"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."
The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed a remarkable convergence of the fundamental questions about the origin, structure and the future fate of our Universe. Questions such as "What is the Universe made of?" " What are matter, energy, space and time?" , which have now come to the forefront of research in experimental particle physics, observational cosmology and astrophysics, are tied together by remarkable developments on the theoretical front: An effective synthesis of previously disconnected areas of general relativity and cosmology, quantum gravity, quantum field theory, string theory and even pure mathematics.
The purpose of the group's proposed activity is to perform fundamental theoretical research at the crossroads of particle physics, quantum gravity, cosmology and string theory, with applications ranging from physics beyond the standard model, to the multiverse approach in cosmology, the interface of string theory and condensed matter, and the nature of space and time in quantum gravity. The PIs believe that their group is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the diversity in their expertise, tied together by the overlap in interests and focus on the same fundamental questions about the Universe.
Specifically, the PIs propose to take the following approach. Mina Aganagic is one of the leading experts in topological string theory. Her work will focus on applications of topological string methods and string dualities to novel mechanisms of supersymmetry breaking and in string phenomenology. She will further pursue the study of black hole entropy from the perspective of topological strings. Raphael Bousso has done seminal work on holography and geometric entropy bounds, co-discovered the landscape of string-theory vacua, and proposed a solution to the cosmological constant problem. He will work on challenges we face in extracting predictions from the landscape and the eternally inflating multiverse, such as the measure problem in eternal inflation, and replacing anthropic conditions by more general selection criteria. Petr Horava participated in a number of turning-point discoveries in string theory, such as orientifolds, D-branes, and M-theory. He will apply methods of nonequilibrium field theory to quantum gravity and string theory, study quantum gravity with anisotropic scaling, further develop the interface with condensed matter physics, and look for novel phenomena in low-dimensional models of string and M-theory. Yasunori Nomura has contributed significantly to our understanding of physics beyond the standard model; he pioneered grand unification in higher dimensions and proposed novel TeV scale theories. He will work on theoretical particle physics and cosmology relevant to experiments coming in the next decades, in particular the LHC, with emphasis on supersymmetry breaking and its mediation, the quark and lepton masses, and the implications of the multiverse on the TeV scale physics.
The broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity include training of students and postdocs who become the next generation of scientists of the nation as well as the world. Berkely Center for Theoretical Physics promotes diversity to encourage female and minority students and scientists. The fundamental questions addressed in this research are of deep interest to the general public, and the PIs will continue promoting the importance and excitement of fundamental science in the broader context of our society. The PIs will work with QuarkNet teachers to convey the essence of cutting-edge scientific discoveries to high school students, and will continue making themselves available as resources. They will work to enhance the award-winning Particle Adventure website on physics beyond the standard model and string theory. They will continue to disseminate the results of the current scientific research to under-privileged areas of the world via lecture series and educational activities such as Summer schools.
