Massimo Porrati
New York University, NY·Physics
Two theories describe nature at its most basic level. Relativistic quantum field theory covers elementary particles and the forces between them.
- Fields
Physics
Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Topics
theoretical physics
quantum field theory
general relativity
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Develop new methods for defining quantities that separate signal from noise in gravitational-wave data.
- Extend a recent method for building physical observables in gauge theories and gravity, which may be needed to properly define local qubits (quantum bits) in a gravitational system.
- Investigate new cosmological scenarios for the origin of the universe's matter-antimatter asymmetry.
More about the research
General relativity covers gravity and the universe as a whole. Even within these theories, it can be surprisingly hard to define exactly what can be measured, for example at a particle collider or a gravitational-wave detector. This shared theory grant, held with Sergei Dubovsky, aims to find new mathematical descriptions of particle interactions and sound definitions of observable quantities. The results could also supply tools for quantum information theory.
Why it matters
This is basic theoretical physics. It aims to give clearer definitions of what can be measured at particle colliders and gravitational-wave detectors, and to help explain why the universe holds more matter than antimatter. Better definitions of gravitational-wave signals and of local quantum bits in gravity could eventually inform data interpretation and quantum information theory.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Hitoshi Murayama
University of California-Berkeley, CA·Physics
Study non-perturbative dynamics of strongly coupled gauge theories, forces too strong for standard approximations, using exact supersymmetric solutions combined with anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking.
Andrea Shindler
University of California-Berkeley, CA·Physics
Calculate the electric dipole moments of protons and neutrons induced by theories beyond the Standard Model, to probe the source of the universe's matter-antimatter asymmetry.
Igor Klebanov
Princeton University, NJ·Physics
Develop new methods for quantum field theories with defects or boundaries, where interactions are confined to a surface or edge, and identify the new critical phenomena and renormalization group flows they produce.
The school
New York University: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 540 research doctorates a year.
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