An alternative to string theory

Abstract

Abstract String theory has many compelling features, including higher dimensions, supersymmetry, and topological defects of central importance. Here we describe a theory which also contains these features, but which is much more ambitious than string theory and also much closer to experiment. Since the mathematical details are given in a much longer paper, we summarize only the most important results, which include SO(N) gauge unification, vanishing of the usual cosmological constant, and a credible dark matter candidate.