Cosmology

Two physicists have calculated that the universe has a higher entropy — and is therefore more likely — than alternative possible universes.

The past and the future are tightly linked in conventional quantum mechanics. Perhaps too tightly. A tweak to the theory could let quantum possibilities increase as space expands.

The key to understanding the origin and fate of the universe may be a more complete understanding of the vacuum.

The noted mathematician and author Steven Strogatz explains how the conversations with experts in his new Quanta Magazine podcast address his lifelong fascination with timeless mysteries.

Physicists are reexamining a longstanding assumption: that big stuff consists of smaller stuff.

When astronomers tried to confirm a signal from the birth of the first stars after the Big Bang, they saw nothing.

Celia Escamilla-Rivera is combining large data sets with supercomputers to test general relativity against its little-known competitors.

In computer simulations of possible universes, researchers have discovered that a neural network can infer the amount of matter in a whole universe by studying just one of its galaxies.

A central pillar of cosmology — the universe is the same everywhere and in all directions — is surviving a storm of possible evidence against it.