Black Holes, String Theory and the Fundamental Laws of Nature

Harvard FAS

The quest to understand the fundamental laws of nature has been ongoing for centuries. This seminar will assess the current status of this quest. In the first five weeks, we will cover the basic pillars of our understanding: Einstein's theory of general relativity, quantum mechanics and the Standard Model of particle physics. We will then examine the inadequacies and inconsistencies in our current picture, including, for example, the problem of quantum gravity, the lack of a unified theory of…