Claude computes nine-loop scattering amplitude, breaking Lance Dixon's eight-loop record
kevinweil · x · 2026-09-26
Anthropic's Science Blog reports that Claude completed a nine-loop scattering amplitude calculation in planar N=4 super-Yang-Mills, beating the eight-loop record set by SLAC's Lance Dixon and collaborators.
- The challenge was issued a month earlier by physicist-turned-science-writer Matt von Hippel, who wanted to see an LLM progress on a problem he knew was computationally hard
- Scattering amplitudes are notoriously hard: each added loop improves precision but costs exponentially more computation; most work stops at two or three loops
- Former OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil, who calculated Feynman diagrams in grad school, called the result mind-boggling and expects AI to transform high-energy physics within 12 months
Related event: Claude Breaks Nine-Loop Physics Record, Scooping Human Team(27 posts)→
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