(c) The graviton.
(d) The Einstein boson.

10. What is the Planck mass?
(a) The average mass gained by a string when it changes to a higher-frequency pattern.
(b) The typical energy of a quark.
(c) The typical mass of a vibrating string.
(d) The typical mass created by quantum foam over one nano-second.

11. Which of the following is correct about the speed at which light moves?
(a) It moves at a constant speed only near a gravitational field.
(b) It moves at a constant speed for all observers.
(c) It moves faster at higher energy levels.
(d) Its speed depends on the observer.

12. Which of the following is true regarding experimental confirmation of string theory?
(a) It can never be confirmed.
(b) It has not yet been experimentally confirmed.
(c) It was confirmed in the 1980s.
(d) It has been experimentally confirmed, but the data are still being processed.

13. What is the photoelectric effect?
(a) When light shines on metals, the metals emit electrons.
(b) Electrons follow quantum paths made by photons.
(c) Photons can spontaneously decay into electrons in powerful magnetic fields.
(d) Electrons and photons only interact if they have the same frequency.

14. Which of the following is one of the major problems in using both quantum physics and general relativity?
(a) General relativity is a wave theory, but quantum physics is a particle theory.
(b) Quantum physics predicts that all particles are massless.
(c) General relativity is time-dependant, quantum physics is a steady-state theory.
(d) At small scales, quantum physics predicts uncertainty, but general relativity requires certainty.

15. Edwin Hubble used Einstein's theories to show that the fabric of the universe _____.
(a) Has a finite boundary.
(b) Is not static, it must either be shrinking or expanding.
(c) Is uniform in all places and times.
(d) Is not flat, it is curved, either inwards or outwards.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of a wave is light?

2. Quantum electroweak theory concerns quantum mechanics and _____.

3. The wave-like nature of the electron means that after a collision, _____.

4. According to string theory, why do different particles have different properties?

5. Which of the following theory was NOT developed in order to try to resolve the conflicts between quantum mechanics and general relativity?

(see the answer keys)

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