Return of String Theory to Symmetry & SUSY 2012

Abstract

We know string theory only as a small set of perturbative formulations linked together by non-perturbative dualities. There has to be an underlying theory based on some unifying principle. For about 16 years it has been known that an important element of quantum gravity is the holographic principle. If it is right there must be a huge amount of redundancy in this volumetric description of field theory. Redundancy can be taken to imply symmetry. In this essay, I discuss the importance of symmetry and the return of string theory to symmetry. Separately, The SUSY 2012 conference started in Beijing on August 13, 2012. It is the biggest supersymmetry conference of the year and we expect to see the latest results using the 5/fb gathered in 2012 at 8 TeV before the last technical stop. The most promising anomaly at this time is the 1.8 times SM excess in the diphoton channel seen in the Higgs search which currently has 2.5 sigma significance BSM in ATLAS and 1.5 sigma in CMS.