Physicists are using M-theory—the framework that extends string theory—to build a unified description of gravity, quantum mechanics, and the fundamental particles that make up matter. This matters because the two pillars of modern physics—Einstein’s general relativity and the quantum field theory of particles—remain mathematically incompatible. M-theory offers a way to reconcile them, and the researchers are testing its predictions against real cosmological data. They are using gravitational wave observations and cosmic microwave background measurements to look for signs of quantum gravity, such as discrete spacetime structure or modifications to Einstein’s gravity. If successful, this work could reveal the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory, transforming our understanding of black holes, the early universe, and the nature of spacetime itself. It may also constrain theories of dark energy and inflation. This is fundamental science with no immediate practical application. However, past fundamental research in quantum field theory and general relativity led directly to technologies such as GPS, semiconductor electronics, and medical imaging. A deeper understanding of quantum gravity could similarly underpin future innovations in computing, precision measurement, or energy.
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Our STFC research programme investigates the fundamental physics that describes matter, interactions and spacetime, focusing on the interrelated core concepts of M-theory, quantum field theory and cosmology. M-theory, which subsumes string theory and supergravity theory, is our central approach to unifying Einstein's theory of General Relativity with the Standard Model of particle physics. One of the most remarkable features of M-theory is that it incorporates dual descriptions of non-perturbative Yang-Mills theories in terms of strings and branes, leading to profound connections between black holes and quantum field theory and also to new insights into strong coupling phenomena such as quark confinement. These connections will continue play a central role in our research, explored in a number of different ways, including using supersymmetry, novel geometric constructions, new algebraic structures and exactly integrable quantum field theory. An ultimate goal is to determine the fundamental degrees of freedom of M-theory which would have profound implications for understanding quantum gravity as well as ultimately particle physics phenomenology. Black holes are a vital stage for exploring these ideas, and, using both analytical and numerical techniques, we will continue to construct and study black-hole solutions with novel properties that have important implications for understanding the origin of entropy and universal properties of the dual quantum field theories. Cosmology continues to be a highly vibrant area of study driven by a wealth of new data, in particular via the new field of gravitational waves observations. Key clues to the structure and the origin of the universe are to be found in the details of the cosmic microwave background. These questions provide one focus of our activities both through analysing data and by studying the cosmological implications of the Higgs field and extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics in inflationary scenarios. Central to the analysis of cosmology is the study of effective field theories. A key element of our work is to use fundamental conditions such as quantum consistency and causality to put important constraints of the allowed form of the effective theory, with implications for early-time cosmology, black-hole physics and dark energy. This includes the possibility that Einstein gravity is modified, for instance where the graviton has a mass. More generally our work extends to looking at how to extract general imprints of quantum gravity, such as fundamental discreteness of spacetime, on cosmological data. A unifying theme throughout this research is what information can be extracted from new gravity wave measurements and what this implies about the nature of gravity and how the universe evolved.
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