String Theory and Quantum Field Theory: From the Planck Scale to the Hubble Scale

该奖项资助了德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校理论小组的Jacques Distler、Willy Fischler、Can Kilic、Sonia Paban和Steven Weinberg教授的研究活动。自成立以来，理论小组在广泛的主题上进行研究，目的是探索自然的基本规律，有着良好的记录。这些主题包括非常早期宇宙的动力学，信息和黑洞之间的关系(这可能导致对引力基本理论的关键见解)，粒子物理标准模型(描述所有已知粒子及其相互作用)的可能扩展和此类扩展的实验签名，以及弦理论和量子场论的形式方面的探索。这种在最深层次上提高我们对自然的理解的多样化努力，与通过维持并进一步促进美国作为理论高能物理全球领导者的作用来促进国家利益的目标很好地一致。理论小组还积极致力于让更多的人了解物理学，并在学术界以外产生重大影响。这是通过向现场观众和其他媒体提供受欢迎的讲座、在公众和技术层面出版书籍以及发展网络技术来实现的。此外，理论组为继续在这一领域取得成功的研究生和博士后的培养而感到自豪。具体地说，本项目期间将开展的研究途径包括但不限于以下内容：Distler将扩展N=2四维超共形场论的分类，并探索拓扑弦理论中重要结果的推广。费施勒将继续探索西塔角对黑洞视界的物理影响及其实验特征，正如在距离黑洞固定距离处盘旋的观察者所看到的那样。他将完成对德西特空间中冲击波的影响及其对全息信息的影响的研究。他将在ADS/CFT的背景下研究对Mixmaster宇宙的描述。费施勒还将继续他在全息时空方面的长期工作，并重新探讨暴涨的初始条件。Kilic将探索对撞机物理的各个方面，以及暗物质的模型和它们的实验特征。帕班将研究许多领域的通货膨胀理论，以及它们在通货膨胀结束时达到绝热极限的条件。温伯格将继续寻找量子力学的修改版本，以避免通常不令人满意的方面，同时保留现有理论的成功。

This award funds the research activities of Professors Jacques Distler, Willy Fischler, Can Kilic, Sonia Paban and Steven Weinberg of the Theory Group at the University of Texas at Austin.Since its foundation, the Theory Group has had a strong track record of conducting research on a broad range of topics with the goal of exploring the fundamental laws of nature. These topics include the dynamics of the very early universe, the relationship between information and black holes (which may lead to crucial insights into the fundamental theory of gravity), the possible extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics (which describes all known particles and their interactions) and the experimental signatures of such extensions, and the exploration of string theory and formal aspects of quantum field theory. This diversified effort to improve our understanding of nature at the deepest levels is well aligned with the goal of advancing the national interest by maintaining and further boosting the role of the United States as the global leader in theoretical high-energy physics. The Theory Group is also actively committed to making physics accessible to a wider audience and achieving a substantial impact outside of academia. This is achieved through popular lectures given to live audiences as well as over other media, through the publication of books at both the public and technical levels, and through the development of web technologies. In addition, the Theory Group takes pride in the training of graduate students and postdocs who continue on to successful careers in this field.Specifically, the avenues of research to be conducted during the term of this project include, but are not limited to, the following: Distler will extend the classification of N=2 four-dimensional superconformal field theories and explore a generalization of important results in topological string theory. Fischler will continue his exploration of the physical effects of theta angles on black hole horizons and their experimental signatures as seen by observers hovering at a fixed distance from black holes. He will complete his research on the effects of shockwaves in de Sitter space and the implications for holographic information. He will study the description of mixmaster universes in the context of AdS/CFT. Fischler will also continue his longstanding work on holographic space-time and revisit the initial conditions for inflation. Kilic will explore aspects of collider physics as well as models of dark matter and their experimental signatures. Paban will study theories of inflation with many fields and the conditions under which they reach the adiabatic limit at the end of inflation. Weinberg will continue the search for a modified version of quantum mechanics that will avoid the usual unsatisfactory aspects while retaining the successes of the existing theory.