How to Use field theory in a Sentence

field theory

noun
  • Is there a unifying field theory in all this?
    — David Morgan, CBS News, 2 Feb. 2026
  • In fact, most of us were outsiders to cosmology, doing our main work in the fields of particle physics and quantum-field theory.
    — Frank Wilczek, WSJ, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The second reason has to do with Weinberg’s effective field theory.
    — WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Nothing thereafter came close, and his lifelong ambition, a unified field theory, escaped him.
    — The Atlantic, 18 Aug. 2019
  • Quantum field theory, the powerful framework of modern particle physics, says the universe is filled with fields.
    — Matt Strassler, Quanta Magazine, 3 Sep. 2024
  • But this movie perfected the clichés, while offering a unified field theory of the modern romantic comedy in the process.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Shaghoulian observed that this split was analogous to the kind that enlarges the Hilbert spaces of topological field theories.
    — Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 19 Nov. 2025
  • The first is conformal field theory or CFT which describes particle physics on the smallest quantum scales.
    — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 5 Dec. 2022
  • But the conformal field theory that linked the monster group to the j-function was just one example of an infinite number of conformal field theories.
    — Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Quantum field theory depicts discrete particles as excitations in continuous fields that stretch across space and time.
    — Thomas Lewton, Wired, 1 Aug. 2021
  • In this case, the ripples follow a symmetric theory known as a conformal field theory or CFT.
    — Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2024
  • To fill in that deeper level, Einstein sought a unified field theory, in which particles derive from structures that look nothing like particles.
    — George Musser, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015
  • In this system, the entire region of spacetime is built out of interactions between the components of the quantum system in the conformal field theory.
    — Adam Becker, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022
  • And so physicists have continued to study conformal field theories by looking at their associated modular forms.
    — Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Effective field theory fixes the problem by accounting for the interplay between scales only down to a few times the distance between galaxies.
    — Quanta Magazine, 12 Feb. 2014
  • Quantum field theory describes particles as excitations in underlying fields, like ripples in a pond.
    — Quanta Magazine, 12 Dec. 2022
  • On the first day (yesterday, by now), my favorite talk was by Leonardo Senatore on the effective field theory of inflation.
    — Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2011
  • The link to conformal field theory gave Beilinson and Drinfeld a place to start thinking about how to build a version of Fourier analysis for sheaves.
    — Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 19 July 2024
  • His reasoning very much follows the Wilsonian effective field theory approach.
    — Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 7 Feb. 2012
  • Conformal field theory, geometric entities, before and after that exist only in the head—and, in this despotic head, a big muddle and great confusion.
    — Claudio Magris, Harper's Magazine, 25 May 2021
  • Quantum field theory, which had been used successfully to explain electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force, wasn’t cutting it, so physicists were eager for something new.
    — Paul Sutter, Ars Technica, 27 Jan. 2023
  • Adding gravity to the act, the issue featured an essay by Einstein that propounded a comprehensive field theory that would hold physics together.
    — Alfred W. McCoy, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2020
  • But, strangely, the calculation that came closest used an oversimplified model of the nuclear force—not the chiral effective field theory.
    — WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023
  • Conformal field theory is a type of quantum field theory that has certain special mathematical properties.
    — Popular Mechanics, 31 July 2023
  • Topological field theories can also have one-dimensional Hilbert spaces.
    — Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 19 Nov. 2025
  • An effective field theory is a way of using symmetries to sum up the effects of many unknown high-energy effects in a relatively simple low-energy description.
    — Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2011
  • His textbooks on quantum field theory were a godsend, and his perspectives on the inevitability of quantum field theory and on effective field theory formed the foundation of my picture of the world.
    — Quanta Magazine, 12 Aug. 2021
  • The documentary posits a unified field theory of fin de siècle snark, where the nascent internet and the cynical sarcasm of David Letterman combined to form a bitter brew.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2022
  • My contribution was — along with professor Keiji Kikkawa — to create string field theory, which can summarize string theory in an equation about 1-inch long.
    — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 15 Sep. 2021
  • The couple, working with Luftwerk, a Chicago studio that does large-scale projects for public buildings, added a huge interior light installation inspired by Netsch’s field theory.
    — J.s. Marcus, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'field theory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: