Michael Dine
Professor of Physics
B.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1974
Ph.D., Yale University, 1978
Contents
Textbook: Supersymmetry and String Theory,
Beyond the Standard Model (Cambridge University Press)
Contact
Information
Teaching
Research
Interests
Research
Related Postings
Links
Contact Information
Office: 322 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB) 322
Electronic mail address:
dine@scipp.ucsc.edu
Office phone: (831) 459-3033
Fax: (831) 459-3043
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Activities/Honors
UCSC Faculty at American Academy Induction 2010 (Fall 2010)
Teaching
Physics
116 (Spring 2012)
``Is There a Quantum Enigma?" -- Guest lecture in course of the same title
Physics
217 (Fall 2013)
Physics 222 Advanced Quantum Field Theory (Graduate) (Spring 2011)
Physics 214 Electricity and Magnetism (Graduate) (Winter 2011)
Physics 212 Electricity and Magnetism (Graduate) (Fall 2010)
Physics 295 Independent Study: Topics in Quantum Field Theory (Spring 2010)
Physics
171 General Relativity (Fall 2007)
Physics
105 Mechanics (Fall 2004)
Physics
290 Beyond the Standard Model: Supersymmetry
and String Theory (Fall 2004)
Physics
216 Quantum Mechanics (Spring 2004)
Physics
110B (Spring 2006)
Physics
101B (Winter 2005)
Physics
218 (Winter 2004)
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Research Interests
- The principle goal of my research through the years has been
to address questions left unanswered by the Standard Model. These
questions include understanding the hierarchy between the weak
scale and the Planck scale, the strong CP problem,
the origin of the
generation structure of quarks and leptons, as well as the quark
and lepton mass matrix, quantum general relativity and its
puzzles, and questions of early universe cosmology, such as the
origin of the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, the nature
of the dark matter, and the physics which underlies inflation.
I have made several important contributions to our thinking
about a number of these subjects, and, needless to say, have been
less successful in my attacks on others.
-
In attacking the
hierarchy problem, in collaboration with Fischler
and Srednicki, I was among the first to suggest that
supersymmetry might play an important role, and developed (in
collaborations) some of the first phenomenologically sensible
models of low energy supersymmetry. Subsequently, Affleck, Seiberg
and I were the first to exhibit models of dynamical
supersymmetry breaking, and to understand this phenomenon in a
general way. With Ann Nelson, Yossi Nir and my student Yuri Shirman,
I developed
the first realistic particle physics models with dynamical
supersymmetry breaking, in which ``Gauge-Mediated Supersymmetry
Breaking" plays a crucial role.
On the question of strong CP violation, Fischler, Srednicki
and I
proposed the ``Invisible Axion," still among the most plausible
solutions of this puzzle and the subject of active experimental
search. Fischler and I were among those who first appreciated the cosmological
constraints on the axion, and its possible role as a dark matter
particle. String theory has lead to a much more sophisticated
understanding of the invisible axion, both at a fundamental level
and in cosmology, I have devoted much effort in recent
years to this issue. I have also been interested in
the question of spontaneous CP violation as the
explanation of the small value of the $\theta$ parameter of QCD,
and again string theory and supersymmetry have helped shape our
understanding of these subjects.
-
From the start of the ``First String Revolution" in the mid
1980's, I have appreciated that string theory is a tool to
investigate the full set of questions of physics beyond the
Standard Model, and this has guided many of my investigations of the
subject. This
research deals with both fundamental issues
and issues of a more phenomenological character. In the past,
Rohm, Seiberg Witten and I discovered the ``gaugino
condensation" mechanism which lifts the degeneracy among many
string vacua. We elucidated the role of Fayet-Iliopoulos D-terms
(with Seiberg and Witten) and of world sheet instantons (also with
Wen). In more recent years, I have explored
the phenomenology of the strongly coupled theory (with Banks), and
other issues.
I have throughout tried to formulate the problems of string
phenomenology in a generic way, with the hope of obtaining robust
predictions. In recent
years, I have outlined and pursued possible programs to
understand whether low energy supersymmetry might be a robust
prediction of string theory, and how one might obtain predictions
for the pattern of soft breakings. Recently, much of my research
in string theory has focussed on understanding the so-called
string theory landscape, and whether it predicts phenomena which
might be observed at the Large Hadron Collider.
Research Related Postings
-
Talk on Solutions of the Strong CP Problem, Institute for Advanced Study, 2015
Colloquium "After the Higgs Discovery" Nov 2013 at Ben Gurion University and elsewhere
"Alternative Futures for Particle Physics" October 2013 at Neve Shalom Joint Seminar
"Alternative Futures for Particle Physics" June 2013 at ``Higgs and Beyond", Sendai
Talk at MIT "Ramifications of Discrete R Symmetriess" April, 2013
Vision Talk at BNL Energy Frontiers Workshop, "Alternative Futures for Particle Physics" April 2013
Talk at Frontiers Workshop, Minneapolis "Ramifications of Discrete R Symmetries -- Rethinking Naturalness"
Talk at UCI, USC "Ramifications of Discrete R Symmetries"
Talk at UCB, "QCD Instantons: SUSY and Not"
Talk at UCB, "QCD Instantons: SUSY and Not"
Lectures at the 2011 Jerusalem Winter School, "Supersymmetry from the Bottom Up and the Top Down"
Talk at West Coast LHC Meeting, 2011, "Naturalness Under Stress"
Plenary Talk, SUSY 2011 (Fermilab) ``Recent Theory Developments: Implications for Low Energy Supersymmetry
Plenary Talk at {\it String Phenomenology 2011}, University of Wisconsin. ``Arenas for String Phenomenology"
Seminar (SLAC, Harvard, UCB, Cal Tech, Davis): Discrete R symmetries and low energy supersymmetry
Review of Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking, with John Mason
Seminar (SLAC, UCSD): Reliable Semiclassical Calculations in QCD
Plenary Talk at String Phenomenology 2010 (Paris), Discrete R Symmetries: Macrophysics and Microphysics
Baryogenesis Review for Reviews
of Modern Physics
Colloquium: Dawn of the
LHC Era: A Confrontation with Fundamental Questions
Talk:
Symmetries in String Theory
Talk for Astrophysics
Seminar at Lawrence Berkeley Lab: Effective Field Theory and the
Early Universe
Baryogenesis Review in Reviews of Modern Physics (requires subscription)
Baryogenesis Plenary Talk
at SLAC Conference on Heavy Flavor Physics
Future
Directions in Particle Physics
Plenary Talk at SUSY 2006 (Irvine): Naturalness and the Landscape
Popular Talk: The Big
Bang, How Close Can We Come
Popular Talk: AntiMatter
Talk for School Children, Astronomy Buffs: A Quick Tour of the Universe
Beamline
Article on Supersymmetry
A Colloquium:
String Theory and the Landscape
Princeton University Colloquium:
When will String Theory Confront Experiment
Recent picture of my parents
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Links
Physics
Faculty
SCIPP
Home Page (Includes Seminar Information)
Physics
Home Page
Graduate Program
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Last Revised: December 14, 2010