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For centuries, mathematicians tried to solve problems by adding new values to the usual numbers. Now they’re investigating the unintended consequences of that tinkering.
A decades-old method called the “bootstrap” is enabling new discoveries about the geometry underlying all quantum theories.
The theoretical particle physicist Helen Quinn has blazed a singular path from the early days of the Standard Model to the latest overhaul of science education in the United States.
A hint that neutrinos behave differently than antineutrinos suggests an answer to one the biggest questions in physics.
By blasting a stack of minerals with a four-meter-long gun, scientists have found a new clue about the backstory of a very strange rock.
Nature’s laws are beautiful because they strike a compromise between boring symmetry and confusing asymmetry, physicists say.
The Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska has solved the centuries-old sphere-packing problem in dimensions eight and 24.
The irreversibility of time may be a clue as to what makes up the universe’s dark matter.
Three years ago, a solitary mathematician released an impenetrable proof of the famous abc conjecture. At a recent conference dedicated to the work, optimism mixed with bafflement.