CAREER: String Theory Applied to Precision Cosmology

康奈尔大学Liam麦卡利斯特教授的这个CAREER项目的目标是提供早期宇宙的令人信服的理论模型-特别是弦论中的暴胀模型-并使用这些想法来解释下一代宇宙学观测。 宇宙学在过去十年中取得了惊人的进步，成为一门与基础物理学有着深刻联系的精确实验科学。 最近的观测结果与暴胀的预测非常一致，暴胀描述了热大爆炸之前的爆炸性膨胀。 暴胀建立在量子场论和广义相对论的基础上，并且对它们之间的相互作用敏感，即对引力的紫外线完成敏感。因此，对暴胀的基本理解需要量子引力理论，如弦理论。此外，通过宇宙学观测来探索暴胀，人们可以在最高的能量尺度上研究物理学，并揭示支配我们宇宙起源的物理定律。 具体来说，PI计划向纽约市社会经济弱势社区的高中生和科学教师传达现代物理学核心的一些引人注目、紧迫的问题。为了实现这一目标，PI将开始演讲给观众的公立学校教师从纽约市，然后举行一个专业发展研讨会感兴趣的教师，侧重于现代物理的关键问题以外的标准课程，最后，参观参与教师的教室。通过与教师建立和保持长期的关系，PI将能够持续评估结果，并根据需要重新校准演示文稿。 PI将在康奈尔大学专门的外联协调员的协助下开展所有这些活动。

The goal of this CAREER project from Professor Liam McAllister at Cornell University is to provide compelling theoretical models of the early universe -- in particular, models of inflation in string theory -- and to use these ideas to interpret the coming generation of cosmological observations. Cosmology has made spectacular strides in the last decade, emerging as a precise experimental science with profound connections to fundamental physics. Recent observations are remarkably consistent with the predictions of inflation, which describes explosive expansion before the hot Big Bang. Inflation builds on quantum field theory and general relativity, and is sensitive to the interplay between them, i.e. to the ultraviolet completion of gravity. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of inflation requires a theory of quantum gravity, such as string theory. Moreover, by probing inflation through cosmological observations, one can examine physics at the highest energy scales, and shed light on the physical laws that governed the beginning of our universe.This activity is also envisioned to have significant Broader Impacts. Specifically, the PI plans to communicate some of the compelling, urgent problems at the core of modern physics to high-school students and science teachers in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in New York City. To achieve this, the PI will begin by lecturing to an audience of public school teachers from New York City; then hold a professional development workshop for interested teachers, focusing on key questions of modern physics outside the standard curriculum; and finally, visit participating teachers' classrooms. By forming and maintaining long-term relationships with teachers, the PI will be able to assess the results on an ongoing basis and recalibrate the presentations as needed. The PI will have the assistance of a dedicated Cornell outreach coordinator for all of these activities.