What are the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory (the theory whose low-energy limit is eleven-dimensional

Question: What are the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory (the theory whose low-energy limit is eleven-dimensional supergravity and that subsumes the five consistent superstring theories) and does the theory describe nature?
- Keywords:
  m-theory
Asked by 50shadesofmurray to Amanda, Ben, Dan, Gary, Samer on 24 Jun 2013.
- Dan Weatherill answered on 24 Jun 2013:
  
  As far as I know, and I am no expert in it, the fundamental degrees of freedom are “p-branes” which are p – dimensional oscillations embedded in the 12 dimensional (Calabai-Yau) manifold. There are various tricks that can be done which allow most of the standard model to be reproduced from various combinations of p-branes interacting together.
  
  I’m not a huge fan of superstring personally, just because there seems to be no road path to how we’ll get experimental verification or refutation of it
- Ben Drumm answered on 24 Jun 2013:
  
  p-branes… lol.

Question: What are the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory (the theory whose low-energy limit is eleven-dimensional supergravity and that subsumes the five consistent superstring theories) and does the theory describe nature?