Media Release

For immediate release
February 10, 2006

Physicists meet in Banff to unravel superstring theory

Some of the most high-powered theoretical physicists in the world will converge on The Banff Centre this week, where the Banff International Research Station will be hosting a workshop on recent developments in superstring theory. “Frontiers in String Theory” is co-organized by Professor Brian Greene of Columbia University, who is also the author of the best-selling book and star of the PBS Nova program “The Elegant Universe.” Other organizers are string theorists Hirosi Ooguri of Caltech, Amanda Peet and Gordon Semenoff from the Universities of Toronto and British Columbia.

The workshop will focus on the hottest new results in superstring theory, which is a candidate for a unified theory of the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. It is touted as a solution of the long-standing problem of quantizing gravity and reconciling Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum theory. It has many profound consequences which, with the concerted efforts of hundreds of theoretical physicists and mathematicians worldwide, are slowly being unravelled.

The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the mathematical sciences, with related disciplines, and with industry. The workshop takes place February 11-16.

The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is administered by the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, which itself is a collaborative venture between the major universities in Alberta, BC, and Washington State.

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For more information, visit the workshop website or contact the BIRS Scientific Director, Nassif Ghoussoub, by email or through his website.