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Quantum Field Theory
Black holes encode information on their surfaces, but evaporate away into Hawking radiation. Is that information preserved, and if so, how?
It's possible to remove all forms of matter, radiation, and curvature from space. When you do, dark energy still remains. Is this mandatory?
Within our observable Universe, there's only one Earth and one "you." But in a vast multiverse, so much more becomes possible.
The mass that gravitates and the mass that resists motion are, somehow, the same mass. But even Einstein didn't know why this is so.
Quarks and leptons are the smallest known subatomic particles. Does the Standard Model allow for an even smaller layer of matter to exist?
Dark matter's hallmark is that it gravitates, but shows no sign of interacting under any other force. Does that mean we'll never detect it?
Often viewed as a purely theoretical, calculational tool only, direct observation of the Lamb Shift proved their very real existence.
A longstanding mismatch between theory and experiment motivated an exquisite muon measurement. At last, a theoretical solution has arrived.
There are many things that separate science from ideology, politics, philosophy, or religion. Follow these 10 commandments to get it right.
Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.
From forming bound states to normal scattering, many possibilities abound for matter-antimatter interactions. So why do they annihilate?
Glueballs are an unusual, unconfirmed Standard Model prediction, suggesting bound states of gluons alone exist. We just found our first one.
Holograms preserve all of an object's 3D information, but on a 2D surface. Could the holographic Universe idea lead us to higher dimensions?
First derived by Emmy Noether, for every symmetry a theory possesses, there's an associated conserved quantity. Here's the profound link.
The Multiverse fuels some of the 21st century's best fiction stories. But its supporting pillars are on extremely stable scientific footing.
When cosmic inflation came to an end, the hot Big Bang ensued as a result. If our cosmic vacuum state decays, could it all happen again?
For generations, physicists have been searching for a quantum theory of gravity. But what if gravity isn't actually quantum at all?
For a substantial fraction of a second after the Big Bang, there was only a quark-gluon plasma. Here's how protons and neutrons arose.
Cosmic inflation is the state that preceded and set up the hot Big Bang. Here's what the Universe was like during that time period.
Is it like a tiny ball — or what?
There may be unknown particles lurking inside the quantum foam.
Nothing can escape from a black hole. So where do Hawking radiation, relativistic jets, and X-ray emissions around black holes come from?
If we waited long enough, would even protons themselves decay? The far future stability of the Universe depends on it.
In 1974, Hawking showed that black holes aren't stable, but emit radiation and decay. Nearly 50 years later, it isn't just for black holes.
The problem of the electroweak horizon haunts the standard model of cosmology and beckons us to ask how deep a rethink the model may need.
The LHC has a long, productive life ahead of it. An upgraded version, called the “High Luminosity LHC,” will be available in 2028.
The zero-point energy of empty space is not zero. Even with all the physics we know, we have no idea how to calculate what it ought to be.
Unless you confront your theory with what's actually out there in the Universe, you're playing in the sandbox, not engaging in science.
Protons and neutrons are held together by the strong force: with 3 colors and 3 anticolors. So why are there only 8 gluons, and not 9?
Are quantum fields real, or are they simply calculational tools? These 3 experiments show that if energy is real, so are quantum fields.