Five must-read stories from the past week include Chile’s earthquake captured on radar; a new high-precision calculation that could significantly advance the indirect search for physics beyond the Standard Model; how neutrinos, which barely exist, just ran off with another Nobel Prize; and a breakthrough on the mathematical understanding of Einstein’s equations.
A Breakthrough on the Mathematical Understanding of Einstein’s Equations
Proposed 15 years ago, the bounded L2 curvature conjecture has finally been proved by a group of three researcher
s. It provides a potentially minimal framework in which it is possible to solve the Einstein equations, which in turn could be a critical step toward the proof of major conjectures.
How Neutrinos, which Barely Exist, Just Ran Off with another Nobel Prize
Neutrinos take patience. They’re worth it, and the announcement of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes that, following related prizes in 1988 and 2002. Ironically, these near-undetectable particles can reveal things that cannot be seen any other way. Why should you care, beyond sharing our curiosity about revealing some of the weirdest things in the universe?
A New Calculation Holds Promise for New Physics
A team of theoretical high-energy physicists in the Fermilab Lattice and MILC Collaborations has published a new high-precision calculation that could significantly advance the indirect search for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). The calculation applies to a particularly rare decay of the B meson (a subatomic particle), which is sometimes also called a “penguin decay” process.
Chile Earthquake Captured on Radar
On 16 September 2015, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of central Chile, triggering tsunami warnings and coastal evacuations. Lasting three minutes, this powerful earthquake occurred along the boundary of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.
Equation Works Out Kinks In Knot Math
Knots are everywhere, from laces of shoes to stitches that seal cuts. Sailors and others have known since antiquity that some knots are stronger than others, but such knowledge came largely from intuition and tradition, rather than a fundamental understanding of what makes knots strong.