Supersymmetry to be Examined in Summer Program in Physics at Institute for Advanced Study

Participants in the 2009 Prospects in Theoretical Physics program, photo by Andrea Kane

From July 19 to 30, the Institute for Advanced Study will host Prospects in Theoretical Physics (PiTP), an intensive two-week summer program for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars that will focus on Aspects of Supersymmetry. Supersymmetry, a deep and important generalization of the concept of symmetry that has already proved to be very fruitful technique in theoretical physics as well as in mathematics, is expected to play an important role in the explanation of the cosmological mystery of dark matter and in the upcoming discoveries at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

This year’s program, designed as an advanced workshop for young physicists specializing in the field, aims to give a coherent overview of the fundamental theoretical aspects of the subject, emphasizing the common themes running throughout it, from the major advances made in the second string theory revolution of the 1990s to the most exciting recent developments. An introduction to the more phenomenological aspects of the field will also be given in parallel.
One of the Institute goals in offering PiTP, which this year has accepted more than 100 participants from some 16 countries, is to contribute to the training of the next generation of physicists. A special effort is made to involve women and minorities, along with graduate students in small universities who typically do not have the same opportunities and access to leaders in the field as graduate students in large research institutions.

“This unique program provides us each year with the privilege of working with the scientific leaders of tomorrow,” said Chiara Nappi, Professor of Physics at Princeton University, one of the program organizers.

First held at the Institute in 2002, Prospects in Theoretical Physics has, in past years, covered topics ranging from physics at the Large Hadron Collider, to astrophysics to phenomenology. The program builds upon the strong relationship between the research groups at the Institute and Princeton University.

Lecturers and organizers from the Institute for PiTP 2010 include Institute Faculty members Nima Arkani-Hamed, Juan Maldacena, Nathan Seiberg and Edward Witten, along with Member Davide Gaiotto. In addition to Nappi, other lecturers and organizers include Jon Bagger of Johns Hopkins University; Katrin Becker and Melanie Becker of Texas A&M University; Freddy Cachazo and Pedro Vieira of Perimeter Institute; Daniel Jafferis and Greg Moore of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and Igor Klebanov of Princeton University.

Prospects in Theoretical Physics 2010 is hosted by the Institute’s School of Natural Sciences. Additional information on the program may be found at www.ias.edu/pitp.