Project description
A novel mathematical framework could lead to profound understanding of the universe
As Albert Einstein noted, the more we learn, the more we discover how little we know. Increasing insight continuously points to what is missing, as demonstrated in the long-standing predictions for what would fill the Periodic Table. Science, founded on curiosity, creates the tools to explain what has been there all along, in contrast to engineering which creates something new from this. The ERC-funded UNIVERSE PLUS aims to discover/create a new mathematical foundation revealing a hidden world of ideas beyond quantum mechanics and spacetime. Specifically, the project will lay the foundations for positive geometry, a new mathematical framework for describing the laws of physics.
Objective
There are strong indications from physics at both infinitesimal and cosmic distances that our current understanding of the laws of nature is only approximate, and must be replaced by deeper principles. The UNIVERSE+ project seeks a new foundation for fundamental physics, ranging from elementary particles to the Big Bang, revealing a hidden world of ideas beyond quantum mechanics and spacetime. Novel geometric objects recently discovered in theoretical physics hint at new mathematical structures. Combinatorics, algebra and geometry have been connected to particle physics and cosmology in an entirely unexpected way. Leveraging these advances, we will launch the field of Positive Geometry, as a new mathematical framework for describing the laws of physics. To this end, we bring together the necessary expertise in particle physics (Arkani-Hamed, Henn), cosmology (Baumann) and mathematics (Sturmfels). This is the first collaboration of its kind, made possible by a recent confluence of critical insights in both mathematics and physics, which are now so closely aligned as to propel us forward on a clear trajectory. Our goals are fiercely ambitious: we aim to create a new mathematical language for describing physical phenomena at all scales, from the interactions of elementary particles to the large-scale structure of the universe.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyphysical cosmologybig bang
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsgeometry
- natural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsdiscrete mathematicscombinatorics
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy GrantsHost institution
80539 Munchen
Germany