The Unraveling of Space-Time

Curious connections between physics and math suggest to Latham Boyle that space-time may survive the jump to the next theory of reality.

A decade after the discovery of the “amplituhedron,” physicists have excavated more of the timeless geometry underlying the standard picture of how particles move.

A 1930s-era breakthrough is helping physicists understand how quantum threads could weave together into a holographic space-time fabric.

A black hole formula worked out in the 1970s remains the most concrete clue physicists have about the threads of the space-time fabric.

A mysterious phenomenon known as duality often leads to new discoveries in physics. This time, space-time itself can sometimes be two things at once.

The philosopher Karen Crowther digs into how the space-time fabric could possibly emerge from something non-spatiotemporal.

These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental.

Until his dying days, the giant of 20th-century physics obsessed over the underpinnings of space and time, and how we can all share the same version of them.

This special issue of Quanta Magazine explores the ultimate scientific quest: the search for the fundamental nature of reality.