Research in Particle Theory, Cosmology, and Quantum Gravity

该奖项资助斯坦福大学的Savas Dimopoulos、Peter Graham、Shamit Kachru、Renata Kallosh、Andrei Linde、Leonardo Senatore、Steve Shenker、Eva Silverstein和Leonard Susskind教授的研究活动。我们生活在一个在基本粒子物理学、早期宇宙宇宙学和量子引力等核心问题上快速发展的时代。在粒子物理学中，许多基本粒子的质量起源预计可以用新类型的粒子和相互作用来解释，这些粒子和相互作用的能量大约是质子质量的100倍——这个尺度被称为弱尺度。大型强子对撞机（LHC）已经在质子-质子碰撞中获得了足够高的能量来产生这样的新粒子，并且发现了难以捉摸的希格斯玻色子，证实了这张照片。但是关于希格斯粒子本身的性质仍然存在一些严重的问题，而大型强子对撞机尚未阐明这些问题。迪莫普洛斯教授和格雷厄姆教授将专注于开发互补的实验方法，探索基础物理学以及新的理论机制，以解释希格斯粒子仍然神秘的特性。Kallosh教授、Linde教授、Senatore教授和Silverstein教授将领导各种各样的工作，以发展暴胀理论——我们对大爆炸背后的物理学的主要候选人——就其可能的实验特征和潜在的理论结构而言。斯坦福大学的研究小组还将开发新的模型，并对一系列潜在的早期宇宙现象进行测试。Kachru、Shenker和Susskind教授正在研究量子引力的问题。这些研究包括如何将黑洞的神秘物理学（似乎通过吸收粒子和信息来摧毁它们）与量子力学相协调。它们还包括试图理解量子引力背后的新数学结构。总的来说，这项工作通过开发基础科学的新工具和范式来促进国家利益。这项工作的更广泛的影响包括培养了许多后来在学术界、工业界和金融界发挥突出作用的年轻科学家，以及传播了教育公众有关现代理论物理学前沿问题的材料。更技术性的是，迪莫普洛斯教授和格雷厄姆教授正在发展一些想法，以寻找微米尺度上的新力（似乎是通过光模量传输的），以及解决涉及宇宙学历史的层次问题的新方法，比如弛豫机制。Kallosh教授、Linde教授、Senatore教授和Silverstein教授正在利用超重力和弦理论的思想来证明大视场暴胀的新模型；开发探测暴胀产生的原始涨落的非高斯性的新方法；发展系统的技术，从大尺度结构的研究中提取原始宇宙学数据。Kachru教授正在探索数论（尤其是自同构形式理论）中的结构与BPS状态、黑洞和弦真空之间的联系。Shenker教授正在研究量子场论中动力学和光谱的混沌特性，重点关注那些可能与全息术相关的理论。最后，Susskind教授正在发展一种关于全息术复杂性的理论。

This award funds the research activities of Professors Savas Dimopoulos, Peter Graham, Shamit Kachru, Renata Kallosh, Andrei Linde, Leonardo Senatore, Steve Shenker, Eva Silverstein and Leonard Susskind at Stanford University.We live in an era of rapid progress on central questions in fundamental particle physics, early-universe cosmology, and quantum gravity. In particle physics, the origin of the masses of many of the elementary particles is expected to be explained by new types of particles and interactions found at energies of roughly 100 times the proton mass --- a scale known as the weak scale. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has attained energies in proton-proton collisions that are high enough to produce such new particles, and has discovered the elusive Higgs boson, confirming this picture. But serious questions remain about the properties of the Higgs particle itself, and the LHC has yet to shed light on these. Professors Dimopoulos and Graham will focus on developing complementary experimental methods of probing fundamental physics as well as new theoretical mechanisms to explain the still mysterious properties of the Higgs particle. Professors Kallosh, Linde, Senatore, and Silverstein will lead diverse efforts to develop the theory of inflation --- our leading candidate for the physics underlying the Big Bang --- in terms of its possible experimental signatures and underlying theoretical structures. The Stanford group will also develop new models and tests of a diverse array of potential early-Universe phenomena. Professors Kachru, Shenker, and Susskind are working on issues in quantum gravity. These include studies of how the mysterious physics of black holes (which seem to destroy particles and information by absorbing them) can be reconciled with quantum mechanics. They also include attempts to understand new mathematical structures underlying quantum gravity. Collectively, this work advances the national interest by developing new tools and paradigms in fundamental science. The broader impacts of this work include the training of numerous junior scientists who then play prominent roles in academia, industry, and finance, as well as the dissemination of material which educates the general public about cutting-edge issues in modern theoretical physics.More technically, Professors Dimopoulos and Graham are developing ideas to look for new forces at the micron scale (plausibly transmitted by light moduli) and new solutions to the hierarchy problem that involve cosmological history, such as the relaxion mechanism. Professors Kallosh, Linde, Senatore, and Silverstein are justifying new models of large-field inflation using supergravity and string-theory ideas; developing new ways of probing non-Gaussianity of the primordial fluctuations coming from inflation; and developing systematic techniques to extract primordial cosmological data from studies of large-scale structure. Professor Kachru is exploring connections between structures in number theory (especially the theory of automorphic forms) on the one hand and BPS states, black holes and string vacua on the other. Professor Shenker is investigating the chaotic properties of dynamics and spectra in quantum field theories, with a focus on those theories that may be relevant in holography. Finally, Professor Susskind is developing a theory of complexity in holography.