For most problems in the history of physics, people have been able to use pre-existing math that had been developed sometimes hundreds of years before. String

For most problems in the history of physics, people have been able to use pre-existing math that had been developed sometimes hundreds of years before. String theory in an exception to this, and the math needed to do what people want doesn't exist yet. This is part of why im willing to give people who do string theory research a pass on not having testable predictions yet. They are still developing the tools, which is why there tends to be alot of collaboration with mathematicians. Even if this line of research doesnt ultimately yield physical insight, its still moving math forward, and that will ultimately benefit everyone.