Quantum and Geometric Aspects of Gauge Theories, Supergravity and String Theory. A central problem of modern high-energy physics is the unification of gravity with the other fundamental interactions that is consistent at the quantum level. Led by a team of internationally recognized experts, this project will yield breakthroughs in supergravity and string theory - crucial ingredients of current approaches to unification. As well as putting Australia at the forefront of this mainstream activity, ....Quantum and Geometric Aspects of Gauge Theories, Supergravity and String Theory. A central problem of modern high-energy physics is the unification of gravity with the other fundamental interactions that is consistent at the quantum level. Led by a team of internationally recognized experts, this project will yield breakthroughs in supergravity and string theory - crucial ingredients of current approaches to unification. As well as putting Australia at the forefront of this mainstream activity, a fertile environment will be provided for the training of graduate students. They will be ideally placed to lead Australia's involvement in the revolution sparked by the expected experimental confirmation of supersymmetry with the Large Hadron Collider. Read moreRead less
Progress in Supersymmetry and Supergravity: Continuing Einstein's Legacy. 2005 is the International Year of Physics in recognition of Einstein's revolutionary contributions. His unfinished quest for a unified description of Nature has become the hottest topic in modern physics. Led by a team of internationally recognized experts, this project will yield breakthroughs in supersymmetry and supergravity - crucial ingredients of current approaches to unification. As well as putting Australia at the ....Progress in Supersymmetry and Supergravity: Continuing Einstein's Legacy. 2005 is the International Year of Physics in recognition of Einstein's revolutionary contributions. His unfinished quest for a unified description of Nature has become the hottest topic in modern physics. Led by a team of internationally recognized experts, this project will yield breakthroughs in supersymmetry and supergravity - crucial ingredients of current approaches to unification. As well as putting Australia at the forefront of this mainstream activity, a fertile environment will be provided for the training of graduate students. They will be ideally placed to lead Australia's involvement in the revolution sparked by the expected experimental confirmation of supersymmetry with the next generation of particle accelerators.Read moreRead less
Low Energy Effective Actions in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories. The quest for a unified quantum theory of all the fundamental interactions of Nature, including gravity, is a major goal of modern physics. Superstring theory is at present the only plausible candidate. This theory makes nontrivial predictions (non-renormalization theorems) about the low energy structure of certain supersymmetric gauge theories (the Standard Model of particle physics is a special gauge theory). This project will deve ....Low Energy Effective Actions in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories. The quest for a unified quantum theory of all the fundamental interactions of Nature, including gravity, is a major goal of modern physics. Superstring theory is at present the only plausible candidate. This theory makes nontrivial predictions (non-renormalization theorems) about the low energy structure of certain supersymmetric gauge theories (the Standard Model of particle physics is a special gauge theory). This project will develop new tools for the computation of low energy effective actions, which will then be used for a detailed analysis of the non-renormalization theorems governing the low energy dynamics of supersymmetric gauge theories. This research is at the forefront of modern particle physics.Read moreRead less
The stability of unsteady fluid flows in channels and pipes. The main benefit from this project will be a better theoretical understanding of the stability properties of unsteady fluid flows. The theoretical results obtained would help guide future experimental
investigations into the paths to turbulence in unsteady flows and would be a basis for future research in the increasingly important area of flow stability control. The project will also provide advanced training and skills transfer in a ....The stability of unsteady fluid flows in channels and pipes. The main benefit from this project will be a better theoretical understanding of the stability properties of unsteady fluid flows. The theoretical results obtained would help guide future experimental
investigations into the paths to turbulence in unsteady flows and would be a basis for future research in the increasingly important area of flow stability control. The project will also provide advanced training and skills transfer in an important area of fluid mechanics research.
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Magnetic Nanostructures for Emerging Technologies: Experimental and Theoretical studies. This project enables collaborations between Australian and European groups in an important and expanding area at the forefront of technology, and facilitates access to state of the art resources in laboratories in Austria and Spain. It carries across knowledge in synchrotron techniques just at the right time, just before the Australian synchrotron goes on line in 2008, allowing time to deepen expertise and t ....Magnetic Nanostructures for Emerging Technologies: Experimental and Theoretical studies. This project enables collaborations between Australian and European groups in an important and expanding area at the forefront of technology, and facilitates access to state of the art resources in laboratories in Austria and Spain. It carries across knowledge in synchrotron techniques just at the right time, just before the Australian synchrotron goes on line in 2008, allowing time to deepen expertise and to obtain specific knowledge. It will help establish a new effort at the University of Western Australia concentrated on developing advanced materials for technology. We will make important contributions to an internationally important area and offer high quality interdisciplinary research training in magnetic nanomaterials science.Read moreRead less
Spin-dependent interactions: a fundamental basis for spin-electronics. This project will establish a comprehensive understanding of spin-dependent interactions and correlated behaviour of multi-electron systems that are responsible for spin-relaxation, spin transport and spin coherence in spin-electronic devices. Our approach is based on the spin-resolved two-electron coincidence spectroscopy that is inherently suited for studying electronic correlations. Systematic investigations of spin-depend ....Spin-dependent interactions: a fundamental basis for spin-electronics. This project will establish a comprehensive understanding of spin-dependent interactions and correlated behaviour of multi-electron systems that are responsible for spin-relaxation, spin transport and spin coherence in spin-electronic devices. Our approach is based on the spin-resolved two-electron coincidence spectroscopy that is inherently suited for studying electronic correlations. Systematic investigations of spin-dependent interactions in atoms, molecules and ultrathin films will increase understanding of magnetic (spin) properties of artificially structured materials with reduced dimensionality for the benefit of nanotechnology. This understanding will be used to design and control, at the quantum mechanical level, the building blocks of spin-electronic devices.Read moreRead less
Measurement of the spatial distribution of temperature and velocity in lakes using Acoustic Tomography. This project will investigate the use of acoustic tomography in lakes to continuously measure the lake-wide distribution of temperature and velocity. The challenges with lake acoustic tomography are the accuracy required in the travel time measurements over shorter distances, acoustic losses due to reflections and ensuring enough rays travel through the thermocline, the region of greatest inte ....Measurement of the spatial distribution of temperature and velocity in lakes using Acoustic Tomography. This project will investigate the use of acoustic tomography in lakes to continuously measure the lake-wide distribution of temperature and velocity. The challenges with lake acoustic tomography are the accuracy required in the travel time measurements over shorter distances, acoustic losses due to reflections and ensuring enough rays travel through the thermocline, the region of greatest interest in lakes. A pilot experiment in a deep lake will investigate the quality of travel time measurements computed from rays travelling through the thermocline of a strongly stratified lake. This has wide applications for the water quality management of lakes and reservoirs.Read moreRead less
Acoustic observation of Antarctic ice rifting and calving events using remote hydroacoustic listening stations. The calving activity of the Antarctic ice shelves is one of the major indicators of global climate change. Global warming induced by an increase in atmospheric CO2 will affect the Antarctic Ice Sheet, primarily in form of disintegration of the Antarctic ice shelves surrounding the continent. The processes of calving on the ice shelves may lead to a substantial increase of sea level aro ....Acoustic observation of Antarctic ice rifting and calving events using remote hydroacoustic listening stations. The calving activity of the Antarctic ice shelves is one of the major indicators of global climate change. Global warming induced by an increase in atmospheric CO2 will affect the Antarctic Ice Sheet, primarily in form of disintegration of the Antarctic ice shelves surrounding the continent. The processes of calving on the ice shelves may lead to a substantial increase of sea level around the world, with devastating effects on the continental coasts and low-lying islands. The method of remote acoustic observations investigated in this project is a new approach to the problem of creating an efficient and cost effective system to monitor rifting and calving of the Antarctic ice shelves. Read moreRead less
Advances in Conformal Field Theory with Extended Symmetry. This project aims to develop novel methods to formulate conformal field theories with extended symmetry that are important in variety of applications ranging from pure mathematics to phenomenology of elementary particles. The project expects to advance our knowledge in the most challenging areas of modern theoretical physics - Quantum Gravity and physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Its expected outcomes will include co ....Advances in Conformal Field Theory with Extended Symmetry. This project aims to develop novel methods to formulate conformal field theories with extended symmetry that are important in variety of applications ranging from pure mathematics to phenomenology of elementary particles. The project expects to advance our knowledge in the most challenging areas of modern theoretical physics - Quantum Gravity and physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Its expected outcomes will include conceptual results of major significance for modern theoretical and mathematical physics, thus placing Australia at the forefront of this research. A rich intellectual environment will be provided for training Australian PhD students by internationally recognised experts.
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Novel Conformal Techniques in Quantum Field Theory, Gravity and Supergravity. Conformal symmetry is the maximal spacetime symmetry in relativistic quantum theory. This project will explore the dynamics of those quantum field theories and matter-coupled gravity theories that possess conformal symmetry and have recently been the focus of enormous interest worldwide. Its scientific outcomes will include a deeper understanding of Wilson loops in Yang-Mills theories, scattering amplitudes in conforma ....Novel Conformal Techniques in Quantum Field Theory, Gravity and Supergravity. Conformal symmetry is the maximal spacetime symmetry in relativistic quantum theory. This project will explore the dynamics of those quantum field theories and matter-coupled gravity theories that possess conformal symmetry and have recently been the focus of enormous interest worldwide. Its scientific outcomes will include a deeper understanding of Wilson loops in Yang-Mills theories, scattering amplitudes in conformal gravity and supergravity as well as other conceptual results of major importance to modern mathematical physics, thus placing Australia at the forefront of this research. A rich intellectual environment will be provided for training of Australian PhD students by internationally recognised experts. Read moreRead less