theoretical physicist michael duff is trying to change the shape of the universe or at least the shape of the stuff it is made of if theories proposed over the past year by duff and his colleagues in texas a&m universitys center for theoretical physics hold up particles that are the building blocks of the universe may change from infinitely tiny points to bubbles and sheets and tubes and the mathematical equations that physicists use to describe them could become part of an allencompassing theory of everything such a theory would mean that at the fundamental level we would know in principle all there is to know says duff a distinguished professor in texas a&ms department of physics of course that doesnt mean we would understand biology or sociology or whatever but at the most fundamental level there would be essentially nothing new to say the work done by duff and his colleagues texas a&m phd physics students joachim rahmfeld and ruben minasian wont actually change the shape of these fundamental particles of course but it could transform the way physicists understand and describe them mathematically conventional physics theory says that at its most basic the universe consists of infinitely tiny particles physicists describe them mathematically as dimensionless pointlike objects this idea has recently come under attack duff says one of the most important advances in the theory of fundamental particles came in the mid1980s when theoretical physicists (including several at texas a&m) began to explore the idea that fundamental particles might be described more accurately as onedimensional objects strings together with supersymmetry an idea physicists use to look at what appear to be different kinds of particles as if they are different views of the same particle strings opened the way for the advances proposed by duff and his fellow theoreticians duff and a growing group of likeminded scientists however say when put together with the ideas of strings and supersymmetry new calculations suggest the shapes of these particles may be more accurately described as membranes bubbles and sheets and tubes in fact calculations by duff and his colleagues at texas a&m also suggest the particles exist in 11 dimensions rather than the conventional four (length width height and time) in which we usually visualize the world the additional dimensions are compactified so only the four dimensions we are familiar with are visible these new shapes and additional dimensions are the latest steps in a decadeslong quest for a theory of everything a single mathematical equation or set of related equations that describe the structure and operation of the universe the difference between invisible dimensionless pointlike objects and equally invisible 11dimensional bubbles and sheets and tubes may seem rather pointless to nonphysicists to the researchers who study them however the difference is crucial because it changes the way the particles can behave if you can regard what are apparently different particles and apparently different forces as really being different aspects of one kind of force or one kind of particle then thats progress as far as were concerned duff says the growing acceptance by physicists of the 11dimensional particle world proposed by duff and his colleagues marks a substantial shift in thinking among leading theoreticians one nobel prize winner once said ‘eleven dimensions ugh! and covered his ears when the idea came up during a theoretical symposium duff says he was sold on 10 dimensions by the way that attitude seems to be changing duff and minasian have recently collaborated with renowned theoretical physicist edward witten of princeton university to write an article that vindicates many of duffs ideas witten used to be critical of the 11dimension theory but is now its leading advocate physicists say the idea of 11dimensional membranes is probably the most exciting theoretical development since researchers began in the mid-1980s to investigate the idea that fundamental particles might be something other than pointlike objects the work by duff and his colleagues has been described in articles in the journals physics letters and nuclear physics contact: gene charleton at (409) 845-4644 e-mail: e-charleton@tamuedu texas a&m university one of the top 10 research universities in the country is committed to research and scholarship that is innovative and beneficial to the public well-being aggiedaily office of university relations