Kurt Hinterbichler

Associate Professor

Contact

kurt.hinterbichler@case.edu
216.368.3009
Rockefeller 214

Other Information

Degree: Ph.D - Columbia University

Concentrations

gravity, cosmology, field theory

Interests

I am a theoretical physicist with a wide range of interests, encompassing aspects of effective field theory, early universe cosmology, higher spins, extra dimensions/brane worlds, modified gravity and screening mechanisms.

I am interested quite generally in the structure of effective field theories, the primary tool with which to attack problems when a full underlying theory is not known or is too difficult to solve. I have been active in constructing and studying effective theories that possess interesting and novel features and that may have relevance during the very early or late universe.

One specific area of interest is massive gravity and higher spins, which is part of a larger program to explore the space of possibilities of effective field theories consistent with established principles, with an eye towards important open questions such as the cosmological constant naturalness problem.

Another central area of my research is early universe cosmology, including the study of inflation and alternatives to inflation. Inflation is the leading paradigm of the early universe, and I am particularly interested in the consequences of non-linearly realized symmetries that lead to general and powerful consistency relations among observables. I have also been active in the development of novel alternative theories of the very early universe, and in the ways that they may be distinguished from inflation.

Publications

My papers can be found here.