Wilson developed a mathematical procedure for analyzing physical systems over a range of different distances—from scales far smaller, say, than those probed by the Large Hadron Collider to the far larger atomic distances that have been accessible for well over a century—and then systematically connecting the stories, clarifying how each hands off the narrative burden to the next as the scale migrates beyond its particular domain. The method, called the renormalization group, lies at the core of modern physics. It shows how the language, conceptual framework, and equations used to analyze
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