The Cosmology of Symmetry-Changing Phase Transitions

开展宇宙学、天体物理学及其与基本粒子物理学关系的理论研究。重点将放在可能在天体物理环境中发生的相变上。主题将包括这种相变对自然界对称性的影响，可能在中子星中产生“奇怪”粒子凝聚的相变，以及在宇宙冷却过程中发生的相变再加热的可能性。所有这些话题对我们理解宇宙演化的努力都很重要。

Theoretical research will be carried out in cosmology and astrophysics, and its relations to elementary particle physics. The focus will be on phase transitions which may occur in astrophysical settings. Topics will include the effects of such phase transitions on symmetries of nature, the phase transition which may produce a condensate of `strange` particles in neutron stars, and the possibility of reheating about a phase transition (occurs during cooling in the universe. All these topics are important to our efforts to understand the evolution of the universe.