Research on General Relativity and Quantum Fluctuations

广义相对论与量子涨落研究

• 批准号: 0555754
• 负责人: Lawrence Ford
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Tufts University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0555754&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; General; Relativity; Quantum; Fluctuations

This project will involve theoretical research on several topics related to quantum theory and gravitation. There will be special emphasis on phenomena related to quantum fluctuations including the operational meaning of spacetime geometry fluctuations, the probability distribution of quantumstress tensor fluctuations, the role of stress tensor fluctuations in inflation, and selected aspects of the Casimir force. This project seeks to integrate studies of the quantum nature of the gravitational field with studies of fluctuating electromagnetic forces. It is hoped that this type of investigation will lead to a deeper understanding of both types of phenomena. This project is expected to have a broader impact through possible benefits to other fields of science, to education, and to technology. It will entail international collaborations, and hence help to forge links with researchers in other countries. The insights and techniques of this work may be useful outside of the specific subfields of physics being investigated. The project will further education through the training of graduate students and by the involvement of faculty at primarily teaching institutions. It should also produce examples which can be used to explain some of the concepts of quantum theory and relativity to students on a variety of educational levels. The work on Casimir forces may eventually be useful in nanotechnology where a better knowledge of Casimir forces is likely to become important for the construction of small scale devices.

本项目将涉及与量子理论和引力相关的几个主题的理论研究。课程将特别强调与量子涨落有关的现象，包括时空几何涨落的运算意义、量子应力张量涨落的概率分布、应力张量涨落在暴胀中的作用以及卡西米尔力的某些方面。该项目旨在将引力场的量子性质研究与波动电磁力的研究结合起来。希望这种类型的调查将导致对这两种现象的更深层次的理解。预计该项目将对其他科学领域、教育和技术领域产生更广泛的影响。它将需要国际合作，从而有助于与其他国家的研究人员建立联系。这项工作的见解和技术可能在正在研究的物理的特定子领域之外有用。该项目将通过培训研究生和让主要教学机构的教员参与来促进教育。它还应该提供可以用来向不同教育水平的学生解释量子理论和相对论的一些概念的例子。关于卡西米尔力的研究最终可能在纳米技术中有用，在纳米技术中，更好地了解卡西米尔力可能对小型设备的构建变得重要。