Development and Applications of String Theory

弦理论正处于发展的重要阶段。我们对弦理论理解的迅速提高，使弦理论成为我们研究自然界运作背后结构的有用工具。弦论技术在粒子物理、引力和宇宙学中的应用是弦论学家的主要任务，也是我们与实验数据建立联系的最佳机会。此外，越来越多，也许令人惊讶的是，源于弦理论的方法，特别是作为量子引力和量子黑洞的理论，已经在物理和数学的许多不同领域中找到了应用。这样的应用还有一个额外的效果，就是当弦理论在各种物理环境中被面对和检验时，有助于更深入地理解和继续发展弦理论本身。因此，我们提出的研究具有双重目的：进一步发展弦理论的结构，同时将其应用于各种有趣的物理背景，为我们提供独特的见解。此外，该提案概述了一项高素质人员培训计划，这些人员将受益于研究环境，并接受具有广泛适用性的技术和计算技术培训。

String theory is at an important stage of its development. The rapid improvement in our understanding of the theory made string theory a useful toolkit in our investigations of the structures underlying the workings of nature. The applications of string theory techniques to particle physics, gravitation and cosmology are the main mandate of string theorists, and our best opportunity to make connection with experimental data. Additionally, increasingly and perhaps surprisingly, methods originating from string theory, especially as a theory of quantum gravity and quantum black holes, have found applications in many diverse areas of physics and mathematics. Such applications have the added effect of contributing, as the theory is confronted and tested in a variety ofphysical situations, to a deeper understanding and continuing development of string theory itself. The research proposed has therefore the dual purpose of developing further the structure of string theory, while also applying it to various interesting physical contexts where it can provide us with unique insights. Additionally, the proposal outlines a training plan for highly qualified personnel, who benefit from a research environment and receive training in technical and computational techniques with wide applicability.