This award funds the research activities of Professors Howard Georgi and Cumrun Vafa at Harvard University.
This research addresses the fundamental laws of nature at short distances, from the distance scales currently being probed by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) down to the much shorter distances at which the interactions unify and (perhaps) the structure of spacetime itself is formed. Thus, this research will deepen our formal understanding of the fascinating mathematical structure of string theory, which is a candidate for a fundamental theory of nature; it will continue the search for probes of string theory at the LHC; and it will develop new tools for the analysis of LHC observations to ensure that we can make the most effective use of this high-energy particle collider, one of the most important scientific projects in history.
Because the research funded by this award addresses some of the most fundamental questions in science, it will also have a number of broader impacts. Research on these questions will continue to inspire talented young people to pursue the kind of rigorous technical education that they need for STEM fields. More specifically, this research will affect Harvard graduate students and undergraduates in several ways. Graduate students will participate in many of the projects directly. In addition, there are "in-house" seminars in which postdocs and graduate students will be able to present their work in progress in an informal and supportive atmosphere, and younger students will be able to learn about the research of the group. There will also practical mentoring of younger faculty. Moreover, Professors Georgi and Vafa teach important undergraduate and graduate courses. Likewise, Professor Georgi is also the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Physics and involved in efforts to improve undergraduate education and increase diversity in the STEM workforce.
