Physics at the Frontier: Collider and Cosmology

该奖项为纽约州立大学和布法罗大学的Wackeroth、Kinney和Stojkovic教授的研究活动提供资金。该研究项目的目标是在回答粒子物理学，宇宙学和引力研究前沿的关键开放问题方面取得重要进展，并在此过程中大大超越该领域的现有技术水平。新的粒子加速器，如大型强子对撞机（LHC）和设想的继任者正在探索能源前沿的新物理学，并能够为有关宇宙结构和历史的重要问题提供答案。另一方面，宇宙学提供了一个独特的实验室，可以研究传统粒子物理学方法无法解决的物理问题，并形成了加速器的宝贵补充。我们目前对宇宙的起源、演化和未来等基本问题的理解仍处于初级阶段，需要综合许多独立的证据来指明解释的方向。该项目反映了这种协同作用，并有望在将高精度宇宙学和加速器数据与宇宙起源和演化、引力与量子力学的统一、真空在空间和时间结构中的作用等基本问题联系起来方面取得重大进展。因此，这些领域的研究通过促进科学在其最基本的方向之一的进步来促进国家利益：发现和理解新的物理定律。此外，该项目将涉及研究生和博士后，从而为在这一领域开始研究的初级物理学家提供关键的培训。研究所亦会继续透过公开讲座及各种外展活动，向公众介绍最新的科学成果。Kinney还将继续组织科学和艺术歌舞表演-将实验数据与这些改进的预测进行比较，将以前所未有的精度探测标准模型，并提高对新物理信号的灵敏度。金尼计划在未来几年的研究的主要重点是使新的观测宇宙微波背景（CMB）数据和早期宇宙的详细属性之间的定量联系，以解决基本问题，如：宇宙膨胀的能量尺度是什么？ 暴胀势中的首阶算符的形式是什么？暴胀拉格朗日量与简单正则场论相容吗？是否有量子引力效应的证据，例如量子模式中的普朗克尺度截止？我们能否解释宇宙微波背景辐射的异常现象，例如普朗克观测到的半球不对称现象？有没有可行的替代通货膨胀的办法？它们有什么性质？ 最后，Stojkovic将专注于LHC物理，特别是进一步开发一个全面的LHC事件发生器BlackMax，该发生器被ATLAS和CMS合作广泛用于寻找奇异物理。

This award funds the research activities of Professors Wackeroth, Kinney, and Stojkovic at the State University of New York, University at Buffalo. The goal of this research project is to make important progress in providing answers to key open questions at the frontiers of particle physics, cosmology and gravity research, and in doing so to go significantly beyond the current state of the art in the field. New particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and envisioned successors are probing new physics at the energy frontier and are capable of providing answers to important questions about the structure and history of the universe. On the other hand, cosmology provides a unique laboratory in which to study questions in physics inaccessible to traditional particle physics methods, and forms a valuable complement to accelerators. Our current understanding of the fundamental problems about the origin, evolution and future of our universe is still in its infancy, and a synthesis of many independent lines of evidence will be necessary to point the way to explanations. This project reflects that synergy, and promises to make significant progress in connecting high-precision cosmological and accelerator data to fundamental questions such as the origin and evolution of the universe, the unification of gravitation with quantum mechanics, the role of the vacuum in the structure of space and time. As a result, research in these areas 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. In addition, this project will involve graduate students and postdocs, and thereby provide critical training for junior physicists beginning research in this field. The PIs will also continue presenting the latest scientific results to the public at large in the form of public talks and various outreach activities. Kinney will also continue organizing Science and Art Cabaret --- a unique mix of cutting-edge science and technology with art, music, poetry, and performance.More technically, Wackeroth will concentrate on improving predictions for key SM measurements at the LHC by calculating higher-order QCD and electroweak corrections and implementing them in publicly available Monte Carlo event generators for realistic simulations. The comparison of experimental data with these improved predictions will probe the Standard Model with unprecedented precision and provide increased sensitivity to signals of new physics. The main thrust of Kinney's planned research for the next several years is to make quantitative connections between new observational Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data and detailed properties of the early universe in order to address fundamental questions such as: What is the energy scale of cosmological inflation? What is the form of the leading-order operator in the inflationary potential? Is the inflationary Lagrangian consistent with a simple canonical field theory? Is there evidence for quantum gravity effects, for example a Planck-scale cutoff in quantum modes? Can we explain CMB anomalies, such as the hemispherical asymmetry observed by Planck? Are there viable alternatives to inflation? What properties do they have? Finally, Stojkovic will focus on LHC physics, in particular on further development of a comprehensive LHC event generator BlackMax which is extensively used by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in search for exotic physics.