Research in Theoretical High Energy Physics

Andrew Strominger, Daniel Jafferis and Xi Yin

Harvard University, Department of Physics

17 Oxford St., Jefferson Physical Laboratory

Cambridge, MA 02138

Vigorous efforts made over the last several decades have advanced our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature beyond the standard model of particle physics. Further advances would potentially include unification of the forces, the reconciliation of quantum mechanics and gravity, a derivation of the standard model couplings, a universal explanation of the area law for horizon entropy, and a theory for the origin of the universe. While solving these truly extraordinarily challenging problems will require a very long-term effort, research funded by this grant has already produced a plethora of compelling and encouraging findings along this direction on quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory, black holes, and AdS/CFT. This work has also been characterized by many fruitful cross-disciplinary collaborations and applications.

In this project, we propose a multi-pronged effort to better understand the fundamental laws of nature as well as to apply the insights gained so far to other problems in physics and mathematics. Some of the major ongoing and proposed projects include the celestial holography program, rebuilding the foundation of string theory via string field theory, non-perturbative bootstrap approach to quantum field theories, entanglement, chaos, and reconstruction of bulk observables in quantum gravity.