Fundamental Physics in Cosmology

String theory and supergravity are integral to our understanding the structure of the physical universe. In this project, the student will explore cosmological consequences of models that descend from these ideas. In particular, the double field theory formalism allows one to describe the fundamental string in a way that is manifestly symmetric under

T duality. The cosmological consequences of the resulting low energy vacua have not yet been fully explored. The quest to understand how de Sitter space can energy from both supergravity and string theory are also of crucial importance. This research requires high levels of mathematical expertise and physical intuition, and has the potential to

contribute to a world class research programme.