Theoretical Investigations in Classical and Quantum Gravity

我们将研究重力物理学中的几个基本问题。这些都与早期宇宙的物理学，爱因斯坦广义相对论和量子物理学的统一，以及黑洞形成和合并的最后阶段有关。虽然宇宙学在过去十年中取得了惊人的进展，但基本问题仍然存在。在过去的五年里，通过对广义相对论和量子物理学的明智统一，我们的团队提供了一个详细的理论范式，说明大爆炸附近“真正”发生了什么。这种“超越爱因斯坦的物理学”的详细后果，包括潜在的可观察效应，将使用分析和数值技术的结合来详细分析。黑洞的形成和碰撞是剧烈的事件，在这里完全非线性的广义相对论是重要的。最先进的数学工具将被用来描述这些黑洞如何稳定到最终的平衡状态。这项研究将继续对基础科学（广义相对论、宇宙学和量子物理学）、纯数学和应用数学（泛函分析、几何和计算科学）和科学哲学的许多学科产生影响。与过去一样，博士生和博士后学者将在这些广泛的知识领域接受培训。由于公众对将要解决的基本问题着迷，因此还将通过公开讲座、半流行杂志上的文章和报告、包括科学视频和YouTube剪辑在内的电子媒体以及与对前沿科学思想的表现感兴趣的艺术家的积极合作，为外展做出重大贡献。

Several fundamental issues in gravitational physics will be investigated. These are related to the physics of the very early universe, unification of Einstein's general relativity and quantum physics, and the final stages of black hole formation and mergers. Although cosmology has witnessed spectacular progress over the past decade, fundamental problems remain. Through a judicious unification of general relativity with quantum physics, over the last five years, our team has provided a detailed theoretical paradigm as to what "really" occurred near the big bang. Detailed consequences of this "physics beyond Einstein", including potentially observable effects, will be analyzed in detail using a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. Black hole formation and collisions are violent events where the full non-linearity general relativity is important. State of the art mathematical tools will be used to describe how these black holes settle down to their final equilibrium.This research will continue to have an impact on a number of disciplines in fundamental science (general relativity, cosmology, and quantum physics), areas of pure and applied mathematics (functional analysis, geometry and computational science) and philosophy of science. As in the past, Ph.D. students and post-doctoral scholars will trained in these broad areas of knowledge. Because the public is fascinated by the fundamental questions that will be addressed, there will also be a significant contribution to outreach through public lectures, articles and reports in semi-popular magazines, electronic media including scientific videos and YouTube clips and an active collaboration with artists interested in representations of the cutting edge scientific ideas.