Quantum field Theory and String Theory

该奖项为普林斯顿大学教授Silviu Pufu的研究活动提供资金。普夫教授的研究从不同的角度阐述了物理系统的行为在短距离和长距离尺度之间的变化。 这项研究的重点是实际上是二维的物理系统，例如层与层之间的相互作用很弱，而每层内部的相互作用很强的分层材料。 这样的二维系统之所以有趣，部分是因为它们可能实现物质的新的强相互作用相，部分是因为它们代表了我们三维世界中发生的难以理解的现象的玩具模型。 普夫教授将开发理论工具，以了解在这些二维系统中，短距离物理学如何影响和约束长距离物理学。 这些工具部分是基于弦理论的思想，即人们可以在三维空间中用引力来描述强相互作用的二维系统。具体来说，本项目的目标是通过研究可能的重整化群流的约束来加深我们对重整化群的理解;并学习简单非超对称共形场论中的非对称算符。 这项研究不仅旨在巩固我们对量子场论和重整化群的理解，而且还旨在深入了解三维时空中的禁闭等现象，这些现象在四维时空中的强相互作用理论中很难理解。 此外，用全息图研究强相互作用理论可以间接地教会我们关于量子引力的重要课程。 拟议的研究提供了高能和凝聚态社区之间的桥梁，因为了解限制和单极算符对于理解哪些类型的一致性理论至少在原则上可以描述各种晶格系统的低能物理非常重要。 该项目有一个重要的教育和指导组成部分，它可以用来培训博士后研究人员，研究生和高级本科生，并为他们成功的科学生涯做好准备。 普夫将参与建议科学倾向的开始本科生的事项，将准备他们的职业生涯在科学研究。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Silviu Pufu at Princeton University. Professor Pufu's research addresses, from different points of view, how the behavior of physical systems changes between short and long distance scales. This research is focused on physical systems that are effectively two-dimensional, such as layered materials that have weak interactions between the layers and very strong interactions within each layer. Such two-dimensional systems are interesting partly because they might realize new strongly-interacting phases of matter, and partly because they represent toy models for phenomena that occur in our three-dimensional world and are hard to understand. Professor Pufu will develop theoretical tools for understanding how, in these two-dimensional systems, the short-distance physics affects and constrains the long-distance physics. These tools are partly based on ideas from string theory, whereby one can describe strongly-interacting two-dimensional systems by gravity in three spatial dimensions.Specifically, this project's goals are to deepen our understanding of the renormalization group by investigating constraints on possible renormalization group flows; to study properties of three-dimensional quantum field theories with holographic duals; and to learn about monopole operators in simple non-supersymmetric conformal field theories. This research aims not only to cement our understanding of quantum field theory and of the renormalization group, but also to gain insight into phenomena like confinement in three space-time dimensions that are hard to understand in the theory of strong interactions in four space-time dimensions. In addition, studying strongly-interacting theories with holographic duals can teach us, indirectly, important lessons about quantum gravity. The proposed research provides a bridge between the high energy and condensed matter communities, because learning about confinement and monopole operators is very important in understanding which types of consistent theories can describe, at least in principle, the low-energy physics of various lattice systems. This project has a significant educational and mentoring component, whereby it can be used to train post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students and prepare them for successful scientific careers. Pufu will be involved in advising science-inclined beginning undergraduates on matters that would prepare them for careers in scientific research.