Quantum effects in gravity and exotic metals

Research Project, 2017 – 2020

The project concerns theoretical physics: analyses of quantum effects in gravity and in nearly superconducting metals. The behaviour of gravity on small scales, in combination with quantum physics, is the greatest unsolved mystery of physics today, and recent research has opened up an interface between quantum effects in gravity and metals, allowing for studies of both systems, and their similarities. It is therefore important both for our understanding of gravitational effects in the universe, and for research on what suppresses superconductivity in conductors.The project consists of theoretical studies of the physics of black holes and hydrodynamics though methods first developed within string theory, and here employed for the further development of the related quantum theories. It is to be carried out at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, USA, which is world leading within this type of research. Based on a set of questions relevant for analysis, and advice from faculty at the IAS, I will form and work within small collaborations at the IAS, which makes the choice of host institute crucial. The group has a great interest in the matters I will investigate, world leading researchers to give advice on the subject, and about twenty postdocs to form collaborations with. The investigations are split into separate questions to be addressed two or three in parallel, with a total of about nine analyses finalised within a period of three years.