Group theory has proven helpful in the study of everything from particle physics to Rubik's cubes as well as mathematical equations.
The most ambitious such "theory of everything," which portrays particles as strings wriggling in 10-dimensional space-time, seems to preserve the matter-antimatter symmetry, but theorists do not really understand why.
"To me, physics is the study of everything, from the smallest particles known to man to the edge of the universe," she gushes.
These theories-of-everything maintain that monopoles should have been created in the Big Bang that started the universe along with the other fundamental particles of matter.
Others are building bridges between islands of thought that once seemed hopelessly remote, rekindling hopes of a unified "theory of everything" that would explain all the particles and forces of nature.
With any luck, the LHC will catch a glimpse of new and unexpected fundamental particles that will point the way to a theory of everything.
The most promising theory of everything is string theory, which says that all subatomic particles are actually made of tiny strings.
Newton's second law works as a way to describe the motion of everything in a quantum mechanical system as long as the particles are not moving near the speed of light.
The discovery of a supersymmetric particle would also be a boost for string theory, the controversial "theory of everything," and would explicate the nature of a quarter of the universe.
Nevertheless, most particle physicists see string theory as our best hope for a theory of everything.
