Research in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics

该奖项资助麻省理工学院名誉教授丹尼尔·z·弗里德曼的研究活动。根据我们目前对自然法则的理解，有四种不同的基本力。其中的一个，重力，似乎与其他的有着非常不同的特征。然而，令人惊讶的是，过去二十年的研究揭示了包括引力和不包括引力的理论之间的惊人联系。最引人注目的事实是，用一种理论的传统方法很难研究的重要效应，从与之相关的所谓“对偶”理论的角度来看，往往变得相对简单。弗里德曼教授的研究重点是开发新的方法，通过利用这些新的联系来理解黑洞。他还将研究这些连接的某些非平凡测试，验证它们内部的数学一致性。因此，该领域的研究通过促进基础科学的进步来促进国家利益。这样的研究也被证明是对使用复杂的数学来描述真实的和潜在的真实应用感兴趣的初级科学家的一个极好的训练基地。弗里德曼教授的研究涉及与美国和欧洲其他大学的理论物理学家的广泛合作，该奖项提供的旅费支持将使这些合作努力得以继续。

This award funds the research activities of Emeritus Professor Daniel Z. Freedman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.According to our present understanding of the laws of nature, there are four different fundamental forces. One of these, gravity, appears to have a very different character than the others. Surprisingly, however, research over the past twenty years has uncovered a surprising connection between theories that include the gravitational force and those that do not. Most striking is the fact that important effects which are very difficult to study by conventional methods in one theory often become relatively simple when approached from the perspective of the so-called "dual" theory to which it is connected. Professor Freedman's research focuses on developing new ways to understand black holes by exploiting these new connections. He will also study certain non-trivial tests of these connections, verifying their internal mathematical consistency. Thus, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting the progress of fundamental science. Such research has also proven to be an excellent training ground for junior scientists who are interested in using sophisticated mathematics to describe real and potentially real applications. Professor Freedman's research involves extensive collaboration with theoretical physicists at other universities in the United States and in Europe, and this award provides travel support that will enable these collaborative efforts to continue.