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Department of Physics & Astronomy |  |
Benjamin C. HarmsProfessor Theoretical high-energy physics Professor Harms has most recently worked on the quantum description of microscopic black holes and their relation to extended objects such as strings and membranes. The theory of extended objects is currently the best candidate for a unified description of all of the known forces. The theory also predicts the presence of new forces - for example, a scalar component of gravity (the dilaton) - that have so far not been detected by experiment. To test the validity of string theory as a description of physical phenomena, Professor Harms and his colleagues have performed various calculations to predict the affect of a scalar component of gravity on physically measurable quantities. Other recent projects include the investigation of Poincare coset models as descriptions of strings moving on curved space-time backgrounds and their T-dual geometries, and a search for exact, three-dimensional black hole solutions in string theory. Professor Harms received his doctoral degree from Florida State University in 1969. He joined the faculty of The University of Alabama in 1970. |