Project description
Research bridges macroscopic and microscopic realms to decode space and time
The ERC-funded preQFT project will explore the complex relationship between the macroscopic universe and the underlying microphysics, with a particular focus on how classical notions of space and time emerge and evolve. To address this question, researchers will seek to understand the quantum predictions of Yang-Mills and gravity theories and identify their non-perturbative ultraviolet completion (which describes how a theory behaves at very high energies, where quantum effects become significant). By pushing calculations to their limits, researchers could uncover previously unappreciated structures (hidden mathematical relationships) that can rewrite our understanding of perturbative quantum field theory. The ultimate goal is to make fundamental principles manifest in calculations, paving the way for deeper comprehension of the cosmos.
Objective
Ambitious Questions:
* How does the relatively calm macroscopic universe survive and emerge from the violent quantum fluctuations of its underlying microphysics?
* How do classical notions of space and time emerge from fundamental principles, and what governs their evolution?
These questions are difficult to answer---perhaps impossible given current ideas and frameworks---but I believe a strategic path forward is to thoroughly understand the quantum predictions of our Yang-Mills and Gravity theories, and unambiguously identify their non-perturbative UV completions. The first step forward, and the goal of this project, is to move towards the trivialization of perturbative calculations.
Consider the notion of failure-point calculations -- calculations that push modern methods and world-class technologies to their breaking-point. Such calculations, for their very success, engender the chance of cultivating and exploiting previously unappreciated structure. In doing so, such calculations advance the state of the art forward to some degree, dependent on the class of the problems and nature of the solution. With scattering amplitude calculations, we battle against (naive) combinatorial complexity as we go either higher in order of quantum correction ( loop order ), or higher in number of external particles scattering (multiplicity), so our advances must be revolutionary to lift us forward. Yet I and others have shown that the very complications of generalized gauge freedom promise a potential salvation at least as powerful as the complications that confront us. The potential reward is enormous, a rewriting of perturbative quantum field theory to make these principles manifest and calculation natural, an ambitious but now realistic goal. The path forward is optimized through strategic calculations.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyobservational astronomygravitational waves
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physicsquantum field theory
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsgluons
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyastrophysicsblack holes
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsstring theory
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Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
75015 PARIS 15
France