Konwersatorium im. Leopolda Infelda

Theoretical understanding of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider is based on the standard model - a quantum field theory of quarks and leptons interacting with gauge fields. Some of the most important quantum field-theoretical observables are the amplitudes describing multi-particle, relativistic processes in which matter, antimatter particles and gauge bosons are scattered, created and/or annihilated. Over the last decade, there has been enormous progress in understanding the structure of scattering amplitudes in the standard model. It is less known that some significant progress has been also accomplished in gravity and in string theory, where the scattering amplitudes of hypothetical gravitons offer a testing ground for some new ideas about the relation of gauge theory to quantum gravity. I will describe some recent developments which point towards a fascinating unity of all gauge, gravity and string amplitudes