How strongly interacting particles (hadrons and nuclei) form structures is the final unsolved riddle in the standard model of electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions. “In TRR 110, we’re investigating how these kinds of composite particles are formed from the fundamental building blocks of matter—quarks and gluons—and what their properties are,” says Professor Ulf-G. Meißner from the University of Bonn, who is Speaker for TRR 110 “Symmetries and the Emergence of Structure in Quantum Chromodynamics.”
A key role in this process is played by discrete and continuous symmetries, which place significant limitations on the properties and dynamics of the hadrons and nuclei. The researchers are also investigating a more complex form of strongly interacting matter, such as that found inside neutron stars. As Meißner explains: “In TRR 110, we’re tackling this fundamental problem of elementary particle and nuclear physics comprehensively for the first time.”
Also involved in the project alongside the University of Bonn are Peking University (China), the Technical University of Munich, the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing (China) and Forschungszentrum Jülich. The funding on the German side amounts to up to €9.8 million in the years to 2024.
In terms of its subject matter, TRR 110 fits with the Mathematics, Modelling and Simulation of Complex Systems and the Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn. The TRAs are where researchers from all manner of different faculties and disciplines come together within them to collaborate on key research topics of great relevance for the future.
How do effects on a small scale contribute to something bigger?
The DFG is also extending its funding for the Collaborative Research Center entitled “The Mathematics of Emergent Effects” (CRC 1060), providing it with up to €6.8 million over the next four years. Its speaker is Professor Stefan Müller from the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn. CRC 1060 is based in the TRA Mathematics, Modelling and Simulation of Complex Systems.
The researchers involved are keen to understand how the interaction between numerous entities on a small scale can trigger effects on a large scale. To this end, new mathematical concepts and methods are to be developed and applied in specific examples. The CRC has three main areas of focus: analyzing the collective behavior of multiparticle systems in both quantum and classical mechanics; investigating stochastic systems and the effective behavior that they describe on larger spatial and time scales; and understanding the geometric structures underlying these high-dimensional problems and developing efficient numerical algorithms. “The close links between analysis, probability theory and numerics give the CRC a crucial competitive advantage in what is a highly active field of research internationally,” Stefan Müller explains.
The resources and high profile enjoyed by the Hausdorff Center has enabled it to secure the services of researchers from world-leading institutions such as UCLA in Los Angeles, the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Society. The CRC is being supported by the Institute for Applied Mathematics, the Institute of Numerical Simulation and the Mathematical Institute at the University of Bonn.
Media contacts:
Prof. Dr. Ulf-G. Meißner
Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics
University of Bonn
Phone +49 228 73-2365
Email: meissner@hiskp.uni-bonn.de
Prof. Dr. Stefan Müller
Institute for Applied Mathematics
University of Bonn
Phone +49 228 7362253
Email: stefan.mueller@hcm.uni-bonn.de