Quanta of Geometry

该奖项资助黎巴嫩贝鲁特美国大学Ali Chamseddine教授的研究活动。对基本物理相互作用的统一的追求是近四十年来深入研究的主题。该计划的绊脚石是将引力纳入其他三种力中，这些力介导强、电磁力和弱相互作用。在后一种力在量子场论的框架中可以很好地理解。相反，由于引力的极端弱，它只对宏观物体是相当大的，因此主要是在经典水平上理解。Chamseddine教授的研究重点是引力量子理论的发展。因此，该领域的研究促进了科学在其最基本的方向之一的进步：发现和理解新的物理定律。由于其跨学科性质，这项工作也将有助于推进高能物理、引力物理、天体物理学和宇宙学的知识。此外，该项目预计将产生更广泛的重大影响。贝鲁特美国大学（AUB）在中东地区推广美国教育体系方面发挥着非常重要的作用。最近启动的理论物理博士项目是促进中东地区高水平研究的一步，并吸引了高素质的学生。从技术上讲，Chamseddine教授将在超引力、大统一模型、量子引力、弦理论和非交换几何方面进行研究调查。他将继续研究非交换几何中谱流形的构造，再现标准模型拉格朗日与重力的耦合。此外，他将研究该量化方案的物理应用和动态实现。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Ali Chamseddine at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.The quest for unification of fundamental physical interactions has been the subject of intensive research for nearly forty years. The stumbling block in this program is the inclusion of the gravitational force among the other three forces mediating the strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions. These latter forces are very well understood in the framework of quantum field theory. In contrast, the gravitational force, because of its extreme weakness, is sizable only for macroscopic objects and is therefore mainly understood only at the classical level. Professor Chamseddine's research focuses on the development of a quantum theory of gravity. As such, research in this area promotes the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of new physical laws. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, this work will also contribute to the advancement of knowledge in high-energy physics, gravitational physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. Moreover, this project is envisioned to have significant broader impacts. The American University of Beirut (AUB) plays a very important role in promoting the American educational system in the Middle East. The recent launching of the Ph.D. program in theoretical physics is a step towards the promotion of high-level research in the Middle East, and is attracting students of high caliber.More technically, Professor Chamseddine will conduct research investigations in supergravity, grand unified models, quantum gravity, string theory and noncommutative geometry. He will pursue the construction of spectral manifolds in noncommutative geometry which reproduce the Standard Model Lagrangian coupled to gravity. In addition, he will study physical applications and dynamical realizations of this quantization scheme.