RTN European Program MRTN-CT-2004-503369 (from Oct. 2004 to Sept. 2008)

The Quest For Unification: Theory Confronts Experiment

Project overview :

The purpose of the present project is to conduct research on both theoretical and phenomenological aspects on the physics of fundamental forces among elementary particles. The basic issues are: (i) to probe the physics of strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions beyond the current theory (Standard Model) which describes them accurately up to distances of the order of 10^{-15} cm; (ii) to unify their quantum description together with the gravitational force. The directions of research are strongly motivated by the large amount of experimental data expected during the next years, and by the prospect of important progress in several areas of theoretical physics.
The main objectives of the network research are: (a) the origin of mass; quark, charged lepton and neutrino masses and mixing; (b) supersymmetric phenomenology; (c) particle astrophysics and cosmology; (d) string phenomenology; (e) extra dimensions, Kaluza Klein phenomenology and gravity modifications; (f) dualities and non-perturbative effects. The participating teams have already played a leading role across the whole spectrum of the physics involved, from theoretical aspects of string theory to phenomenological analysis of the relevant experimental data. They have a long history of collaborations, which the present network plans to coordinate and further strengthen, taking profit of their expertise and the complementarity of their views and approaches. In this way, the project intends to provide stimulus to the ongoing European experimental programs in high energy physics. (For more information, see the program of our work.)

Description of partnership

All the research teams in the network have been already involved in joint research in the past and their members have co-authored a large number of publications. Five of the participating institutes (Greece, Madrid, Oxford, Paris, Trieste) collaborated in the preceding SCIENCE EU programme (contract no. SC1*-CT92-0792) on string phenomenology. Most of the others were part of the Human Capital and Mobility network (contract no. CHRX-CT93-0132) on flavour dynamics. The majority of the teams participated also in the FP4 Training and Mobility of Researchers network (contract no. ERBFMRX-CT96-0090) on Physics Beyond the Standard Model, and in the FP5 Improving Human Potential network (contract no. HPRN-CT-2000-00148) on Physics Across the Present Energy Frontier. Finally, members of the network started an annual international conference circulated among locations of the participating nodes on ``Physics from Planck to Electroweak Scale" (Warsaw 98, Bonn 99, Il Ciocco 00, La Londe 01, Kazimierz 02, Madrid 03, Bad Honnef 04, Trieste 05, Paris 06, Warsaw 07).

Centre de Physique Théorique, Ecole Polytechnique, FRANCE.
Extended team with: APC, LPTHE, LPTENS, USA teams (Berkeley and Stanford).
Service de Physique Théorique, CEA, CNRS, Centre de Saclay, FRANCE.
Physikaliches Institut, Universität Bonn, GERMANY.
Extended team with: University of Hamburg.
Physics Division, School of Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GREECE.
Extented team with: University of Ioannina, Technical University of Athens.
INFN, Universities of Rome-1 and Rome-2, Scuola Normale di Pisa, and University of Padua, ITALY.
Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Trieste, ITALY.
Subcontractor: ICTP.
Centro de Física das Interacções Fundamentais, Departamento de Física, Lisbon, PORTUGAL.
Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, SPAIN.
Astroparticle and High Energy Group, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Universitat de Valencia, SPAIN.
Department of Physics, Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, UNITED KINGDOM.
Extended team with: Universities of Cambridge, Durham, Glasgow, Lancaster, Sheffield, Southampton and Sussex.
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Uniwersytet Warszawski, POLAND.
Theory Division , CERN, SWITZERLAND.

Coordination :

Ignatios ANTONIADIS

Theory Division,
CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, SWITZERLAND,
Tel 41-22 767 3201
Fax 41-22 767 3800,
Ignatios.Antoniadis@cern.ch

and

Centre de Physique Théorique,
Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau cedex, FRANCE,
Tel 33-1 69 33 47 28
Fax 33-1 69 33 30 08,
antoniadis@cpht.polytechnique.fr

Scientists in charge in the participating institutes:

I. Antoniadis - CPHT, Ecole Polytechnique (France)
C. A. Savoy - CEA (France), CNRS
H.-P. Nilles - Universität Bonn (Germany)
G. Lazarides - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
F. Zwirner - INFN (Italy)
D. Amati - SISSA (Italy)
J. C. Romão - I.S.T. Lisbon (Portugal)
L. Ibáñez - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
J. W. F. Valle - University of Valencia (Spain)
G. G. Ross - University of Oxford (UK)
M. Olechowski - University of Warsaw (Poland)
C. Grojean, Theory Division, CERN (Switzerland)

Postdoctoral (and PhD) Positions

Our network has a total of 29 postdoc-years available (as well as 3 PhD-years at Oxford), to be used in the academic four years of the contract. They are usually given for 2 years and the salary depends on the place of appointment.

Rules for the appointment of postdocs:

The European commission has the following rules for the appointments of postdocs :

Postdocs are defined as researchers who have at the time of the appointment a doctoral degree or a (full-time equivalent) research experience of 4-10 years since obtaining the diploma which gives them direct access to doctoral studies in the country in which the diploma was obtained.
Eligible researchers will be i) "nationals" of the Member States or the Associated States and/or ii) "nationals" of third countries.
Researchers must be "nationals" of a State other than of the host institute. At the start of their postdoc position, researchers may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in the country of their host institute for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediatly prior to the selection of the researcher by the host institute.
In the case of a national holding more than one nationality, he/she will be eligible in the country of his/her nationality in which he/she has not resided during the previous 5 years. (Short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.)
Non-nationals from Member Sates or Associated States having resided and having their main activity (work,studies) for at least 4 of the 5 years (mesured at the time of selection by the host institute) in Member States or Associated States are treated as to "nationals" of the Member/Associated State in which they have resided the longest.
The 25 Member States of the European Union are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Currently, the following countries are Associated (some of the agreements have yet to be ratified) :
- Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.
- 3 candidate coutries : Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey.

A maximum of 30% of the number of funded postdoc-months of the network can be used for third country researchers.

Meetings

The inaugural meeting of the network has taken place at CERN, 6-8 December, 2004.
The conference, Planck 05 has taken place in Trieste, 23-28 May, 2005.
The August 2005 session of the Les Houches Summer School in Theoretical Physics has been devoted to Particle Physics beyond the Standard Model.
A meeting as taken place in Corfu, Greece, in the period September 12-17, 2005.
A workshop has been organized in Madrid, Spain, in December 12 and 13 and followed by 3 additional days for a Christmas workshop, 14-16, 2005.
The conference Planck 06 has taken place in Paris, 29 May-2 June May, 2006.
The Pisa node has hosted the mid-term meeting of our network in November 22-25, 2006.
The conference Planck 07 has taken place in Warsaw, 9-13 June, 2007.
The next conference, Planck 08 will take place in Barcelona, 19-24 May, 2007.

Reports

The first year activity report is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications and network meetings.
The second year activity report is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications, network meetings and conferencies attended.
The mid-term activity report summarizes the two first years of activities. It is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications and network meetings.
The third year activity report is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications and network meetings.
The fourth year activity report is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications, network meetings and conferencies attended.
The final activity report summarizes the four years of activities. It is completed by the lists of scientific highligts, publications and network meetings.

Links to other networks working in the same area

Constituents, fundamental forces and symmetries of the universe. (Nov. 04 - Oct. 08)
Superstrings theory. (Jan. 05 - Dec. 08)

visitors.