Particles and Strings in the Gravitating and Evolving Universe

该奖项资助了加州大学伯克利分校的Mina Aganagic、Raphael Bousso和peter Horava教授的研究。在21世纪的头二十年里，我们目睹了一系列前所未有的发现，这些发现将宇宙的起源、结构和演化等基本问题带到了人们的视线中。粒子物理学和宇宙学的新实验数据正面临着一些理论问题：宇宙是由什么构成的？当引力与量子力学统一时，如何解决引力之谜？物质的基本成分的本质和起源是什么？它们之间的相互作用是什么？宇宙中观测到的宇宙结构模式是什么？总之，实验发现和新的理论思想导致一个有效的综合以前不相关的研究领域。这种前所未有的实验和理论结果的融合，旨在在一个连贯的框架内制定自然的基本规律，对促进国家利益至关重要，因为它促进和推动了自然科学的进步，以及我们对从微观和亚原子到宇宙尺度的宇宙规律的理解。在他们的研究中，Aganagic教授、Bousso教授和Horava教授将在粒子物理学、量子引力、宇宙学和弦理论的十字路口进行基础理论研究。除了解决关于宇宙法则的一些最深奥的谜题外，这项研究还有望产生更广泛的重大影响。通过让博士后和学生参与前沿理论研究，这项研究将为培养下一代科学家做出重大贡献。这项研究还将丰富公共领域，Aganagic教授、Bousso教授和Horava教授将发表关于这项研究成果的公开讲座。这项研究还将改善加州大学伯克利分校的学术课程，新发现将直接整合到新的和现有的课程中。更具体地说，Aganagic教授将继续研究精细拓扑弦和规范理论、朗兰兹对应和小弦理论。Bousso教授将研究几何、熵、引力和量子信息之间的相互作用，特别是量子聚焦猜想和量子零能量条件，新区域定理和宇宙第二定律，以及与信息问题相关的渐近对称性。Horava教授将研究非相对论量子场论和量子引力及其在粒子现象学和宇宙学的自然性难题中的应用，以及与因果动态三角测量方法的联系，以量子化引力。他还打算将非平衡场论的方法应用于弦和m理论。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award funds the research of Professors Mina Aganagic, Raphael Bousso, and Petr Horava at the University of California, Berkeley.In the first two decades of the 21st century, we have witnessed an unprecedented convergence of discoveries that are bringing into focus fundamental questions about the origin, structure, and evolution of the Universe. The new experimental data in particle physics and cosmology are being confronted with theoretical questions: What is the Universe made of? How are the puzzles of gravity resolved when gravity is unified with quantum mechanics? What are the nature and origins of the fundamental constituents of matter, their interactions, and the observed patterns of cosmological structure in the Universe? Together, experimental discoveries and new theoretical ideas are leading to an effective synthesis of previously disconnected areas of research. This unprecedented convergence of experimental and theoretical results, which aims to formulate the fundamental laws of nature in one coherent framework, is of utmost importance for the advancement of the national interest because it promotes and advances progress in the natural sciences and in our understanding of the laws of the Universe at scales ranging from the microscopic and subatomic to the cosmological. In their research, Professors Aganagic, Bousso, and Horava will perform fundamental theoretical research at the crossroads of particle physics, quantum gravity, cosmology, and string theory. In addition to addressing some of the deepest puzzles about the laws of the Universe, this research is envisioned to have significant broader impacts. By involving postdocs and students in cutting-edge theoretical research, this research will significantly contribute to the critical training of the next generation of scientists. This research will also enrich the public domain, with Professors Aganagic, Bousso, and Horava delivering public lectures on the results of this research. This research will also improve the academic curriculum at UC Berkeley, with new findings being directly integrated into new and existing courses.More specifically, Professor Aganagic will pursue the study of the refined topological string and gauge theories, the Langlands correspondence, and little string theory. Professor Bousso will study the interplay between geometry, entropy, gravity, and quantum information, specifically on the quantum-focusing conjecture and the quantum null-energy condition, new area theorems and the cosmological second law, and asymptotic symmetries in relation to the information problem. Professor Horava will study non-relativistic quantum field theory and quantum gravity and their applications to the puzzles of naturalness in particle phenomenology and cosmology, as well as the connection to the Causal Dynamical Triangulations approach to quantizing gravity. He also intends to apply methods of non-equilibrium field theory to string and M-theory.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.