Applications
The E8 Lie group has applications in theoretical physics, in particular in string theory and supergravity. E8×E8 is the gauge group of one of the two types of heterotic string and is one of two anomaly-free gauge groups that can be coupled to the N = 1 supergravity in 10 dimensions. E8 is the U-duality group of supergravity on an eight-torus (in its split form).
One way to incorporate the standard model of particle physics into heterotic string theory is the symmetry breaking of E8 to its maximal subalgebra SU(3)×E6.
In 1982, Michael Freedman used the E8 lattice to construct an example of a topological 4-manifold, the E8 manifold, which has no smooth structure.
R. Coldea, D. A. Tennant, and E. M. Wheeler et al. (2010) reported that in an experiment with a cobalt-niobium crystal, under certain physical conditions the electron spins in it exhibited two of the 8 peaks related to E8 predicted by Zamolodchikov (1989) .
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