String theory hints at explanation for superconductivity Baroque field gets fresh lease of life in condensed-matter physics. http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090719/full/news.2009.699.html "Until recently, string theory — long heralded as a 'theory of everything' — hadn't been particularly good at explaining anything. But at a workshop this month at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California, scientists have been using the theory to make progress in tackling one of the biggest puzzles in condensed-matter physics: the origin of high-temperature superconductivity." "At the workshop, Sachdev and his collaborators circulated a paper, as yet not even a preprint, in which they stake their claim to a string-theory model for high-temperature superconductors."
