Many physicists think that unifying gravity and other forces will require a theory embracing about 11 space-time dimensions, give or take a few. To put that in perspective, mathematicians have now mapped the workings of an esoteric 248-dimensional structure. Physicists must surely be encouraged.
The structure, called E8, was explored by Jeffrey Adams from the University of Maryland, College Park, and 17 other mathematicians. “E8 was discovered in 1887 and until now, no one thought the structure could ever be understood,” says Adams.
E8 is an example of a so-called Lie group, defined by Norwegian mathematician…
