String Theory Entangled - Science News

String Theory Entangled - Science News: In a paper published last year, the physicists noted that the string theory math describing black holes is surprisingly similar to the equations for a group of three entangled particles. The new study takes the analogy a step further, tackling the more difficult problem of how four pieces of quantum information, called qubits, behave when they’re entangled. Because experiments disagree, physicists aren’t sure about how many ways four qubits can be entangled. The answer, according to string theory, is 31.

Duff and his team can’t yet explain why the formulas apply to this system. “We don’t understand why it works,” he says. “At some deep level we’re mystified by it.”