"Physicists have algorithms to compute the probabilities of no-loop and one-loop scenarios, but many two-loop collisions bring computers to their knees....
"Researchers use computers to essentially guess at millions of relationships and laboriously extract the combinations of integrals that matter....
"[With new cohomology methods] When researchers compute the weights, they see that scenarios with the longest-lasting virtual particles — that is, cases in which the particles become essentially real — shape the outcome the most. ...
"Last week Mizera, Mastrolia and colleagues published another preprint showing that the technique has matured enough to handle real-world two-loop diagrams."
I've been hoping for a long time that math'ers would make more sense of QM. Fingers crossed.
I'm surprised to see such a technical subject being covered in a popsci article. It's pretty much as far as you can get from the usual fare of big-picture speculation about the interpretation of QM etc. The very last sentence ("it may even foreshadow a new perspective on reality") almost seems like an afterthought, added at the last moment to appease the audience.
[1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.04823