Theoretical physics

Surprising as it may sound, 107 years after the introduction of general relativity, the meanings of basic concepts are still being worked out.

Decades after a Tanzanian teenager initiated study of the “Mpemba effect,” the effort to confirm or refute it is leading physicists toward new theories about how substances relax to equilibrium.

Quantum computers may derive their power from the “magical” way that properties of particles change depending on the context.

The second law of thermodynamics is among the most sacred in all of science, but it has always rested on 19th century arguments about probability. New arguments trace its true source to the flows of quantum information.

By resolving a paradox about light in a box, researchers hope to clarify the concept of energy in quantum theory.

Throwing out data seems to make measurements of distances and angles more precise. The reason why has been traced to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

Vijay Balasubramanian investigates whether the fabric of the universe might be built from information, and what it means that physicists can even ask such a question.

A new analysis of W bosons suggests these particles are significantly heavier than predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics.

Steven Strogatz explores the mysteries of knots with the mathematicians Colin Adams and Lisa Piccirillo.