String Theory and Quantum Field Theory: From the Planck Scale to the Hubble Scale

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds the research activities of Professors Elena Cáceres, Jacques Distler, Willy Fischler, Can Kilic, and Sonia Paban at the University of Texas at Austin. The research of Professors Cáceres, Distler, Fischler, Kilic, and Paban is focused on discovering and understanding the laws that govern the universe at the most fundamental level. This research utilizes diverse and multi-pronged approaches to achieving this mission. These include studying the extensions to the so-called Standard Model, which governs the behavior of the elementary particles, and the associated experimental signatures of such extensions. These also include the study of early-universe cosmology and present-day astrophysics, and exploring the physics of black holes, which may shed light on how a quantum theory of gravity may be formulated. Finally, this research also includes studies in relativistic quantum field theory (the mathematical language in which theories of the elementary particles are expressed) and string theory (which aims to unify all of the different particles and forces in nature). Since the early days of modern physics, the United States has led the effort in the discovery of these fundamental laws. Therefore, more research in this direction is in the national interest, and Professors Cáceres, Distler, Fischler, Kilic, and Paban are committed to making further research contributions in these directions. In addition, this research will involve graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and provide scientific training that should serve these junior scientists well throughout their careers both within and outside academia. Finally, these professors make science outreach a priority. They regularly deliver public lectures, organize activities to increase science literacy, and foster the participation of underrepresented minorities in physics. More specifically, many different research areas are to be investigated as part of this research project. Professor Cáceres will continue her work on quantum models that are holographic duals of black holes. In particular, she will focus on observables that inform us about the wormhole interior. Professor Distler will continue his exploration of 4D N=2 superconformal field theories and their properties. He will expand on his investigations of continuum QFTs exhibiting fractonic behavior and he will study new defects in string theory. Professor Fischler will continue to work with his students on quantum information in quantum gravity (using gauge-gravity duality) and the use of the quantum Hall effect in the context of quantum computation. He will continue to work on holographic spacetime and in particular the quantum mechanics of de Sitter spacetime which he helped to pioneer twenty years ago. This is particularly timely in light of renewed interest on the nature of quantum de Sitter space-time. Professor Kilic will explore the experimental signatures of new particles that couple to the Standard Model through minimal interactions, called 'portals'. He will also apply machine-learning techniques to extend the reach of searches at the Large Hadron Collider to new physics scenarios that are challenging to discover. He will study models of dark matter that can help address discrepancies in existing measurements of cosmological parameters. Professor Paban's work will focus on new cosmic inflation models in light of new insights from string theory and the stabilization of internal moduli. Particular emphasis will be placed on the production of gravitational waves and primordial black holes in these inflation models. 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.