Long before Archimedes suggested that all phenomena observable to us might be understandable through fundamental principles, humans have imagined the possibility of a theory of everything. Over the past century, physicists have edged nearer to unraveling this mystery. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity provides a solid basis for comprehending the cosmos at a large scale, while quantum mechanics allows us to grasp its workings at the subatomic level. The trouble is that the two systems don’t agree on how gravity works.
Today, artificial intelligence offers new hope for scientists addressing the massive computational challenges involved in unraveling the mysteries of something as complex as the universe and everything in it, and Kent Yagi, an associate professor with the University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is leading a research partnership between theoretical physicists and computational physicists at UVA that could offer new insight into the possibility of a theory of everything or, at least, a better understanding of gravity, one of the universe’s fundamental forces. The work has earned him a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation, one of the most prestigious awards available to the nation’s most promising young researchers and educators.
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