Research in High Energy Physics and Cosmology

这一奖项资助了纽约大学马修·B·克莱班教授的研究活动。一些当代的基础物理理论预测，存在一个所谓的包含许多不同泡泡宇宙的“多元宇宙”。这些气泡相互碰撞，与我们自己的气泡相撞，产生了在我们宇宙中传播的“宇宙尾迹”，创造了特定的模式，这些模式可能可以通过卫星和地面天文台的宇宙学数据观察到。探测到这样的碰撞将是一个变革性的发现，表明我们的可观测宇宙只是一个大得多的整体中的一小部分，整个宇宙由包含高度奇异物理区域的气泡组成。它将证实弦理论的预言，为“暗能量”的本质提供关键证据，并永久性地改变我们对大爆炸的看法。克莱班教授将推进一项研究计划，专注于弦理论和量子引力中预测效应的那些方面-比如气泡碰撞--这些效应可以用宇宙学观测来检验。克莱班教授正在进行的研究试图确定宇宙膨胀的微观物理起源，宇宙膨胀是发生在宇宙早期的爆炸性膨胀时期。因此，克莱班教授的研究通过促进科学最基本的方向之一--发现和理解新的物理定律--来促进国家利益。克莱班教授的工作也将继续以公开讲座和采访的形式产生更广泛的影响，并在激励纽约大学的本科生和研究生方面发挥作用。另一方面，克莱班教授还将培训和协助参与这一项目的博士后研究人员的专业发展。更严格地说，克莱班教授将尝试在一致、稳定的弦理论紧凑化中实现一种被称为“解除通胀”的模型。这个模型有许多显著的优点，可能使它成为对通胀的合理解释，特别是它自发地从弦景观中的一般亚稳定德西特阶段开始的事实。他还将继续研究气泡碰撞、隧穿和其他初始态效应的膨胀特征，以及在膨胀过程中产生的可能表明其微物理起源的动力学特征。最后，他将继续在强时间依赖的环境中研究弦理论，例如宇宙学和相对论薄膜散射。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Matthew B. Kleban at New York University.Some contemporary theories of fundamental physics predict the existence of a so-called "multiverse" containing many distinct bubble universes. These bubbles collide, and collisions with our own bubble produce "cosmic wakes" that travel across our universe, creating specific patterns that are potentially observable with cosmological data from satellite- and ground-based observatories. The detection of such a collision would be a transformative discovery, demonstrating that our observable universe is a tiny part of a vastly larger whole populated by bubbles containing regions of highly exotic physics. It would confirm a prediction of string theory, provide crucial evidence for the nature of "dark energy", and permanently alter our view of the big bang. Professor Kleban will advance a program of research focused on those aspects of string theory and quantum gravity that predict effects --- like bubble collisions --- that can be tested with cosmological observations. Professor Kleban's ongoing research seeks to determine the microphysical origin of cosmic inflation, a period of explosive expansion that took place in the very early universe. As such, Professor Kleban's research advances the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of new physical laws. Professor Kleban's work will also continue to have broader impact in the form of public lectures and interviews, and in inspiring undergraduate and graduate physics students at NYU. On another front, Prof. Kleban will also train and assist in the professional development of a postdoctoral researcher who will participate in this project.More technically, Prof. Kleban will attempt to realize a model known as "unwinding inflation" in a consistent, stabilized string theory compactification. This model has a number of notable advantages that might make it a plausible explanation for inflation, particularly the fact that it begins spontaneously from a generic meta-stable de Sitter phase in the string landscape. He will also continue his work on inflationary signatures of bubble collisions, tunneling, and other initial-state effects, as well as dynamical features produced during inflation that might indicate its microphysical origin. Lastly, he will continue to study string theory in strongly time-dependent settings, such as cosmology and relativistic brane scattering.