Financial Grant DN 18/1 (10.12.2017) by Bulgarian National Science Foundation (BNSF)
Project Title: Symmetries of the Fundamental Laws of Nature
Duration:
First term - 18 months (12 December 2017 - 12 June 2019)
Second term - 18 months (22 November 2019 - 22 June 2021)
Total amount approved: 120,000 BGN (61,300 Euro)
[initial transfer - 30,000 BGN]
Amount approved for the first term: 60,000 BGN (30,650 Euro)
Amount approved for the second term: 60,000 BGN (30,650 Euro)
Project Coordinators
Emil R. Nissimov - Professor (Emeritus since Feb. 2020), Dr. Sc. (Dr. Habil.), Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, nissimov@inrne.bas.bg
Nedialka I. Stoilova - Associate Professor, Dr. Sc. (Dr. Habil.), stoilova@inrne.bas.bg
DN_18-1 Grant Contract (Bulgarian)
Summary:
A symmetry in Physics is a principle of invariance. Symmetry principles play an important role with respect to the laws of nature. They summarize the regularities of the laws that are independent of the specific dynamics. Thus invariance principles provide a structure and coherence to the laws of nature.
All interactions among the basic building blocks in the Universe are governed by four fundamental forces: strong and weak nuclear forces on the level of elementary particles and atomic nuclei, gravity on astrophysical and cosmological scales (origin, structure and evolution of the Universe), and electromagnetism on all intermediate scales. The most basic unifying property of all fundamental forces is the principle of gauge invariance, which embodies a powerful synergetic symbiosis of modern theoretical physics with most modern branches of pure and applied mathematics, especially group theory.
Gravity claims a central role in physics. Essentially all challenges in astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics include gravity as a key ingredient, making it a subject of strong interdisciplinarity. On the other hand, (noncommutative) geometry is at the heart of quantum physics, and its many facets and developments have widely influenced both physics and mathematics. In particular, (noncommutative) geometry is closely related to a quantum theory of gravity and a possibly unified perspective on the fundamental forces of Nature.
The synthesis of the results of the comprehensive studies in modern theories of gravity and cosmology, extending by far the classical Einstein theory of general relativity, as well as the advance in modern fundamental mathematics, offer exciting opportunities and scientific prospects to answer some of the most pressing issues in our understanding of the cosmos and the laws of Nature:
(i) acquiring new knowledge about the structure and behavior of matter at ultra-microscopic and galactic distances;
(ii) contributing to a solution of the most challenging "mysteries" and cardinal problems of modern physics with a global conceptual significance - "supersymmetry", "extra space-time dimensions", black holes and "wormholes", "dark matter" and "dark energy" in the universe.
The project is interdisciplinary (theoretical physics and modern mathematics) and it is thematically connected with a number of prestigious international projects, incl. several with European funding (COST actions). The project involves young specialists and is aimed at contributing to the preparation of highly qualified specialists for professional realization in such important innovative fields of science as studies of gravitational waves and the emerging radically novel gravitational-wave astronomy.
We plan to setup up working groups in close collaboration: (1) Extended gravity and quantum cosmology; (2) String theory and gauge-gravity duality; (3) Mathematical aspects - group-theoretic, algebraic and geometric approaches to quantum field theory and quantum mechanical aspects of generalized gravitational theories.
Links to various documents of the project:
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