Principal Investigator Hong Liu
Co-investigators Barton Zwiebach , Washington Taylor , Daniel Freedman , Allan Wilfred Adams III
Project Website http://ctp.lns.mit.edu/research-strings.html
String theory (and its alter ego M-theory) is currently the most viable candidate for a unified theory of physics which describes all forces of nature, encompassing the physics of gravity as well as quantum field theory. MIT is a main center of research in string theory, with five faculty members and numerous postdocs and graduate students working in this area.
Work on string theory at MIT is currently focused in several different directions. Dan Freedman (math/physics) is currently working on aspects of the AdS/CFT correspondence, which can be used to derive quantitative non-perturbative information about gauge field theories using gravity and string theory. Ami Hanany has been using brane constructions in string theory to describe field theories like QCD and to study stringy phenomena using non-perturbartive gauge theory dynamics.
Hong Liu is working on string theory in time-dependent backgrounds, holography, and the AdS/CFT correspondence. Washington Taylor is working on nonperturbative formulations of string theory, including M(atrix) theory and string field theory, and on applications of string theory to cosmology. Barton Zwiebach is working on tachyon condensation and string field theory, and he has recently written an undergraduate textbook on string theory.
The string group in the CTP interacts broadly with the other groups within the CTP, and with the astrophysics group in the physics department. Faculty in other departments working in string-related areas include *Isadore Singer* (math).