What are the basic building blocks of Nature? What forces hold them together? These questions are at the heart of elementary particle physics. Theoretical physicists study and explore how to describe elementary particles and their interactions. There are several concrete hints that tell us that we currently know only part of the puzzle.
In order to explore what pieces are missing, and to get hints for completing the picture, it is paramount to get clues from experimental observations. The scientific approach is to compare experimental data to theoretical predictions. Obtaining the latter requires understanding of quantum field theory, which underpins the model for the known elementary particles and their interactions.
Scientists from the Quantum Field Theory department (Photo: Axel Griesch/MPP)
The Amplitudes research field focuses on understanding and computing probabilities of scattering processes in quantum field theory. The latter are the essential building blocks for cross-sections that can be measured at particle colliders, such as the LHC at CERN, Geneva.
Apart from their phenomenological interest, scattering amplitudes also have intriguing mathematical properties. They satisfy a number of physical conditions, and have obvious and hidden symmetries. In some situations, the amplitudes can be uniquely determined from their symmetry and analytic properties. Many modern methods of computing them are based on such structural insights.
Key words for specific research directions of the group:
Scattering amplitudes of elementary particles
Feynman integrals, differential equations, and special functions
A Rosetta Stone for understanding the Universe at all scales
The theories researchers use to describe the Universe at small and large scales – from the Standard Model of particle physics to general relativity—have proven incredibly successful. Yet, such theories remain incompatible with one another and carry…
The Max Planck Institute for Physics is pleased to announce two successful applications to the European Research Council (ERC): 10 million euros will go to the project "UNIVERSE+: Positive Geometry in Particle Physics and Cosmology", coordinated by…
The workshop "Current Topics in Fundamental Physics" on the 16th of August will bring together experts from theoretical particle physics, cosmology and mathematics to discuss the latest developments at the interface of these three research areas.
What holds the world together? Prof. Nima Arkani-Hamed, theoretical physicist from the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, and Prof. Armin Nassehi, sociologist from LMU München, give answers to this question – and a glimpse into the future…
Theoretical particle physicists sometimes compare Feynman integrals to “wild beasts”. Three physicists have now succeeded in partially taming these wild beasts with the help of mathematics. Their scientific achievement should make theoretical…
Theoretical particle physicists are not particularly well known for their simplicity but rather for their complex research field. Yet simplicity is exactly what particle physicists strive for. The researchers in the quantum field theory group led by…
Theoretical physicist Johannes M. Henn has been appointed as a new Director at the Max Planck Institute for Physics. The 37-year-old scientist conducts research into scattering amplitudes, which are used for the precise description of accelerator…
