Research in Field Theory and String Theory

该奖项资助肯塔基大学Sumit R.Das教授的研究活动。作为他研究的一部分，Das教授的目标是使用各种新的理论和概念工具来探索引力和量子力学的统一。他还将研究各种量子力学系统在非平衡状态下的特性。这两个问题都是物理学中最重要的基础性问题。因此，这一领域的研究通过推进美国的基础科学来服务于国家利益。达斯教授还将让研究生参与这项研究，从而为他们提供必要的宝贵培训，使他们成长为独立的科学家和教育工作者。此外，这项研究的结果将被用于加强课堂教育。达斯教授还计划在不同的论坛上就他的研究主题进行公开演讲，特别是“人人有科学，肯塔基州”，这将有助于提高更广泛的公众社区的科学意识。更严格地说，达斯教授将研究全息对应的各个方面，全息对应将引力物理与生活在较低时空维度的非引力理论联系起来。这种对应关系被用来理解与黑洞霍金辐射有关的谜题，方法是将这些谜题映射到传统量子理论中出现的电弱相互作用和强相互作用类型的问题。同时，通过将强相互作用量子多体系统中出现在粒子物理、核物理或冷原子物理中的难题映射到经典引力问题上，这种对应关系为解决这些难题提供了有价值的线索。总体而言，要解决的项目有两个主要目标。第一个涉及破译低维非引力理论转变为高维引力理论的精确方式。这将通过探索可解模型来实现，特别是那些引力描述包含黑洞的模型，并通过应用量子信息论的思想来理解空间的出现。第二个目标是应用引力物理学来洞察系统如何实现热平衡的普遍方面-这是许多不同物理领域的核心问题。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Sumit R. Das at the University of Kentucky. As part of his research, Professor Das aims to explore the unification of gravity with quantum mechanics using a variety of new theoretical and conceptual tools. He will also study the properties of a variety of quantum-mechanical systems when they are not in equilibrium. Both these problems are among the most important foundational problems in physics. Consequently, research in this area serves the national interest by advancing fundamental science in the United States. Professor Das will also involve graduate students in this research, thereby providing them with the valuable training necessary to develop into independent scientists and educators. In addition, the results of this research will be used to enhance classroom education. Professor Das also plans to give public talks about the subject of his research in various forums, particularly "Science for Everyone, KY", which will serve to increase scientific awareness within the larger public community.More technically, Professor Das will study aspects of the holographic correspondence which relates gravitational physics to non-gravitational theories which live in lower numbers of spacetime dimensions. This correspondence has been used to understand puzzles related to the Hawking radiation of black holes by mapping these puzzles to problems in conventional quantum theory of the type which appears in electroweak and strong interactions. At the same time, this correspondence has thrown valuable light on difficult problems in strongly interacting quantum many-body systems which appear in particle physics, nuclear physics, or cold-atom physics, by mapping these problems onto problems in classical gravity. Overall, the projects to be tackled have two principal goals. The first involves deciphering the precise way in which the lower-dimensional non-gravitational theory metamorphoses into a higher-dimensional theory of gravity. This will be done by exploring solvable models, particularly those whose gravity descriptions contain black holes, and by applying the ideas of quantum information theory to understand the emergence of space. The second aim is to apply gravitational physics to gain insight into universal aspects of how systems achieve thermal equilibrium --- a question which lies at the heart of many diverse areas of physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.