Physics

Researchers say there are three possible explanations for the anomalous data. One is mundane. Two would revolutionize physics.

Mathematicians typically appreciate either generic or exceptional beauty in their work, but one type is more useful in describing the universe.

We asked four physicists why gravity stands out among the forces of nature. We got four different answers.

After a burst lit up their telescope “like a Christmas tree,” astronomers were able to finally track down the source of these cosmic oddities.

By chewing on the problems posed by “extremal” black holes, physicists have exposed a surprising and universal connection between energy and entropy.

Collider physicists report that several measurements of particles called B mesons deviate from predictions. Alone, each oddity looks like a fluke, but their collective drift is more suggestive.

Anyons don’t fit into either of the two known particle kingdoms. To find them, physicists had to erase the third dimension.

Einstein’s equations describe three canonical configurations of space-time. Now one of these three — important in the study of quantum gravity — has been shown to be inherently unstable.

Two ways of approximating the ultra-complicated math that governs quark particles have recently come into conflict, leaving physicists unsure what their decades-old theory predicts.