US-UK Cooperative Research: Gravitational Physics and Implications for M-Theory

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0324081CveticThis three-year award for US-UK cooperative research involves the University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University, and the University of Cambridge's Newton Institute. The project concentrates on aspects of gravitational physics and the implications of M-theory. M-theory is a candidate for a unified quantum theory of gravity with all other forces in nature. This effort builds on existing research programs of U.S. physicists, M. Cvetic and Christopher Pope, and British theoretician Gary Gibbons. They plan to investigate fundamental aspects of gravitational physics with emphasis on special holonomy spaces and their implications for M-theory dynamics. The University of Pennsylvania and Texas A&M researchers bring to this collaboration expertise in approaches to gravitational physics based on particle physics and high energy physics. This is complemented by the British researcher's expertise in gravitational physics and supergravity techniques applied to black hole physics. Their complementary work will contribute toward furthering M-theory as a complete theory of fundamental particle physics and all forces in nature. This work has applications in the physics of black holes and superstring duality.