Because there is more than one parameter , we should actually think of this vacuum energy curve as one slice through a complex , multidimensional mountain range , which leonard susskind of stanford university has described as the landscape of string theory [ see middle illustration on page 85 ] 因为参数不只一个，我们实际上应把这个真空能量曲线想像成是一个复杂、多维度山脉的剖面，美国史丹佛大学的色斯金将此描述成弦论地景（请见73页能量地形的中图） 。
One promising and comprehensive approach to this ultimate theory is string theory , which is based on the idea that all particles and forces can be described in terms of one - dimensional objects ( “ strings ” ) , along with membranes of two dimensions and higher that are called branes [ see “ the string theory landscape , ” by raphael bousso and joseph polchinski , on page 78 ] 在追求终极理论方面，弦论是一个很有希望又具全面性的途径，其中心思想是认为所有粒子与作用力都可以用一维的弦、二维以及更高维的薄膜来描述（参见第66页一统宇宙的弦论） 。
Whereas string theory cannot be tested directly ? it deals with energies that cannot be created in the laboratory ? connes points out that noncommutative geometry makes testable predictions , such as the higgs mass ( 160 billion electron volts ) , and he argues that even renormalization can be verified 例如，弦论无法以实验来检验，因为弦论所涉及的能量太高，物理学家在实验室中造不出那麽高的能量，但是巩讷指出非可换几何所做的预测，譬如希格斯质量（ 1600亿电子伏特） ，却是可以检验的，他说甚至重整化也可以证实。
Researchers have made steady progress recently , most notably in 2003 , when shamit kachru , renata kallosh and andrei linde , all at stanford , and sandip trivedi of the tata institute of fundamental research in mumbai , india , found strong evidence that the landscape does have minima where a universe can get stuck 近来，研究人员已经获得稳定的进展，特别是在2003年，史丹佛大学的卡克鲁、凯洛许与林德，以及在印度孟买塔塔基础研究院的崔维帝发现扎实的证据，显示弦论地景中，的确拥有可以让宇宙稳定的极小值。
