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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the string coupling constant govern?
(a) The strength of links between strings.
(b) The relative length of threading between strings.
(c) The number of strings that can be joined at once.
(d) The likelihood of strings joining or separating.

2. In M-theory, what is a two-dimensional oscillating object is called?
(a) A two-string.
(b) A membrane.
(c) A flop.
(d) A blob.

3. About how old is the universe?
(a) 950 billion years.
(b) 300 billion years.
(c) 14 billion years.
(d) Two billion years.

4. What is entropy a measure of?
(a) Energy lost over time.
(b) The energy lost by a black hole.
(c) Heat and pressure.
(d) Disorder.

5. What does the second law of thermodynamics state about entropy for a closed system?
(a) It is conserved, and never changes.
(b) It varies with external temperature.
(c) It always increases.
(d) It always decreases.

6. By what factor is the minimum mass of a wrapped string in determined?
(a) The string's Planck tension.
(b) The size of the circular dimension it is wrapped around.
(c) The vacuum energy of the dimension it is wrapped around.
(d) The string's winding number.

7. Which of the following is true regarding the force of gravity in string theory?
(a) Gravity is not addressed in string theory.
(b) Gravity in string theory acts over much longer distances.
(c) Gravity in string theory is stronger than what we actually observe.
(d) String theory predicts gravity.

8. Which of the following is true regarding our current knowledge of the Calabi-Yau space?
(a) Its shape is completely known and defined.
(b) Its shape is totally unknown.
(c) Its shape is not fully known.
(d) Physicists and mathematicians disagree about its shape.

9. Which of the following is true regarding the tearing of space-time according to general relativity?
(a) A tear would destroy the universe.
(b) It can tear under special circumstances.
(c) It cannot tear.
(d) It is not known if space-time can tear.

10. Which of the following will occur after the collapse of the universe as predicted by string theory?
(a) The universe will become a single black hole.
(b) The universe will be mirrored in another dimension.
(c) The universe will expand again.
(d) The universe will cease to exist.

11. The extra dimension or dimensions in M-theory are needed in order to incorporate _____.
(a) Supergravity.
(b) Unwound Calabi-Yau spaces.
(c) Electroweak duality.
(d) Electromagnetism.

12. As a string becomes wrapped, which of its properties increases?
(a) Its wavelength.
(b) Its amplitude.
(c) Its energy.
(d) Its spin.

13. Which of the following best describes a wormhole?
(a) The center of a black hole.
(b) A quantum-scale connection between two particles.
(c) A bridge between two points in space-time.
(d) The quantum-scale path left by a "tunneling" particle.

14. What is the traditional method of testing theories in physics?
(a) Consensus.
(b) Experimentation.
(c) Mathematical proof.
(d) Debate.

15. What is one possible way that the three dimensions we observe could have been "stretched out"?
(a) Quantum fluctuations.
(b) The big bang.
(c) A false vacuum event.
(d) Vacuum energy.

Short Answer Questions

1. About how long did the "primordial synthesis" stage of the big bang last?

2. When a Calabi-Yau space collapses, it comes back as a space. What distinction does it have?

3. According to string theory, which of the following cannot occur during the collapse of the universe?

4. In ratios of what number do winding energies come?

5. What is the importance of the string-coupling constant?

(see the answer keys)

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