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Anthropic: Claude AI completes nine-loop calculation in theoretical physics, breaking previous record
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Anthropic published a blog post stating that its AI model, Claude, successfully completed a nine-loop calculation in a simplified theoretical physics model (planar N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory). This surpasses the previous record of eight loops set by SLAC physicist Lance Dixon and collaborators. The challenge was issued last month by physicist and science writer @4gravitons, asking if an AI could exceed eight loops using an academic-level compute budget. Claude was given a single prompt describing the nine-loop problem and ran largely unsupervised for days in Claude Science, using methods developed by Dixon and his colleagues, at a total cost of a few thousand dollars. Dixon independently verified the result, and von Hippel wrote about the experience for Anthropic's blog. The achievement demonstrates AI's potential to advance complex scientific computations.
Source report
Theoretical physicists use formulas called scattering amplitudes to predict how particles behave. These calculations are notoriously difficult, so researchers work with layers of increasingly fine corrections known as "loops" — each added loop makes the answer more precise but requires exponentially more computation.
Most calculations stop at two or three loops. The previous record in a simplified model that physicists use as a testing ground — planar N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory — was eight loops, set by SLAC's Lance Dixon and his collaborators.
Last month, physicist and science writer @4gravitons issued a challenge: Could an AI push past eight loops in this model, using only the compute budget that an academic could reasonably access?
Given a single prompt describing the nine-loop problem, Claude ran largely unsupervised for days in Claude Science. It solved the problem using methods developed by Dixon and his colleagues, at a total cost of a few thousand dollars.
- Dixon independently verified the result.
- Von Hippel wrote about the experience for the Anthropic blog.
Read more: https://www.anthropic.com/research/yes-claude-can-do-nine-loops
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Claude AI sets physics record by computing nine-loop scattering amplitude autonomously