CAREER: String Theory Applied to Precision Cosmology

康奈尔大学利亚姆·麦卡利斯特教授的这个职业项目的目标是提供令人信服的早期宇宙理论模型--特别是弦理论中的膨胀模型--并使用这些想法来解释下一代的宇宙学观测。在过去的十年里，宇宙学取得了惊人的进步，成为一门与基础物理学有着深刻联系的精密实验科学。最近的观察结果与通货膨胀的预测非常一致，后者描述的是在热的大爆炸之前的爆炸性膨胀。膨胀建立在量子场论和广义相对论的基础上，并对它们之间的相互作用，即引力的紫外线完成很敏感。因此，要从根本上理解暴涨，就需要量子引力理论，比如弦理论。此外，通过宇宙学观测探测膨胀，人们可以在最高能量尺度上检查物理，并阐明支配我们宇宙起源的物理定律。这一活动也被认为将产生重大的更广泛的影响。具体地说，PI计划将现代物理学核心中一些引人注目、紧迫的问题传达给纽约市社会经济贫困社区的高中生和科学教师。为了实现这一目标，PI将首先向来自纽约市的公立学校教师的听众讲课；然后为感兴趣的教师举办专业发展研讨会，重点关注标准课程以外的现代物理关键问题；最后，参观参与的教师教室。通过与教师建立和保持长期关系，PI将能够持续评估结果，并根据需要重新调整演示文稿。国际和平协会将得到康奈尔大学一名专职外联协调员的协助，负责所有这些活动。

The goal of this CAREER project from Professor Liam McAllister at Cornell University is to provide compelling theoretical models of the early universe -- in particular, models of inflation in string theory -- and to use these ideas to interpret the coming generation of cosmological observations. Cosmology has made spectacular strides in the last decade, emerging as a precise experimental science with profound connections to fundamental physics. Recent observations are remarkably consistent with the predictions of inflation, which describes explosive expansion before the hot Big Bang. Inflation builds on quantum field theory and general relativity, and is sensitive to the interplay between them, i.e. to the ultraviolet completion of gravity. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of inflation requires a theory of quantum gravity, such as string theory. Moreover, by probing inflation through cosmological observations, one can examine physics at the highest energy scales, and shed light on the physical laws that governed the beginning of our universe.This activity is also envisioned to have significant Broader Impacts. Specifically, the PI plans to communicate some of the compelling, urgent problems at the core of modern physics to high-school students and science teachers in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in New York City. To achieve this, the PI will begin by lecturing to an audience of public school teachers from New York City; then hold a professional development workshop for interested teachers, focusing on key questions of modern physics outside the standard curriculum; and finally, visit participating teachers' classrooms. By forming and maintaining long-term relationships with teachers, the PI will be able to assess the results on an ongoing basis and recalibrate the presentations as needed. The PI will have the assistance of a dedicated Cornell outreach coordinator for all of these activities.