In the last few decades, researchers have pursued the problem in two separate programs — string theory and loop quantum gravity — that are widely considered incompatible by their practitioners. But ...

String theory adds the new microscopic layer of a vibrating loop to the previously known progression from atoms through protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks. Although it is by no means obvious ...

And it’s a lot: cosmic strings would produce at least a billion loops throughout the visible universe today, researchers report. “Cosmic strings are these filaments which wind and sneak throug ...