Non-Perturbative Aspects of Quantum Field Theory and Gravity

该奖项资助了普林斯顿大学Simone Giombi教授的研究活动。在过去的几年里，理论物理学的研究发现了引力与自然界其他基本力之间令人惊讶和深远的对应关系。本研究计划的主要主题之一将是探索这种对应关系及其影响。这一领域的研究有可能回答有关强相互作用物质行为的深层次问题，也可能揭示引力与量子力学的协调问题，量子力学是我们理解所有其他基本力的基础。因此，这项研究计划通过提高我们对自然基本规律的认识，从而促进基础科学的进步，为国家利益服务。预计该项目还将产生一些教育和更广泛的影响。在研究具体研究问题的同时，研究生和博士后研究员将接受广泛的指导和培训。本科生也将受到监督，并积极参与与该计划相关的研究课题。Giombi教授计划为研究生和高年级本科生开设关于理论物理学最新趋势的特别课程。他还积极在各种国际学校讲课，并组织研讨会和会议，重点是跨学科方面。从技术上讲，Giombi教授的研究计划集中在各种时空维度的量子场论和量子引力的基本方面，重点是通过所谓的规范/引力对偶性这些主题之间的相互作用。 PI的研究包括几个相互关联的关键领域。大量的努力将致力于深入研究无质量的高自旋场的引力理论及其在规范/引力对偶性中的作用;特别是，这可能导致在简化的设置中直接推导对偶性，但它也可能提供对量子场论的非微扰方面的新见解，例如耦合到基本物质场的2+1维规范理论。一个密切相关的方向将涉及研究空间的共形场论（CFT）在不同的维度，使用非微扰的工具，如共形引导，特别是调查的一般约束重正化群流之间的CFT的。许多CFT在具体的物理问题中找到了应用，例如在各种凝聚态系统中。 因此，在该计划中进行的研究将在物理学的各个领域具有知识价值。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Simone Giombi at Princeton University.Over the past several years, research in theoretical physics has uncovered a surprising and far-reaching correspondence between gravity and the other fundamental forces of nature. One of the main underlying themes of this research program will be the exploration of this correspondence and its implications. Research in this area has the potential to answer deep questions about the behavior of strongly interacting matter and may also shed light on the problem of reconciling gravity with quantum mechanics, the framework that lies at the basis of our understanding of all other fundamental forces. As a result, this research program serves the national interest by improving our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature, hence promoting the progress of basic science. This project is also envisioned to have a number of educational and broader impacts. While working on specific research problems, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will receive extensive mentoring and training. Undergraduate students will also be supervised and actively involved in research topics related to this program. Professor Giombi plans to develop special courses for graduate students and advanced undergraduates on recent trends in theoretical physics. He is also active in giving lectures at various international schools, as well as organizing workshops and conferences, with a focus on those with interdisciplinary aspects. More technically, Professor Giombi's research program is centered on fundamental aspects of quantum field theory and quantum gravity in various space-time dimensions, with a focus on the interplay between these subjects via the so-called gauge/gravity duality. The PI's research consists of several interrelated key areas. A substantial effort will be devoted to a deep study of gravitational theories of massless higher-spin fields and their role in the gauge/gravity duality; in particular, this may lead to a direct derivation of the duality in a simplified setting, but it may also offer novel insights on non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theories such as 2+1 dimensional gauge theories coupled to fundamental matter fields. A closely related direction will involve studying the space of Conformal Field Theories (CFT) in various dimensions, using non-perturbative tools such as the conformal bootstrap, and investigating in particular the general constraints on Renormalization Group Flows between CFT's. Many CFT's find application in concrete physical problems, such as in various condensed matter systems. Hence the research carried out in this program will be of intellectual value across various fields of physics.