Particle physics

Physicists have failed to find disintegrating protons, throwing into limbo the beloved theory that the forces of nature were unified at the beginning of time.

Janet Conrad has a plan to catch the sterile neutrino — an elusive particle, possibly glimpsed by a number of experiments, that would upend what we know about the subatomic world.

An unexpected connection has emerged between the results of physics experiments and an important, seemingly unrelated set of numbers in pure mathematics.

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.

The absence of supersymmetry particles at the Large Hadron Collider has settled a 16-year-old bet among physicists.

Physicists are confronting their “nightmare scenario.” What does the absence of new particles suggest about how nature works?

A hint that neutrinos behave differently than antineutrinos suggests an answer to one the biggest questions in physics.

The physicist Asimina Arvanitaki is thinking up ways to search gravitational wave data for evidence of dark matter particles orbiting black holes.

Rampant rumors and a new analysis undercut hopes of a major discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.