Biggest predictions in the field of physics

Guri9915529 Sep, 2024Science

Theoretical physicists perform computations, make predictions, and squint at blackboards. Equipment is built, observations are made, and data sets are analysed by experimental physicists. (At least, that?s how things work when things are going well.) Predictions made by the scientists sometimes turn out to be a discoveries. The two groups depend on one another because experimenters can be looking to show that a theory is true (or false), while theorists might be looking to explain experimental findings. Experimentalists will be shocked to hear that we won?t accept any evidence that isn?t supported by theory, as the British theoretical physicist Arthur Eddington memorably said.