Symmetry

Decades after physicists happened upon a stunning mathematical coincidence, researchers are getting close to understanding the link between two seemingly unrelated geometric universes.

A famously difficult mathematical problem resisted solution for over 40 years. Mathematicians have finally resolved it by following an intuition that links number theory to physics.

An eminent mathematician reveals that his advances in the study of millennia-old mathematical questions owe to concepts derived from physics.

A type of symmetry so unusual that it was called a “pariah” turns out to have deep connections to number theory.

To begin to understand what mathematicians and physicists see in the abstract structures of symmetries, let’s start with a familiar shape.

The two physicists who introduced Peccei-Quinn symmetry came up with their idea on and around Stanford University’s campus 40 years ago.

For centuries, mathematicians tried to solve problems by adding new values to the usual numbers. Now they’re investigating the unintended consequences of that tinkering.

A decades-old method called the “bootstrap” is enabling new discoveries about the geometry underlying all quantum theories.

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.