A Theory of Everything Takes Shape

String theorists have broken an impasse and may be on their way to converting this mathematical structure-physicists` best hope for unifying gravity and quantum theory-into a single, coherent theory. In an ordinary year, the idyllic setting might be the one thing buoying the spirits of string theorists gathered here at the Aspen Center for Physics to discuss the state of their arcane field. But this summer, at a month-long workshop on string theory, a mood of uncharacteristic optimism and exhilaration prevailed. For more than a decade, these theorists have been struggling to make sense of a mathematical framework that may constitute a unified theory of particles and forces, of gravity and quantum physics-a.k.a., a theory of everything. But they have made little headway. Now, after a quick succession of breakthroughs, this collection of equations, which had seemed to describe many different universes, none clearly related to our own, is showing signs of turning into a coherent theory.