Research in Particle Theory, Cosmology, and Quantum Gravity

该奖项资助了斯坦福大学的萨瓦斯·迪莫普洛斯、彼得·格雷厄姆、沙米特·卡赫鲁、雷纳塔·卡洛什、安德烈·林德、莱昂纳多·塞纳托雷、史蒂夫·申克、伊娃·西尔弗斯坦和伦纳德·苏斯金德等教授的研究活动。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的核心问题上取得快速进展的时代。在粒子物理学中，许多基本粒子的质量起源有望通过新类型的粒子和相互作用得到解释，这些粒子和相互作用的能量大约是质子质量的100倍-这是一个被称为弱标度的标度。大型强子对撞机(LHC)在质子-质子碰撞中获得了足够高的能量，足以产生这样的新粒子，并发现了难以捉摸的希格斯玻色子，证实了这一图景。但关于希格斯粒子本身的性质仍然存在严重的问题，而大型强子对撞机还没有阐明这些问题。迪莫普洛斯和格雷厄姆教授将专注于开发探索基础物理的互补实验方法，以及解释希格斯粒子仍然神秘的属性的新理论机制。卡洛什、林德、塞纳托雷和西尔弗斯坦教授将领导不同的努力，从可能的实验签名和潜在的理论结构方面开发膨胀理论-我们在大爆炸背后的物理学方面的主要候选者。斯坦福大学的研究小组还将为一系列潜在的早期宇宙现象开发新的模型和测试。卡赫鲁、申克和苏斯金德教授正在研究量子引力问题。这些研究包括研究如何将黑洞的神秘物理(似乎通过吸收它们来摧毁粒子和信息)与量子力学相一致。它们还包括试图理解量子引力背后的新数学结构。总体而言，这项工作通过开发基础科学方面的新工具和范例来促进国家利益。这项工作的更广泛的影响包括培训许多初级科学家，他们随后在学术界、工业界和金融界扮演重要角色，以及传播材料，教育普通公众了解现代理论物理中的前沿问题。更从技术上讲，迪莫普洛斯和格雷厄姆教授正在开发想法，以寻找微米尺度的新力量(看似是由光模传递的)，以及涉及宇宙学历史的层级问题的新解决方案，如弛豫机制。卡洛什教授、林德教授、塞纳托雷教授和西尔弗斯坦教授正在使用超重力和弦理论的思想来证明新的大场膨胀模型的合理性；开发新的方法来探索来自膨胀的原始涨落的非高斯性；以及开发系统的技术来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(特别是自同构形式理论)中的结构与BPS态、黑洞和弦真空之间的联系。申克教授正在研究量子场论中动力学和光谱的混沌特性，重点是那些可能与全息学相关的理论。最后，萨斯金德教授正在发展全息术的复杂性理论。

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.