Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London

Held at the new Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, this research programme aims to address the most fundamental questions of physics: What is the nature of space and time? How does one construct a quantum theory of gravity? What are the ultimate constituents of matter and its interaction? What is the origin of our Universe and the nature of its evolution? The research is organised around interlocking themes of string and M-theory, quantum field theory and cosmology, focussed into two closely connected science areas.
Finding a way of consistently combining Einstein's theory of General Relativity, which says that gravity arises from the curving of spacetime by matter,  with quantum mechanics is probably the greatest challenge of modern theoretical physics. To date, string theory, and its unification into M-theory, is the only candidate which we know to be consistent, and not only that but for which we can do concrete calculation. For good measure it also potentially unifies gravity with the other forces of nature, which are examples of a class of theories known as Yang--Mills theories. One of M-theory's most remarkable features is that it says that classes of  quantum Yang-Mills theories are equivalent to quantum gravity theories, under a subtle duality, leading to profound connections between black holes and quantum field theory and also to new insights into strong coupling phenomena such as quark confinement. These connections together with understanding the general structure of quantum gravity in M-theory will  play a central role in our research, explored in a number of different ways, including using supersymmetry, novel geometric constructions, new algebraic structures, localisation, "bootstrap" techniques and exactly integrable quantum field theory. An ultimate goal is to determine the fundamental degrees of freedom and dynamics of M-theory, which would have profound implications for understanding...