Research Topics

HECAP performs research in three main areas:

• Phenomenology of particle physics: bridges theoretical physics (such as quantum field theory and theories of the structure of spacetime) and experimental particle physics. Researchers in this area are exploring: neutrino phenomenology; astroparticle physics; phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and other high‐energy colliders; and flavor physics.

• Cosmology: the study of the large‐scale structure and the evolution of the universe has in the last few years entered a qualitatively new phase, driven by a host of experimental results. Topics being studied include clustering dark energy, non-gaussianity, and eternal inflation.

• String and higher dimensional theories: combines quantum mechanics and general relativity into a quantum theory of gravity that attempts to describe all the known natural forces and matter in a mathematically complete system. In string theory, the electrons and quarks inside an atom are vibrational modes of one‐dimensional extended objects, relativistic strings. ICTP's string theorists are exploring holographic QCD and holographic hydrodynamics; topological string theory; spin-2 particles; and the spectrum of a class of brane solutions in minimal gauged supergravity in six dimensions.