Exploring Fundamental Physics in the Early and Late Universe

该奖项资助了塔夫茨大学的马克·P·赫茨伯格教授的研究活动。几十年来，粒子物理学和宇宙学的研究使我们得出了一套所谓的“标准模型”，这些模型在巨大的能量和长度尺度范围内提供了非常成功的宇宙描述。 然而，未来的物理学革命将来自于解决这些模型的各种缺点。 特别是，仍然存在的一些最大的谜团涉及暗物质的性质，早期宇宙学的细节，以及对引力结构的深刻理解。 赫茨伯格教授的研究将通过制定理论模型和探索实验和数据的连接来解决这些问题。 因此，这一领域的研究通过促进对宇宙性质的基础科学研究，促进了国家利益。 此外，该项目预计将产生更广泛的影响，因为它将涉及博士后，并通过公开讲座和流行文章以重要的方式吸引公众。从技术上讲，赫茨伯格教授将研究星系中的轴子暗物质，开发新的膨胀模型来探索新的物理学，并研究自旋2粒子的理论。 这涉及到理论模型的发展，这些模型要求内部一致性和与数据的一致性，所有这些都在有效场论的框架内。 暗物质前沿的主要工作是确定轴子暗物质的聚集、分布和可能的证据。早期宇宙前沿的主要工作是确定是否存在合理的暴胀模型，这些模型可以在标准标度不变模型之外的大尺度上改善与CMB数据的一致性。 最后，引力前沿的主要目标是确定广义相对论是否是自旋为2的粒子的唯一相容的有效理论。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Mark P. Hertzberg at Tufts University.Decades of research in both particle physics and cosmology have led us to a set of so-called "Standard Models" which provide tremendously successful descriptions of the universe over a vast range of energy and length scales. However, future revolutions in physics will arise from tackling the various shortcomings of these models. In particular, some of the greatest mysteries that remain concern the nature of dark matter, the details of early-universe cosmology, and a deep understanding of the structure of gravitation. Professor Hertzberg's research will tackle these subjects through the formulation of theoretical models and the exploration of connections to experiment and data. As a result, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting fundamental scientific research into the nature of the universe. Furthermore, this project is envisioned to have significant broader impacts as it will involve postdocs and engage the public in an important way through public lectures and popular articles. More technically, Professor Hertzberg will investigate axion dark matter in galaxies, develop novel inflationary models that probe new physics, and investigate theories of spin-two particles. This involves the development of theoretical models that demand internal consistency and greement with data, all within the framework of effective field theory. The primary work on the dark-matter front is to determine the clumpiness, distribution, and possible evidence for axion dark matter. The primary work on the early-universe front is to determine if reasonable inflationary models exist that improve agreement with CMB data on large scales beyond the standard scale-invariant models. Finally, the primary objective on the gravity front is to determine if general relativity is the uniquely consistent effective theory of spin-two particles.