The double copy: a new way to think about gravity - Dr. Christopher White

All forces in nature are known to be consequences of four "fundamental forces”. Three of these (electromagnetism, and the strong/weak nuclear forces) are contained in the Standard Model of particle physics, which includes the effects of quantum mechanics. The fourth force, gravity, is described by General Relativity, whose quantum theory remains elusive but apparently necessary to describe black holes and the origin of the universe itself! Recently, a remarkable new relationship has been found between theories like the strong force and gravity. It gives us a potentially new way to think about gravity, as well as being of great practical importance (e.g. for decoding the results of gravitational wave experiments). In this talk, I will introduce the double copy, and describe how research carried out at QMUL has influenced global research in this area.