Theoretical Physics of Fundamental and Cosmological Interactions

该奖项资助了约翰·霍普金斯大学的马克·卡米扬科夫斯基教授和大卫·E·卡普兰教授的研究活动。在一个令人兴奋但不确定的时刻，探索物理学的基本定律。虽然我们热切地等待着大型强子对撞机或未来十年暗物质搜索的新物理发现，但现有的零结果迫使理论家抛弃旧的偏见，深入思考基础物理的全新想法，以及寻找新物理的新颖实验途径。观测/实验宇宙学的最新发展提供了令人兴奋的前景，为最早的宇宙打开了全新的窗口，并理解了推动宇宙加速膨胀的物理和暗物质的性质。卡米扬科夫斯基和卡普兰的研究解决了粒子物理和宇宙学中理论和实验的交汇点上的核心问题。他们的工作将推动宇宙学观测和基础物理研究的新想法，他们将提出新的机制和模型，最终可能有助于对自然法则的宏大综合。这项研究将与培养学生和博士后并驾齐驱，这些学生和博士后将成为未来几代人的科学领袖，该小组将继续积极寻求向公众传播粒子物理和宇宙学的兴奋。沿着这些思路进行的理论研究通过优化我们在大型实验设备上的投资来促进国家利益，以寻求理解新的物理定律。更严格地说，卡普兰将开发新的非加速器方向来探索自然的基本规律，同时推动对我们所看到的现象的更深层次的理解。卡米扬科夫斯基将开发新的方法，通过天体物理观测和非加速器实验来寻找新的物理。他将研究暗能量的新想法，开发新的技术来解码宇宙微波背景测量，并开发理论基础来支持大规模结构的暴涨和暗能量探测。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 Professors Marc Kamionkowski and David E. Kaplan at Johns Hopkins University.The search to understand the fundamental laws of physics is at an exciting but uncertain time. While we eagerly await the discovery of new physics at the LHC or with the next decade of dark-matter searches, existing null results have forced theorists to discard old prejudices and think deeply about entirely new ideas for fundamental physics and novel experimental avenues to seek new physics. Recent developments in observational/experimental cosmology provide the exciting prospect of opening wholly new windows to the very earliest Universe and of understanding the physics driving the accelerated cosmic expansion and the nature of dark matter. The research of Kamionkowski and Kaplan tackles central problems at the juncture of theory and experiment in particle physics and cosmology. Their work will advance new ideas for cosmological observations and fundamental-physics searches, and they will propose new mechanisms and models that may ultimately help in the grand synthesis of nature's laws. This research will proceed hand in hand with the training of students and postdocs who will become scientific leaders in subsequent generations, and the group will remain vigorous in its quest to communicate the excitement of particle physics and cosmology to the general public. Theoretical research along these lines advances the national interest by optimizing our investment in major experimental facilities in their quest to understand new physical laws.More technically, Kaplan will develop new non-accelerator directions for exploring the fundamental laws of nature while pushing to pursue a deeper understanding of the phenomena we see. Kamionkowski will develop novel ways to search for new physics with astrophysical observations and non-accelerator experiments. He will study new ideas for dark energy, develop novel techniques to decode cosmic microwave background measurements, and develop theoretical underpinnings to support large-scale-structure probes of inflation and dark energy.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.