Particles, Strings, and the Universe in Motion

“这项奖励是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。”21世纪的第一个十年见证了关于我们宇宙的起源、结构和未来命运的基本问题的显著融合。诸如“宇宙是由什么构成的？”什么是物质、能量、空间和时间？”这些学科现在已经走到了实验粒子物理学、观测宇宙学和天体物理学的研究前沿，它们在理论前沿的显著发展将它们联系在一起：将广义相对论和宇宙学、量子引力、量子场论、弦理论甚至纯数学等先前不相关的领域有效地综合在一起。该小组提出的活动的目的是在粒子物理学、量子引力、宇宙学和弦理论的交叉领域进行基础理论研究，其应用范围从标准模型之外的物理学到宇宙学中的多元宇宙方法，弦理论和凝聚态物质的界面，以及量子引力中空间和时间的本质。pi们相信，他们的团队处于独特的位置，可以利用他们专业知识的多样性，通过兴趣的重叠将他们联系在一起，并专注于关于宇宙的相同基本问题。具体而言，pi建议采取以下方法。Mina Aganagic是拓扑弦理论的主要专家之一。她的工作将集中在拓扑弦方法和弦对偶性在超对称破缺新机制和弦现象学中的应用。她将从拓扑弦的角度进一步研究黑洞熵。拉斐尔·布索（Raphael Bousso）在全息术和几何熵界方面做出了开创性的工作，与人共同发现了弦理论真空的景观，并提出了宇宙常数问题的解决方案。他将研究我们在从景观和永恒膨胀的多元宇宙中提取预测时所面临的挑战，比如永恒膨胀中的测量问题，以及用更普遍的选择标准取代人为条件。彼得·霍拉瓦参与了弦理论的许多转折点的发现，如定向折、d膜和m理论。他将把非平衡场论的方法应用于量子引力和弦理论，研究量子引力的各向异性尺度，进一步发展与凝聚态物理的界面，并在弦和m理论的低维模型中寻找新的现象。野村康典（Yasunori Nomura）对我们理解标准模型之外的物理做出了重大贡献；他开创了更高维度的大统一，提出了新的TeV尺度理论。他将研究与未来几十年实验相关的理论粒子物理学和宇宙学，特别是大型强子对撞机，重点是超对称破缺及其中介，夸克和轻子质量，以及多重宇宙在TeV尺度物理学中的含义。拟议的活动所产生的更广泛的影响包括培养学生和博士后，他们将成为美国乃至世界的下一代科学家。伯克利理论物理中心促进多样性，鼓励女性和少数民族学生和科学家。本研究解决的基本问题引起了公众的浓厚兴趣，pi将继续在我们社会的更广泛背景下促进基础科学的重要性和兴奋性。这些pi将与QuarkNet的教师合作，向高中生传达尖端科学发现的精髓，并将继续作为资源提供给他们。他们将致力于在标准模型和弦理论之外加强获奖的粒子冒险网站。他们将继续通过系列讲座和暑期学校等教育活动向世界贫困地区传播目前的科学研究成果。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed a remarkable convergence of the fundamental questions about the origin, structure and the future fate of our Universe. Questions such as "What is the Universe made of?" " What are matter, energy, space and time?" , which have now come to the forefront of research in experimental particle physics, observational cosmology and astrophysics, are tied together by remarkable developments on the theoretical front: An effective synthesis of previously disconnected areas of general relativity and cosmology, quantum gravity, quantum field theory, string theory and even pure mathematics.The purpose of the group's proposed activity is to perform fundamental theoretical research at the crossroads of particle physics, quantum gravity, cosmology and string theory, with applications ranging from physics beyond the standard model, to the multiverse approach in cosmology, the interface of string theory and condensed matter, and the nature of space and time in quantum gravity. The PIs believe that their group is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the diversity in their expertise, tied together by the overlap in interests and focus on the same fundamental questions about the Universe.Specifically, the PIs propose to take the following approach. Mina Aganagic is one of the leading experts in topological string theory. Her work will focus on applications of topological string methods and string dualities to novel mechanisms of supersymmetry breaking and in string phenomenology. She will further pursue the study of black hole entropy from the perspective of topological strings. Raphael Bousso has done seminal work on holography and geometric entropy bounds, co-discovered the landscape of string-theory vacua, and proposed a solution to the cosmological constant problem. He will work on challenges we face in extracting predictions from the landscape and the eternally inflating multiverse, such as the measure problem in eternal inflation, and replacing anthropic conditions by more general selection criteria. Petr Horava participated in a number of turning-point discoveries in string theory, such as orientifolds, D-branes, and M-theory. He will apply methods of nonequilibrium field theory to quantum gravity and string theory, study quantum gravity with anisotropic scaling, further develop the interface with condensed matter physics, and look for novel phenomena in low-dimensional models of string and M-theory. Yasunori Nomura has contributed significantly to our understanding of physics beyond the standard model; he pioneered grand unification in higher dimensions and proposed novel TeV scale theories. He will work on theoretical particle physics and cosmology relevant to experiments coming in the next decades, in particular the LHC, with emphasis on supersymmetry breaking and its mediation, the quark and lepton masses, and the implications of the multiverse on the TeV scale physics.The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity include training of students and postdocs who become the next generation of scientists of the nation as well as the world. Berkely Center for Theoretical Physics promotes diversity to encourage female and minority students and scientists. The fundamental questions addressed in this research are of deep interest to the general public, and the PIs will continue promoting the importance and excitement of fundamental science in the broader context of our society. The PIs will work with QuarkNet teachers to convey the essence of cutting-edge scientific discoveries to high school students, and will continue making themselves available as resources. They will work to enhance the award-winning Particle Adventure website on physics beyond the standard model and string theory. They will continue to disseminate the results of the current scientific research to under-privileged areas of the world via lecture series and educational activities such as Summer schools.