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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How could time travel be possible?

2. On what scale does Hawking think time travel occurs?

3. When particles hit p-branes, what are produced?

4. What is a practical limit on the design of faster computers?

5. How could this energy density be created?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Hawking believe black holes radiate?

2. At what rate is the computational power of computers increasing, and what computational rate might they actually reach?

3. How does Hawking begin Chapter Four?

4. What partially restores determinism and why?

5. What did the physicist John Wheeler mean when he said, "a black hole has no hair"?

6. What is the main question concerning space-time, if one avoids philosophical discussion and focuses on the laws of physics?

7. What is the grandfather paradox?

8. What does Hawking think he can prove about space-time paths?

9. What did Strominger and Vafa postulate in 1996?

10. What does much of the possibility of time travel depend upon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Expound on Einstein's involvement, direct or indirect, in WWII. Be sure to discuss the relationship between scientific discovery and practical use. Analyze The Manhattan Project as an example of science and its utilization.

Essay Topic 2

Define and describe supersymmetry and its implications on space-time. Cite two examples from Chapter Two that identify important players in the idea's inception or in its repercussions and consequences on modern scientific thought.

Essay Topic 3

What are p-branes? What are the different levels of branes? What is the role of p-branes in supersymmetry? Answer the previous questions succinctly and be sure to explore Hawking's contributions to this field of study.

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