SFB 676:  Particles, Strings and the Early Universe: The Structure of Matter and Space-Time

• Subject Area: Physics ; Mathematics
• Term: from 2006 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13245592

The Collaborative Research Centre centres around the interface of particle physics, string theory and cosmology. The particle physics experiments at the "Large Hadron Collider (LHC)" in Geneva will investigate the question about the nature of the elementary building blocks of matter and the mechanism responsible for their mass generation. Neutrino experiments will determine the properties (masses and mixing angles) of the neutrinos. This is of interest both for particle physics and cosmology. Cosmological observations, which are planned for the coming years will ask questions about the nature of dark matter, dark energy and the history of the early universe.
Various research groups are involved in the particle physics experiments and the cosmological observations. In parallel theoretical and mathematical investigations are carried out. In particular, (supersymmetric) extensions of the standard model of particle physics are in the focus of interest.
Such theories lead to interesting predictions for new particles and they also have a promising candidate for the dark matter. Aspects of cosmic leptogenesis and quantum field theoretic foundations of cosmology are additional research projects of the Collaborative Research Centre.
Theoretically, particle physics and cosmology are unified within string theory. The mathematical development of string theory and its application in particle physics and cosmology form a central research block of the Collaborative Research Centre. On the hand, the mathematical foundations of string theory are further developed, on the other hand, models of particle physics, which come out of string theory are investigated. The interplay of string theory and quantum-chromo-dynamics as well as the role of scalar fields in the physics of the early universe are further research projects.
In particular, the question of a possible unified theoretical framework such as string theory will be emphasised.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• International Connection: France, Italy

Completed projects

• A01 - Particle Physics from string compactifications (Project Heads Buchmüller, Wilfried ;  Louis, Jan )
• A02 - Time-dependent Backgrounds in String Theory (Project Heads Samtleben, Henning ;  Schomerus, Volker ;  Teschner, Jörg )
• A03 - QCD and String Theory (Project Heads Moch, Sven-Olaf ;  Schomerus, Volker )
• A04 - Mathematical Foundations of String Theory (Project Head Schweigert, Christoph )
• A06 - Mathematical Aspects of String Compactifications (Project Heads Cortés, Vicente ;  Louis, Jan )
• A08 - Integrability in two-dimensional conformal eld theory (Project Heads Runkel, Ingo ;  Teschner, Jörg )
• A09 - Loops and legs (Project Heads Boels, Rutger ;  Kniehl, Bernd A. )
• A10 - TQFT from and for 4d SUSY gauge theories (Project Heads Schweigert, Christoph ;  Teschner, Jörg )
• A11 - Integrable Deformations of the AdS5×S5 Superstring and their Dual Gauge Theories (Project Head Arutyunov, Gleb )
• B01 - Optimising the ILC setup: Physics programme, running scenarios and design choices (Project Heads List, Jenny ;  Moortgat-Pick, Gudrid )
• B02 - Boosted Topologies and Supersymmetry (Project Heads Schleper, Peter ;  Tackmann, Frank J. )
• B03 - Low-energy neutrino physics and astrophysics: theory, phenomenology and detection (Project Heads Hagner, Caren ;  Mirizzi, Alessandro )
• B04 - Unstable Quantum Fields and Higgs Vacuum (Project Head Kniehl, Bernd A. )
• B06 - Strong Interactions and New Physics at the LHC (Project Heads Bartels, Jochen ;  Klanner, Robert )
• B08 - Global SM + BSM Fits using results from the LHC and other Experiments (Project Heads Haller, Johannes ;  Weiglein, Georg )
• B09 - Probing the nature of Higgs physics and electroweak symmetry breaking with results from the LHC (Project Heads Schleper, Peter ;  Tackmann, Ph.D., Kerstin ;  Weiglein, Georg )
• B11 - Top-quark physics at the LHC (Project Heads Moch, Sven-Olaf ;  Reuter, Jürgen )
• C01 - Axions and Other Very Weakly Interacting Sub-eV Particles (Project Heads Horns, Dieter ;  Ringwald, Andreas )
• C02 - Dark Matter searches (Project Heads Brüggen, Ph.D., Marcus ;  Horns, Dieter )
• C03 - Leptogenesis and Dark Matter (Project Head Buchmüller, Wilfried )
• C04 - Astrophysical constraints on variability of fundamental constants (Project Head Reimers, Dieter )
• C05 - Type Ia supernovae and the dark energy (Project Head Hauschildt, Peter H. )
• C06 - Scalar fields in Cosmology: Inflation, Dark Matter and Dark Energy (Project Heads Louis, Jan ;  Westphal, Alexander )
• C07 - Thermodynamics of quantum elds in nonstationary spacetimes (Project Head Fredenhagen, Klaus )
• C08 - Propagation of Very High Energy Radiation in the Universe (Project Head Sigl, Günter )
• C09 - Cosmic Magnetic Fields and their role in High Energy Astrophysics (Project Heads Banerjee, Robi Stefan ;  Sigl, Günter )
• C10 - Cosmological implications of first-order phase transitions (Project Heads Konstandin, Thomas ;  Sigl, Günter )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) (Project Head Moortgat-Pick, Gudrid )
• Z - Central Tasks (Project Heads Haller, Johannes ;  Louis, Jan )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Johannes Haller, since 7/2016; Professor Dr. Jan Louis, until 6/2016