This award funds the research activities of Professor David Morrison at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Some theoretical problems in physics are known as "perturbative". For such theoretical problems there exist robust mathematical methods by which they may be addressed. For other problems, by contrast, these methods do not work and different methods must be found. Professor Morrison's research involves non-perturbative aspects of theories which unify quantum mechanics (the physics of the subatomic world) with gravity, concentrating in particular on a theory known informally as "F-theory." As part of his research, Professor Morrison will use techniques borrowed from pure mathematics to study these theories, potentially leading to progress in both physics and mathematics. As a result, research in this area advances the national interest by promoting the progress of science in two of its most fundamental directions: the understanding of new physical theories, and the discovery of new mathematical tools with which to investigate them. This project is also envisioned to have significant broader impacts. Professor Morrison will involve graduate students and postdocs in his research, and thereby provide critical training for junior scientists beginning research in this field. He also intends to promote the public understanding of science through efforts to make the scientific literature broadly available to the public at large.
More technically, Professor Morrison will investigate a number of aspects of F-theory (compactified to four spacetime dimensions). He will determine the possibilities for discrete gauge symmetries in such theories, investigate the role of background fluxes and branes in these theories, and investigate the theories induced by F-theory on probe D3-branes with an eye towards determining how much of F-theory can be recovered from such probes.
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.
