mofo said:

Thanks for the links.  Fascinating articles.  I've often wondered how it is that the universe's expansion is accelerating.  My theory is that enormous amounts of high energy radiation were released during the big bang, so much that the photons can pull on the matter of the universe gravitationally as it radiates outward.

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mofo said:

so much that the photons can pull on the matter of the universe gravitationally as it radiates outward.

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DieCommie said:

I dont think string theory would overturn GR, rather it would supplement and tweak it.  I think string theory is whack anyway.

(To answer your question I have no idea how photons work in string theory.)

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string theory is fascinating, i dont know though, after listening to Garrett Lisi talk about his E8 model, it seems like a perfect explanation due to the fact that it works when applied to the real world.
and about the photons, maybe if Lisi is right, the photons as E8 states are part of a multidimensional object that the one point of the object thats a photon is the only point of the object in our dimension, the others being in other dimensions. following me here? ok, so the other points are everything from neutrons, electrons, to hydrogen, but in other dimensions, all existing simultaneously but not in the same plane of reality. these other elements could be attached to something else in the other dimensions, causing an indirect and undetectable force to be exerted on all its other points. this could explain "dark matter" that were constantly looking for, or not... either way, that IS another theory of where the force could come from.

visualizations of E8:

Quote from Rudy Rucker: According to Lisi, all the known particles and forces can be regarded as nodes within a complex mathematical object called E8, a symmetric higher-dimensional polyhedron consisting of 248 vertices in eight-dimensional space, first discovered in 1887.


beautiful concept...