M TheoryCoordinators: S. Giddings, S. Kachru, E. SilversteinJanuary 29, 2001 - June 29, 2001Primary consideration deadline for applications has passed (December 31, 1969) |
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It has been clear for some time that string theory is a very promising candidate for a unified description
of the fundamental interactions, including quantum
gravity. Recent developments in the study of string
theory have made it clear that underlying the
various perturbative theories is a single, mysterious
framework that has come to be known as
"M-theory." The simplest Poincare invariant vacuum
of M-theory is eleven-dimensional flat space, while
various simple compactifications on circles, tori or
intervals give rise to the 10-dimensional
perturbative string theories. The M-theory picture
unifies an intricate web of dualities that connect the
various perturbative strings and their
compactifications.
However, answers to many of the most basic questions about M-theory remain elusive. On the one hand, we have little idea how to formulate the theory in general backgrounds. Remarkably, two approaches which formulate the gravitational physics of M-theory in terms of "dual" gauge field theories(without gravity) have appeared. The Matrix theory formulation, and more recently AdS/CFT duality, have given us ways of formulating the theory in some very simple backgrounds with a high degree of symmetry. However, they both have important limitations. In both approaches it has proven very difficult to study compactifications of the theory to the physically interesting case of 4 astronomically large spacetime dimensions, and the latter approach is only natural in asymptotically Anti-de Sitter spacetimes. It is clear that a more unified and background independent formulation of M-theory would be an important step forward./// On the other hand, it is also important to ask how our ideas about low energy physics are influenced by the recent developments. D-branes, novel conformal field theories, and other concepts which are important in formulations of the theory are also important new tools for low energy physics. For instance, one can use D-branes to study "brane world" scenarios whose phenomenology is different in many ways from traditional heterotic string phenomenology. Similarly, the novel conformal field theories used in AdS/CFT duality can also appear in the moduli spaces of string compactifications, and can play an important role(by mediating phase transitions) in alleviating the vacuum degeneracy problem. An important and ill-understood link between the high energy physics of microscopic formulations and observable low energy physics is provided by the hierarchy problems(the ratio of M_w to M_pl and the smallness of the cosmological constant Lambda). Finally, dualities have given us increasing leverage on the thorny problems of black holes, though still have yet to solve them. Work toward understanding the correct way of formulating M-theory may lead to progress in solving these problems, and recent years have seen several suggestions in this direction. The "M-theory" workshop will focus on both finding new formulations of the theory, and on exploring the rich consequences developments in string and M-theory might have for other branches of physics. |
