The international conference on string theory, Strings 2015, drew to a close with a public outreach programme held in the Christ University auditorium.
Presentations by Nima Arkani-Hamed, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and Ashoke Sen, Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, attracted a range of questions from the audience largely consisting of students.
“The ‘Next Steps’ needed will likely be revolutionary,” said Prof. Arkani Hamed, referring to the questions facing string theory.
ADVERTISEMENT
Students posed questions about the Higgs boson and the multiverse. “To me, the most exciting thing about the discovery of the Higgs particle is that its existence was predicted fifty years before its discovery through experiment. This explains the power of theoretical reasoning. In string theory, we are essentially following in the same steps,” said Dr. Sen.
Three popular level talks followed the interactive session with students. The formal sessions of the conference ended on Friday with a special session to celebrate 100 years of the General Theory of Relativity in which Nobel laureate David Gross gave a talk on the Enduring Legacy of Albert Einstein.
This was followed by four more talks.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The talks addressed several issues – fundamental questions in cosmology, signatures of string theory in the sky, review and future prospects of particle physics. There was Edward Witten’s fascinating talk on anomalies with possible applications to condensed matter systems. The gong show and poster sessions had younger participants showing great potential,” said Spenta Wadia, Director, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru.