May 6, 2025 05:56 PM
New theory of gravity brings long-sought Theory of Everything a crucial step closer
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1082672
INTRO: At long last, a unified theory combining gravity with the other fundamental forces—electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces—is within reach. Bringing gravity into the fold has been the goal of generations of physicists, who have struggled to reconcile the incompatibility of two cornerstones of modern physics: quantum field theory and Einstein’s theory of gravity.
Researchers at Aalto University have developed a new quantum theory of gravity which describes gravity in a way that’s compatible with the Standard Model of particle physics, opening the door to an improved understanding of how the universe began. While the world of theoretical physics may seem remote from applicable tech, the findings are remarkable. Modern technology is built on such fundamental advances — for example, the GPS in your smartphone works thanks to Einstein’s theory of gravity.
Mikko Partanen and Jukka Tulkki describe their new theory in a paper just published in Reports on Progress in Physics. Lead author Partanen expects that within a few years, the findings will have unlocked critical understanding... (MORE - details, no ads)
Dimension 126 contains strangely twisted shapes, mathematicians prove
https://www.quantamagazine.org/dimension...-20250505/
INTRO: It can be tempting to assume that your intuitions about three-dimensional space carry over to higher-dimensional realms. After all, adding another dimension simply creates a new direction to move around in. It doesn’t change the defining features of space: its endlessness and its uniformity.
But different dimensions have decidedly different personalities. In dimensions 8 and 24, it’s possible to pack balls together especially tightly. In other dimensions, there are “exotic” spheres that look irremediably crumpled. And dimension 3 is the only one that can contain knots — in any higher dimension, you can untangle a knot even while holding its ends fast.
Now, mathematicians have put the finishing touches on a story of dimensional weirdness that has been 65 years in the making. For many decades, researchers have wanted to know which dimensions can host particularly strange shapes — ones so twisted that they cannot be converted into a sphere through a simple procedure called surgery. The existence of these shapes, mathematicians have shown, is intimately intertwined with fundamental questions in topology about the relationships between spheres of different dimensions.
Over the years, mathematicians found that the twisted shapes exist in dimensions 2, 6, 14, 30 and 62. They also showed that such shapes could not possibly exist in any other dimension — save one. No one could determine the status of dimension 126.
Three mathematicians have now settled this final problem. In a paper posted online(opens a new tab) last December, Weinan Lin(opens a new tab) and Guozhen Wang(opens a new tab) of Fudan University in Shanghai, along with Zhouli Xu(opens a new tab) of the University of California, Los Angeles, proved that 126 is indeed one of the rare dimensions that can host these strangely twisted shapes.
It’s “a very long program, finally finished,” said Ulrike Tillmann(opens a new tab), a mathematician at the University of Oxford and the director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
The proof, which uses a combination of computer calculations and theoretical insights, is “like a monumental engineering project,” said Michael Hopkins(opens a new tab) of Harvard University. “It’s just jaw-dropping how they did it.” (MORE - details)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1082672
INTRO: At long last, a unified theory combining gravity with the other fundamental forces—electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces—is within reach. Bringing gravity into the fold has been the goal of generations of physicists, who have struggled to reconcile the incompatibility of two cornerstones of modern physics: quantum field theory and Einstein’s theory of gravity.
Researchers at Aalto University have developed a new quantum theory of gravity which describes gravity in a way that’s compatible with the Standard Model of particle physics, opening the door to an improved understanding of how the universe began. While the world of theoretical physics may seem remote from applicable tech, the findings are remarkable. Modern technology is built on such fundamental advances — for example, the GPS in your smartphone works thanks to Einstein’s theory of gravity.
Mikko Partanen and Jukka Tulkki describe their new theory in a paper just published in Reports on Progress in Physics. Lead author Partanen expects that within a few years, the findings will have unlocked critical understanding... (MORE - details, no ads)
Dimension 126 contains strangely twisted shapes, mathematicians prove
https://www.quantamagazine.org/dimension...-20250505/
INTRO: It can be tempting to assume that your intuitions about three-dimensional space carry over to higher-dimensional realms. After all, adding another dimension simply creates a new direction to move around in. It doesn’t change the defining features of space: its endlessness and its uniformity.
But different dimensions have decidedly different personalities. In dimensions 8 and 24, it’s possible to pack balls together especially tightly. In other dimensions, there are “exotic” spheres that look irremediably crumpled. And dimension 3 is the only one that can contain knots — in any higher dimension, you can untangle a knot even while holding its ends fast.
Now, mathematicians have put the finishing touches on a story of dimensional weirdness that has been 65 years in the making. For many decades, researchers have wanted to know which dimensions can host particularly strange shapes — ones so twisted that they cannot be converted into a sphere through a simple procedure called surgery. The existence of these shapes, mathematicians have shown, is intimately intertwined with fundamental questions in topology about the relationships between spheres of different dimensions.
Over the years, mathematicians found that the twisted shapes exist in dimensions 2, 6, 14, 30 and 62. They also showed that such shapes could not possibly exist in any other dimension — save one. No one could determine the status of dimension 126.
Three mathematicians have now settled this final problem. In a paper posted online(opens a new tab) last December, Weinan Lin(opens a new tab) and Guozhen Wang(opens a new tab) of Fudan University in Shanghai, along with Zhouli Xu(opens a new tab) of the University of California, Los Angeles, proved that 126 is indeed one of the rare dimensions that can host these strangely twisted shapes.
It’s “a very long program, finally finished,” said Ulrike Tillmann(opens a new tab), a mathematician at the University of Oxford and the director of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
The proof, which uses a combination of computer calculations and theoretical insights, is “like a monumental engineering project,” said Michael Hopkins(opens a new tab) of Harvard University. “It’s just jaw-dropping how they did it.” (MORE - details)