E8

Why is it interesting?

It's the largest exceptional group and popular in unified models of particle physics.

Layman

Explanations in this section should contain no formulas, but instead colloquial things like you would hear them during a coffee break or at a cocktail party.

Student

In this section things should be explained by analogy and with pictures and, if necessary, some formulas.

Researcher

Has E8 ever been observed in nature?
Yes, see

For the other exceptional groups:

For example, E7 Toda field theory describes the thermal perturbation of the tricritical Ising model, and the E6 theory the thermal deformation of the tricritical three-state Potts model. These other models are easily distinguished from the magnetically perturbed Ising model by their central charges. It will be interesting to see if physicists can come up with ways to probe these other models experimentally. The E7 model might be easiest— the unperturbed, CFT version has already been realized, for example, in the form of helium atoms on krypton-plated graphite [TFV].DID A 1-DIMENSIONAL MAGNET DETECT A 248-DIMENSIONAL LIE ALGEBRA? by DAVID BORTHWICK AND SKIP GARIBALDI

Common Question 2

Examples

Example1
Example2:

History