Fundamental Interactions and Cosmology

该奖项资助约翰·霍普金斯大学的马克·卡米扬科夫斯基、大卫·E·卡普兰、外科医生拉金德兰、贾里德·卡普兰和易卜拉希玛·巴教授的研究活动。理解物理学基本定律的探索处于一个令人兴奋但不确定的时刻。虽然我们热切地等待大型强子对撞机或未来十年暗物质搜索的新物理发现，但现有的零结果迫使理论家摒弃旧的偏见，深入思考基础物理的全新想法，以及寻找新物理的新实验途径。新的数学工具的开发也推动了这一努力，以帮助理解理论的结构(称为“量子场论”)，大多数基础物理模型都是根据这些理论构建的。关于宇宙最大规模结构的令人兴奋的新发现，以及在宇宙中发现的来自大爆炸的新化石，现在也推动了这一努力。在这笔赠款下进行的研究解决了粒子物理和宇宙学以及作为物理理论基础的正式数学工具中理论和实验相结合的核心问题。这组研究人员的工作将为宇宙学观测和基础物理研究提出新的想法，他们寻求提出新的机制和模型，最终可能有助于自然规律的宏大综合。沿着这些思路进行的理论研究通过优化我们对主要实验设备的投资来促进国家利益，以寻求了解新的物理定律。这项研究还将与培养学生和博士后并肩进行，这些学生和博士后将成为未来几代人的科学领袖。这些教授还将继续积极寻求向公众传达粒子物理学和宇宙学的兴奋之情。更具体地说，D·卡普兰教授和拉金德兰教授将开发新的非加速器方向来探索自然的基本规律，同时推动对我们所看到的现象的更深入的理解。拉金德兰教授将在暗物质探测的新想法以及开发新的引力波实验方面开展相关工作，目的是打开广阔的发现空间。Kamionkowski教授计划开发一套新的早期宇宙探测器，即将进行观测，并将研究新的模型来解释哈勃张力。卡普兰教授计划研究局域性在ADS/CFT通信中的作用，并使用全息术来理解新的引力现象。最后，巴教授将致力于QFT的几何工程，并研究一类新的“拓扑星”及其可能的现象学后果。这些研究人员的不同研究兴趣的边界也有许多重叠，这些交叉产生的合作将产生新的想法。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 activities of Professors Marc Kamionkowski, David E. Kaplan, Surgeet Rajendran, Jared Kaplan, and Ibrahima Bah at Johns Hopkins University.The search to understand the fundamental laws of physics is at an exciting but uncertain time. While we eagerly await the discovery of new physics at the Large Hadron Collider or with the next decade of dark-matter searches, existing null results have forced theorists to discard old prejudices and think deeply about entirely new ideas for fundamental physics and novel experimental avenues to seek new physics. This effort is also advanced by the development of new mathematical tools to help understand the structure of the theories (called "quantum field theories") in terms of which most models of fundamental physics are constructed. This effort is now also advanced by exciting new discoveries concerning the largest-scale structure of the Universe and new fossils from the Big Bang that have been discovered in the cosmos. The research to be conducted under this grant tackles central problems at the juncture of theory and experiment in particle physics and cosmology and in the formal mathematical tools that are the foundation of physical theories. The work of this group of researchers will advance new ideas for cosmological observations and fundamental-physics searches, and they seek to propose new mechanisms and models that may ultimately help in the grand synthesis of the laws of nature. Theoretical research along these lines advances the national interest by optimizing our investment in major experimental facilities in their quest to understand new physical laws. This research will also proceed hand in hand with the training of students and postdocs who will become scientific leaders in subsequent generations. These professors will also remain vigorous in their quest to communicate the excitement of particle physics and cosmology to the general public. More specifically, Professors D. Kaplan and Rajendran will develop new non-accelerator directions for exploring the fundamental laws of nature while pushing to pursue a deeper understanding of the phenomena we see. Professor Rajendran will do related work on new ideas for dark-matter detection and on the development of new gravitational-wave experiments aimed at opening vast areas of discovery space. Professor Kamionkowski plans to develop a suite of new early-Universe probes with forthcoming observations, and will study novel models to account for the Hubble tension. Professor J. Kaplan plans to study the role of locality in the AdS/CFT correspondence and to use holography to understand new gravitational phenomena. Finally, Professor Bah will work on the geometric engineering of QFTs and study a new class of “topological stars” and their possible phenomenological consequences. There is also much overlap between the boundaries of the different research interests of these researchers, and novel ideas will emerge from collaborations that result from these intersections.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.