RTG 2522

The language of modern physics is formulated in terms of the concept of fields. Our current comprehension of Nature on its fundamental level is based on dynamical field theories such as Einstein's theory of general relativity for gravitational aspects and quantum field theories for the description of matter and their quantized interactions. Whereas both theory concepts have their origins in the reductionist search for the elements of space, time and matter, current theoretical research instead faces the challenge of complexity: a variety of physical properties emerge in a fascinating manner from the interplay of matter and fields.

The core research idea of this Research Training Group (RTG) is to investigate, understand and compute the emergence of complexity in gravitational and quantum field theories starting from their foundations. We focus on a set of examples of physical topicality or conceptual relevance, such as gravitational wave phenomena and black holes on the gravity side, and dynamics and criticality near phase transitions on the quantum side. Of particular interest is the interface of gravitational and quantum theories, where our understanding profits substantially from the cross-correlations among these fields both conceptually and from the method side.