Particle and Quantum Field Theory Investigations

该奖项资助纽约大学的G.Gabadadze、M.Porrati和A.Sirlin教授的研究活动。这个研究小组的成员致力于解决基本粒子物理学、宇宙学和引力方面的基本问题。这些教员的研究兴趣是相辅相成的。要发现新的物理学，必须掌握描述除重力以外的所有已知基本相互作用的理论，即所谓的标准模型。这就是Sirlin教授的研究目的。量子引力和超重力是波拉蒂教授研究的重点。这些理论对于研究整个宇宙，即在非常远的距离上，或者对于理解非常早期的宇宙来说，是最相关的理论。量子引力的研究还与试图理解暗物质和暗能量的性质有关-神秘的物质和能量形式，对理解宇宙演化的方式至关重要。这些问题是由教授们研究的。波拉蒂和加巴德泽。因此，这一领域的研究通过促进科学最基本的方向之一--发现和理解新的物理定律--来促进国家利益。预计该项目还将产生更广泛的影响。所有高级调查人员都与研究生和博士后密切合作开展研究，他们因此接受了高级理论研究方面的培训。研究成果的传播将通过在专业和科普期刊上发表的评论文章，以及通过组织研讨会、视频和基于互联网的课程以及大众讲座来进行。更具体地说，Porrati计划研究纯ADS3引力中的拓扑变化转变幅度，以及各种公式中纯3D重力和超重力的环面配分函数和某些指数。他还计划研究某些超重力膨胀模型中物质耦合的推广，该模型包含更高的标量曲率次方。高自旋粒子在ADS和Minkowski背景中相互作用的性质将由Porrati在过去几年继续进行的工作中研究。Porrati还计划研究具有不同左右中心电荷的2D保形场理论的全息重整化流动，使用最近发现的ADS3质量重力的新理论，称为“最小质量重力”。Gabadadze提议在几个不同的方向进行研究-关于宇宙常数问题和修正的引力，关于质量引力的ADS/CFT对应，关于矮星中的量子液体，以及关于冷原子系统中的孤立子-所有这些都使用有效量子场论的方法作为统一的主题。最后，鉴于MuCap合作报告的2013年测量结果的精确度提高，Sirlin计划更新和改进他2007年的分析。特别是，他计划研究进一步提高实验精度的可能性，可能会导致轴向矢量耦合的独立、准确的值，这一结果可能对中子β衰变有重要影响。Sirlin还计划研究质子捕获反中微子的辐射修正，这一过程目前对反应堆中微子振荡的研究非常重要。

This award funds the research activities of Professors G. Gabadadze, M. Porrati, and A. Sirlin at New York University. Members of this research group work towards solving fundamental questions in elementary particle physics, cosmology, and gravitation. The research interests of these faculty members are complementary to one another. To discover new physics it is essential to master the theory that describes all known elementary interactions excluding gravity, namely the so-called Standard Model. This is the aim of Prof. Sirlin's research. Quantum gravity and supergravity are the focus of Prof. Porrati's research. These are the theories most relevant in the study of the universe as a whole, i.e. at very large distances, or for understanding the very early universe. The study of quantum gravity also connects with attempts to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy --- mysterious forms of matter and energy which are critical for understanding the way in which the universe evolves. These problems are investigated by Profs. Porrati and Gabadadze. Thus, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting the progress of science in one of its most fundamental directions: the discovery and understanding of new physical laws. Broader impacts are also expected from the project. All senior investigators carry out their research in close collaboration with graduate students and postdocs, who are thus trained in advanced theoretical research. Dissemination of research results will occur through review articles to be published in specialized and popular-science journals as well as through the organization of workshops, video- and Internet-based courses, and popular lectures.More specifically, Porrati plans to study topology-changing transition amplitudes in pure AdS3 gravity as well as the torus partition function and certain indices for pure 3D gravity and supergravity in various formulations. He also plans to study a generalization of matter couplings in certain supergravity models of inflation containing higher powers of the scalar curvature. Properties of high-spin particles in interaction in AdS and Minkowski backgrounds will be studied by Porrati continuing work done in the last years. Porrati also plans to study holographic renormalization flows of 2D conformal field theories with different left and right central charges, using a recently discovered new theory of AdS3 massive gravity called "minimal massive gravity." Gabadadze is proposing research in several different directions --- on the cosmological constant problem and modified gravity, on the AdS/CFT correspondence for massive gravity, on quantum liquids in dwarf stars, and on solitons in cold atom systems --- all using the method of effective quantum field theory as a unifying theme. Finally, in view of the increased precision of a 2013 measurement reported by the MuCap Collaboration, Sirlin plans to update and improve his 2007 analysis. In particular, he plans to study the possibility that further improvement in the experimental precision may lead to an independent, accurate value for the axial-vector coupling $g_{A}$, a result that may have important implications for neutron beta decay. Sirlin also plans to study the radiative corrections to antineutrino capture by protons, a process that is currently important for reactor studies of neutrino oscillations.