The two main goals of current work in fundamental physics are (i) to find a quantum theory of gravity that avoids the inconsistencies that arise from trying to reconcile Einstein's theory with quantum mechanics, and (ii) to find a unified theory of all the forces and particles of nature. Superstring theory provides a very promising candidate for a theory that could achieve both of these aims simultaneously. Recent discoveries have revealed that all five superstring theories arise as sectors of a single all-encompassing structure, which has come to be known as "M-theory". Much has been learned about those special sectors of M-theory which can be described by string theories or supergravity theories, and of the remarkable duality symmetries that relate such sectors, but much of M-theory remains a mystery. We have as yet no definition or formulation of the theory, and do not even know what the fundamental degrees of freedom should be. It seems likely that our notions of space and time will have to be modified, bringing in new mathematical structures such as non-commutative geometry, which has recently been shown to play an important role. An important clue has been found in the recent discovery that M-theory, at least in certain backgrounds, has a "holographic" description in terms of a simple non-gravitational gauge theory or matrix theory.
The principal aim of the programme is to investigate the structure of M-theory, with an aim of seeking its fundamental formulation. The main themes to be explored include:
At the end of the Newton programme, the annual international conference in M/string theory will be held in Cambridge, 15-20 July; for information on Strings 2002, see www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/strings2002/
Click here to download the programme's final scientific report
Title | Year | Programme | |
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Stringy negative-tension branes and the second law of thermodynamicsAuthors: Simon Ross, D Marolf |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
M-Theory solutions with AdS factorsAuthors: JP Gauntlett, Nakwoo Kim, Stathis Pakis, ET Al |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Effective supergravity for supergravity domain wallsAuthors: ND Lambert, M Cvetic |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Phenomenology of a three-family standard-like string modelAuthors: P Langacker, G Shiu, M Cvetic |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
A three-family standard-like orientifold model: Yukawa couplings and hierarchyAuthors: P Langacker, G Shiu, M Cvetic |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Asymptotic symmetries of AdS$_2$ BranesAuthors: C Bachas |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
T-duality, and the K-theoretic partition function of type IIA superstring theoryAuthors: Natalia Saulina, Greg Moore |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Strings in time-dependent orbifoldsAuthors: Greg Moore, N Seiberg, H Liu |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Special holonomy spaces and M-TheoryAuthors: GW Gibbons, M Cvetic, ET Al, H Lu |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Singularity resolution and gravitational Chern-Simons termsAuthors: M Cvetic, FA Brito, A Naqvi |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Bianchi IX self-dual Einstein metrics and singular G$_2$ ManifoldsAuthors: ET Al, GW Gibbons, M Cvetic, H Lu |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
Kappa-symmetric non-abelian Born-Infeld actions in three dimensionsAuthors: Ulf Lindstrom, PS Howe, JM Drummond |
2001 | MTH | 21 October 2016 |
11 February 2002 to 15 February 2002
24 March 2002 to 20 April 2002
Wednesday 6th February 2002 | |||
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11:30 to 12:30 |
Ofer Aharony University of California, Irvine and Weizmann Institute of Science |
Room 1 |
Thursday 7th February 2002 | |||
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14:00 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 19th February 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Wednesday 20th February 2002 | |||
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17:00 to 17:30 | Room 1 |
Thursday 21st February 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 |
Antoine Van Proeyen |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 26th February 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Thursday 28th February 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Wednesday 6th March 2002 | |||
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11:30 to 12:30 | Room 1 |
Thursday 7th March 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 12th March 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 |
Domain walls in nine dimensions and their ten dimensional origin |
Room 1 |
Thursday 14th March 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 |
Marcos Marino |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 19th March 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 |
Petr Horava University of California |
Room 1 |
Thursday 21st March 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 23rd April 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 |
Piljin Yi |
Room 1 |
Thursday 25th April 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 30th April 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Thursday 2nd May 2002 | |||
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11:00 to 12:30 | Room 1 | ||
14:15 to 15:30 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 7th May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Christopher Pope Texas A&M University |
Room 1 |
Thursday 9th May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Murat Gunaydin |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 14th May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Paul Aspinwall Duke University |
Room 1 |
Thursday 16th May 2002 | |||
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11:30 to 12:30 |
Paul Aspinwall Duke University |
Room 1 | |
14:15 to 15:15 |
Standard model and GUT's from orientifolds and $G_2$ holonomy |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 21st May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Amanda Peet University of Toronto |
Room 1 |
Thursday 23rd May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Washington Taylor Acclarogen Limited |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 28th May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Dan Freedman Acclarogen Limited |
Room 1 |
Thursday 30th May 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Wednesday 5th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Thursday 6th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Toric duality, Seiberg duality and Picard-Lefshetz transformations |
Room 1 |
Friday 7th June 2002 | |||
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15:00 to 16:00 |
Paolo Di Vecchia NORDITA |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 11th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Thursday 13th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 18th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Thursday 20th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Thomas Banks |
Room 1 |
Tuesday 25th June 2002 | |||
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15:30 to 16:30 | Room 2 |
Thursday 27th June 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Ashoke Sen Harish-Chandra Research Institute |
Room 2 |
Wednesday 3rd July 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Nikita Nekrasov IHES |
Room 2 |
Thursday 4th July 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 | Room 1 |
Tuesday 9th July 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Steve Giddings |
Room 1 |
Wednesday 10th July 2002 | |||
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14:15 to 15:15 |
Juan Maldacena Harvard University |
Room 1 |
Thursday 11th July 2002 | |||
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16:30 to 17:30 |
Juan Maldacena Harvard University |
Room 1 |
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