Interactions of Particles and Fields

理论基本粒子物理学的研究将扩大对目前产生的粒子和计划中的加速器的理解，包括光子、W和Z粒子、电子和。以及它们的中微子，夸克和胶子。它将集中在对其中许多粒子的质量负责的物理上。这是基本力标准模型中尚未解开的主要谜团。这项研究还将加深我们对量子场论的理解，这为研究这一物理提供了最有用的数学语言。这种语言在其他领域(例如凝聚态物理)以及粒子物理中都很重要。这个项目还将关注弦理论的各个方面。弦理论的具体研究领域将包括量子引力、弦在空间中传播的各个方面(特别是在宇宙学和黑洞背景下对弦的研究)，以及拓扑场论。在过去的七年里，弦理论可能一直是高能物理研究中最活跃的领域。弦理论的研究非常重要，因为弦理论是唯一已知的将量子理论与爱因斯坦的引力理论相协调的基本理论。通过对弦理论的各种解决方案的研究、分类和统一，本项目将对本学科的发展起到重要的作用。最后，该项目将研究基本粒子与加速器无法直接研究的物体和过程的关系，如宇宙中的暗物质、引力坍缩产生的黑洞、大统一理论和宇宙早期历史上的重子数产生。

Research in theoretical elementary particle physics will extend the understanding of the particles produced at present and planned accelerators, including the photon, W and Z particles, the electron, > and . and their neutrinos, and quarks and gluons. It will concentrate on the physics responsible for the masses of many of these particles. This is the principal unsolved mystery in the standard model of the basic forces. The research will also deepen our understanding of quantum field theory, which provides the most useful mathematical language for the study of this physics. This language is important in other fields (condensed matter physics, for example) as well as in particle physics. This project also will focus on aspects of string theory. Specific areas of inquiry in string theory will include quantum gravity, aspects of strings propagating in a space (in particular, the study of strings in the context of cosmology and black holes), and topological field theories. String theory has been perhaps the most active area of research in high energy physics in the past seven years. Research in string theory is very important since string theory is the only known fundamental theory which reconciles quantum theory with Einstein's theory of gravity. This project will play an important role in the advancement of this subject by studying, classifying and unifying various solutions to string theory. Finally, the project will investigate the relations of elementary particles to objects and processes that cannot be directly studied at accelerators, such as the dark matter in the universe, black holes produced by gravitational collapse, grand unified theories and baryon number production in the early history of the universe.