UC Davis
High Energy Frontier
Theory Initiative

The faculty, postdocs, and students of the High Energy Physics theory group engage in a wide variety of research aimed at understanding the most fundamental building blocks of nature. Our research interests include supersymmetry, supergravity, quantum gravity, general relativity, extra space-time dimensions, particle dark matter, high-energy scattering theory, lattice QCD, and phenomenological implications of string theory. Specific interests of each faculty member can be found on the group members page. Visitors should find some helpful information on the our Visitor Information page. Current faculty and postdoc openings are listed in the Open Positions

Seminars and Workshops

We have particle and cosmology theory seminars on Mondays, phenomenological seminars on Tuesdays, and LHC discussions at lunch on Wednesdays. The detailed schedule can be found on our calendar, while a summary of upcoming events and slides from recent talks can be found in the seminar archive. There is a mailing list for seminar announcements that you can subscribe to.

We have also been hosting a series of topical workshops that focus on discussion and interaction rather than formal presentations.

Public Lectures

Part of the mission of the HEFTI initiative is to bring the excitement of the field to the general public. We sponsor public lectures where we bring in the best-known and most dynamic lecturers in the field. Past lecturers include such luminaries as Lisa Randall, Leonard Susskind, and Nobel Prize Winner David Gross.

News

Sean Carroll: “The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time

Sean Carroll will give a lecture on “The Origin of the Universe and the Arrow of Time” on Wed., May 22 7:30 pm, at the UC Davis Conference Center.

One of the most obvious facts about the universe is that the past is different from the future. We can remember yesterday, but not tomorrow; we can turn an egg into an omelet, but can’t turn an omelet into an egg. That’s the arrow of time, which is consistent throughout the observable universe. The arrow can be explained by assuming that the very early universe was extremely orderly, and disorder has been increasing ever since. But why did the universe start out so orderly? I will talk about the nature of time, the origin of entropy, and how what happened before the Big Bang may be responsible for the arrow of time we observe today. Advance tickets available.

More news...

Particle Physics

Particle physics and gravity are subjects filled with unanswered questions, making it an interesting and challenging field of research. A good introduction to many of the basic questions that we study is found at The Particle Adventure.

Much of our work involves close collaboration with theorists and experimentalists at leading particle physics institutions throughout the world, including LBL in Berkeley, California, SLAC at Stanford University, CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and Fermilab near Chicago, Illinois.

More About HEFTI

We have just completed a major expansion of the theory effort within the framework of the High Energy Frontier Theory Initiative (HEFTI). Following the recommendations of an external committee composed of Howard Haber, Joe Lykken (Chair) and Pierre Ramond, this expansion focused on the theory and phenomenology of strings, branes and extra dimensions and led to the hiring of three new faculty members: John Terning, Hsin-Chia Cheng and Markus Luty (in chronological order). Details of the program and the committee's recommendations can be found here . The other members of the high energy group are: Steve Carlip, John Gunion, Nemanja Kaloper and Joe Kiskis.