ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Veneziano amplitude

So imagine you have a toy car that can move around on a little track. And imagine you also have some little balls that you can roll along that track. Now, sometimes when you roll a ball towards the car, it will bounce off it and go in another direction. And sometimes it won't bounce off at all and just roll past the car.

In the same way, particles in the universe can sometimes bounce off each other when they come close, and sometimes they just pass each other by. Scientists use a special idea called Veneziano amplitude to help them understand how particles interact with each other.

Veneziano amplitude is like a set of rules that scientists use to figure out how likely it is that particles will bounce off each other or not. It's sort of like a game with different ways the balls and car can interact with each other, and scientists use different equations to figure out the probability of each possible interaction happening.

But instead of toy cars and balls, the particles in the universe are really tiny and can only be seen with special equipment and powerful microscopes. Scientists study the Veneziano amplitude to learn more about these particles and how they affect each other.

It's a complicated topic, but just like learning how to play a new game, scientists study it to get a better understanding of the world around us.
Related topics others have asked about: