Attempts to turn string theory into a workable theory of nature have led to the potential conclusion that our universe is a hologram—that what we perceive as three spatial dimensions is actually composed of only two. The greatest realization of this hologram-led program is a proposal that goes by the awkward and clunky name of the AdS/CFT correspondence, first proposed by string theorist Juan Maldacena in the late 1990s.

The AdS/CFT correspondence is not a solution to the problems posed by per se, but a statement motivated by advances in the theory when one takes the holographic principle seriously. It is also not a by itself, but it does tell us that we are not entirely misguided when we make the bold claim that we live in a , and begin to dream about what that revelation might entail.

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