Physicists have long attempted to find a single theory that unites quantum mechanics and general relativity.

This has been very tricky because quantum mechanics focuses on the unpredictable nature of particles at microscopic scales, whereas general relativity explains gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by massive objects.

The two theories discuss forces existing on different scales. Bianconi employed an interesting approach to deal with this challenge. She proposes an entropic action where, instead of being a fixed background, spacetime works like a quantum operator — acting on quantum states and deciding how they change over time.