Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Individual

The focus of proposed research is understanding a broad class of dynamical phenomena in strongly coupled gauge theories and gravity. One the gauge theory side, I am interested in questions of preparations of non--equilibrium states; quantum quenches and subsequent thermalization; entropy production in dynamical evolution; local and non-local probes of thermalization; late--time behaviour of generic states in Quantum Field Theories. On the gravity side I am interested in gravitational collapse, specifically the conditions under which the event horizon is formed; does turbulence play a role in horizon formation? Additionally, I have a long--standing interest in constructing inflationary models in String Theory, and understanding the origin of the Universe. In this view, I was particularly excited by recent experiment announcement for the detection of the primordial gravitational waves. To make progress in any of these fundamental problems, they must be considered together: holographic correspondence of Maldacena provides a mapping between Quantum Field Theory and Gravitational problems. I believe that combining the intuition and previous research in these seemingly different sub-fields of theoretical physics would lead to further breakthroughs. It it natural to separate the project into three sub-themes: 1) From Thermodynamics to Hydrodynamics to Non--equilibrium Gauge Theory Plasma. Here I intend to continue development of program of holographic quantum quenches I have been actively involved with in the last 3 years. A major effort is related to designing novel numerical codes that would be able to address the dynamics of quenching systems without homogeneity and isotropy assumptions. I hope to shed light on definition of entropy far -from- equilibrium, describe in details various local and non--local probes of non--equilibrium dynamics. I plan to perform simulations of ``collisions'' in realistic (confining) models of holographic gauge/string correspondence. The results should be of interest to researchers involved in experimental heavy -ion programs at RHIC and LHC. 2) Gravitational Collapse, Horizon Formation and Turbulence. Here, I continue to further my program of gravitational collapse in asymptotically AdS. The main fundamental question I hope to answer relates to constraints on states in strongly coupled systems that, despite interactions, fail to equilibrate and thermalize. I hope my research would help better understand recent Hawking suggestion concerning the role of turbulence in Black Hole information paradox. 3) Inflation and Origin of the Universe in String Theory I intend to refine the models of Inflation in String Theory that I worked on in the past. The motivation for this is the hope that as the potential discovery of primordial gravitation waves suggests the high scale of inflation, there might be signatures of String Inflation hidden in BICEP 2 data.