String-theory calculations describe 'birth of the universe' - physicsworld.com

String-theory calculations describe 'birth of the universe' - physicsworld.com: Matrix allows stronger interactions
Weakly interacting strings cannot describe the early universe with its high energies, densities and temperatures, so researchers have sought a way to study strings that strongly affect one another. To this end, some string theorists have tried to reformulate the theory using matrices. "The string picture emerges from matrices in the limit of infinite matrix size," says Nishimura. Five forms of string theory can be described with perturbation theory, but only one has a complete matrix form – Type IIB. Some even speculate that the matrix Type IIB actually describes M-theory, thought to be the fundamental version of string theory that unites all five known types.