While investigating how string theory can be used to explain certain physical phenomena, scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have stumbled upon on a new series representation for the ...

The representation theory faculty work on a range of problems related to Lie algebras and algebraic groups, using techniques drawn from combinatorics, geometry, and algebra. An algebraic group is an ...

Physicists may have uncovered a surprising new clue that string theory—the idea that the universe is built from unimaginably tiny vibrating strings—could be more than just a mathematical fantasy.

If you could take an apple and break it into smaller and smaller parts, you would find molecules, then atoms, followed by subatomic particles like protons and the quarks and gluons that make them up.

The fundamental particles of the universe that physicists have identified—electrons, neutrinos, quarks, and so on—are the "letters" of all matter. Just like their linguistic counterparts, they appear ...

Representation theory was initially dismissed. Today, it’s central to much of mathematics. Click to tell Google to prioritize Quanta and see more of the best coverage of science and math in your ...

In 1980, Stephen Hawking gave his first lecture as Lucasian Professor at the University of Cambridge. The lecture was called “Is the end in sight for theoretical physics?” Hawking, who later became my ...

Scientists seeking the secrets of the universe would like to make a model that shows how all of nature’s forces and particles fit together. It would be nice to do it with Legos. But perhaps a better ...