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What Is Quantum Field Theory and Why Is It Incomplete?
Quantum field theory may be the most successful scientific theory of all time, but there’s reason to think it’s missing something. Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical physicist David Tong about this enigmatic theory.
Particle Physicists Puzzle Over a New Duality
A hidden link has been found between two seemingly unrelated particle collision outcomes. It’s the latest example of a mysterious web of mathematical connections between disparate theories of physics.
Where Do Space, Time and Gravity Come From?
Einstein’s description of curved space-time doesn’t easily mesh with a universe made up of quantum wavefunctions. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll discusses the quest for quantum gravity with host Steven Strogatz.
Newly Measured Particle Seems Heavy Enough to Break Known Physics
A new analysis of W bosons suggests these particles are significantly heavier than predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics.
A Deepening Crisis Forces Physicists to Rethink Structure of Nature’s Laws
Physicists are reexamining a longstanding assumption: that big stuff consists of smaller stuff.
The Mysterious Forces Inside the Nucleus Grow a Little Less Strange
The strong force holds protons and neutrons together, but the theory behind it is largely inscrutable. Two new approaches show how it works.
Is the Great Neutrino Puzzle Pointing to Multiple Missing Particles?
Years of conflicting neutrino measurements have led physicists to propose a “dark sector” of invisible particles — one that could simultaneously explain dark matter, the puzzling expansion of the universe, and other mysteries.
One Lab’s Quest to Build Space-Time Out of Quantum Particles
For over two decades, physicists have pondered how the fabric of space-time may emerge from some kind of quantum entanglement. In Monika Schleier-Smith’s lab at Stanford University, the thought experiment is becoming real.
How Steven Weinberg Transformed Physics and Physicists
When Steven Weinberg died last month, the world lost one of its most profound thinkers.