Collaborative Research: Investigations in Strings, Fields and Gravity

该合作奖资助了纽约城市大学城市学院的Sebastian Franco教授和vp Nair教授以及纽约城市大学雷曼学院的Daniel Kabat教授的研究活动。该项目旨在进一步加深我们对自然最基本层面的理解，解决量子场论（QFT）、引力和弦理论中的问题。教授Franco， Nair和Kabat将研究不同维度的QFT动力学，这是一个非常重要的主题，因为QFT提供了一个总体框架，物理学家可以通过它研究从基本粒子的行为到凝聚态物理的主题。教授Franco， Nair和Kabat将从多个角度来解决这个问题，包括使用弦理论工具。他们还将研究量子态的纠缠，这是一种神秘的现象，与量子计算和物质的奇怪新相等各种主题有关。因此，这些方向的研究通过推动美国基础科学的边界来促进国家利益。这项研究还具有显著的更广泛的影响成分。佛朗哥、奈尔和卡巴特教授将积极地让本科生和研究生以及博士后参与他们的研究，为进入该领域研究的初级物理学家提供理想的培训。这个研究项目也将加强城市学院和雷曼学院之间的紧密合作。维持联合研究项目对吸引学生进入这些研究领域产生了积极影响，特别是来自少数民族和代表性不足的群体，这些群体构成了两所学院学生群体的很大一部分。佛朗哥、奈尔和卡巴特教授还将继续并扩大他们近年来在城市学院建立的一个广泛的外展项目，与几个为贫困人口服务的当地机构建立伙伴关系。从技术上讲，本研究的主要目标可以分为三个方面：1)量子场论及其应用和变体，包括卡西米尔效应、纠缠、非交换几何和引力，以及非阿贝尔规范理论的红外行为；2)量子傅立叶变换在不同维度上的动力学和对偶性，以及为此目的的新型膜结构的发展和应用；3)非微扰d膜瞬子效应的弦理论研究，AdS/CFT对应体物理的重建，全息宇宙学。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This collaborative award funds the research activities of Professors Sebastian Franco and V.P. Nair at the City College of the City University of New York, and Professor Daniel Kabat at Lehman College of the City University of New York. This project aims to further our understanding of nature at its most fundamental level, tackling questions in quantum field theory (QFT), gravity, and string theory. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will study the dynamics of QFT's in various dimensions, a topic of fundamental importance since QFT's provide a general framework through which physicists study subjects ranging from the behavior of the elementary particles to the physics of condensed matter. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will approach this problem from multiple perspectives, including the use of string-theoretic tools. They will also investigate the entanglement of quantum states --- a mysterious phenomenon that has bearing on diverse topics such as quantum computing and strange new phases of matter. As such, research in these directions advances the national interest by pushing forward the boundaries of fundamental science within the United States. This research also has significant broader impact components. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will actively involve undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral associates in their research, providing ideal training to junior physicists entering research in this field. This research project will also strengthen the close collaboration between City College and Lehman College. Maintaining a joint research program has had a positive impact on attracting students to these research areas, especially from minority and underrepresented groups which constitute a large part of the student body at both colleges. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will also continue and expand a broad outreach program that they established in recent years at City College, building partnerships with several local institutions which serve underprivileged populations. More technically, the key objectives of this research can be organized into three areas: 1) Quantum field theory, its applications and variants including the Casimir effect, entanglement, noncommutative geometry and gravity, and infrared behavior of non-abelian gauge theories; 2) The dynamics and dualities of QFT's in various dimensions, and development and application of novel brane constructions for these purposes; and 3) String-theoretic investigations into nonperturbative D-brane instanton effects, reconstruction of bulk physics in the AdS/CFT correspondence, and holographic cosmology.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.