Theory
Theoretical research at the Center is pursued in three broad directions. First, the accessible experimental data are being used for testing of the current SM. These efforts will extend previous activities of some of our theorists involved directly in experiments at DESY and CERN. In the next few years, this phenomenological research will concentrate on analyses of physical quantities characterizing structure of the proton and photon, detailed testing of the interactions of intermediate vector bosons of electroweak interactions and investigation of the properties of the top quark. Later on, the research will focus on detailed tests of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism and the related physics of the hypothetical Higgs boson. For purposes of these practical tests of the SM the available data from experiments at CERN, FERMILAB and DESY are used.
Secondly, theoretical research aimes at the investigation of physical phenomena beyond the SM. Here we envisage applications of the model-independent method of effective Lagrangians, which will draw on the previous experience of some of our theorists from the work on electroweak interactions and low-energy interactions of mesons (within the framework of the so-called chiral perturbation theory). Another aspect of this second theoretical direction are specific models for physics beyond SM, among them first of all the supersymmetric models predicting rich spectra of new particles with clear signatures which make them interesting for experimentalists. Also here we shall build on the previous activities of our theorists and PhD students.
The third direction of the theoretical research is devoted to studies of modern mathematical methods of theoretical physics (quantum field theory in particular) and to the development of entirely novel ideas (such as the string theory). The methods of quantum field theory (in particular, symmetries and theory of the so-called quantum anomalies) have been for a long time in a forefront of interest of some of our theorists and one of our PhD students is currently writing a Thesis on this subject. We would like to strengthen this dynamically developing direction by attracting young researchers since we expect its intense development in the coming years and are aware of its attraction to students. At present, two Czech PhD students work on these topics abroad and their return to the home institutions is highly desirable.