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string theory

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Art for "Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory"
theoretical physics

Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory

By Natalie Wolchover
August 9, 2018
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A controversial new paper argues that universes with dark energy profiles like ours do not exist in the “landscape” of universes allowed by string theory.

Quantized Columns

There Are No Laws of Physics. There’s Only the Landscape.

By Robbert Dijkgraaf
June 4, 2018
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Scientists seek a single description of reality. But modern physics allows for many different descriptions, many equivalent to one another, connected through a vast landscape of mathematical possibility.

Photo of Michela Massimi
Q&A

Questioning Truth, Reality and the Role of Science

By Philip Ball
May 24, 2018
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In an era when untestable ideas such as the multiverse hold sway, Michela Massimi defends science from those who think it hopelessly unmoored from physical reality.

Art for "Three Decades Later, Mystery Numbers Explained"
Abstractions blog

Three Decades Later, Mystery Numbers Explained

By Kevin Hartnett
May 3, 2018
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Zeta values seem to connect distant geometric worlds. In a new proof, mathematicians finally explain why.

Illustration for "Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link Between Two Geometric Worlds"
geometry

Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link Between Two Geometric Worlds

By Kevin Hartnett
April 9, 2018
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Decades after physicists happened upon a stunning mathematical coincidence, researchers are getting close to understanding the link between two seemingly unrelated geometric universes.

520px photo of Joe Polchinski
Quantized Columns

Physicists Mourn Joe Polchinski, Developer of Deep Ideas and Paradoxes

By Eva Silverstein
February 20, 2018
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The theoretical physicist Joe Polchinski, who died February 2, left a tremendous professional and personal legacy, says a friend and collaborator.

M theory and its six components
Abstractions blog

Why Is M-Theory the Leading Candidate for Theory of Everything?

By Natalie Wolchover
December 18, 2017
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The mother of all string theories passes a litmus test that, so far, no other candidate theory of quantum gravity has been able to match.

Edward Witten in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
Q&A

A Physicist’s Physicist Ponders the Nature of Reality

By Natalie Wolchover
November 28, 2017
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Edward Witten reflects on the meaning of dualities in physics and math, emergent space-time, and the pursuit of a complete description of nature.

Pariah moonshine
number theory

Mathematicians Find Moonshine Link for Pariah Symmetries

By Erica Klarreich
September 22, 2017
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A type of symmetry so unusual that it was called a “pariah” turns out to have deep connections to number theory.


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