AI Starts to Sift Through String Theory'...

In 2018, using the Keck Observatory in Hawaiʻi, astronomers discovered the first known dark matter-deficient galaxy, DF2. It’s about the same size as the Milky Way, but way dimmer, with 200 times fewer stars. Since then, two more phantom galaxies (DF4 and DF9) have been spotted. ... Show More

The uncertainty principle tells us that the more you know about where a quantum particle is, the less you can know about how fast it’s moving, and vice versa. In 2023, graduate student Alex Cohen stunned the math world when he posted a proof of the fractal uncertainty principle. ... Show More

Determination and effort propelled Jacob Tsimerman to the top of the math world. But now that he’s won a Fields Medal, he worries that the field is in jeopardy.The article Sometimes Being First Means Seeing the End Before Anyone Else first appeared on Quanta Magazine. 

<p>Last time, we introduced the biggest open problem in theoretical physics - the problem of combining gravity with quantum mechanics. In this first part of a three-part series, we introduce the leading candidate for how to do that: String Theory.<br/><br/>For ad-free episodes an ... Show More

We're still in the dark about what 95 percent of our universe is made of — and the standard model for understanding particle physics has hit a limit. What's the next step forward? Particle physicist Alex Keshavarzi digs into the first results of the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermila ... Show More

Last month, physicists at Fermilab in Illinois found that tiny subatomic particles called muons were wobbling strangely. This small observation could transform the future of particle physics, potentially pointing toward undiscovered particles or maybe even a new force of nature. ... Show More

<p>We pick up the story of string theory and explore the explosion of interest it experienced in the mid 1980s.<br/><br/>For ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverse</p><p><a rel="payment" href="https://patreon. ... Show More

How artificial intelligence is accelerating discoveries – and raising profound questions – about the future of physics 

Experts are starting to plan for the moment when a quantum computer large enough to crack the backbone of the math that keeps things secret will be turned on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

<p>Learn how extra dimensions of space might appear to us, and what physicists have done to try to find them.<br/><br/>To support our show and get ad-free episodes and other exclusives, join us for $3 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/whythisuniverse</p><p><a rel="payment" ... Show More

Depending on your social media proclivities you may or may not have noticed that your feed is awash with images from the JWST. Certainly science Twitter is very excited about it. And so they should be, it’s amazing to see what we can observe of the very big and very far away than ... Show More

Large language models are changing the way physics is taught and practised