Theoretical Physics

This is a renewal award for the support of the High-Energy Theory group at the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP) at SUNY Stony Brook. Professors covered under this award are Maria (Concha) Gonzalez-Garcia, Martin Rocek, Robert Shrock, Warren Siegel, and George Sterman. Collectively, this group conducts research in a variety of areas in theoretical physics, including the phenomenology of high-energy colliders, extensions of the Standard Model, electroweak symmetry breaking, neutrino and astroparticle physics, leptogenesis, superstrings, the geometry of supersymmetric gauge theories, quantum chromodynamics and field/string dualities. As such, their work is both phenomenological and formal; likewise, their phenomenological work involves both electroweak physics and strong-interaction physics. Together, they are proposing to tackle some of the outstanding questions in these disciplines, many of which will have direct relevance for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The broader impacts of this research include advancing our knowledge of the laws of Nature and contributing toward a better understanding of the physical universe. The research outlined in this proposal will also serve in the training of graduate students and mentoring of postdoctoral fellows. The faculty to be supported under this proposal also plan outreach efforts to reach a broader public, and indeed one of the faculty members supported by this grant organizes a major summer school in string theory each year.