Some aspects of the connection between field theories and gravity

Over the last several years, a tremendous amount of progress has been made in understanding gauge theories and theories of gravity, especially string theory. One extremely profound result of this new understanding is a connection between gauge theories, which a priori seem to have nothing to do with gravity, and M-Theory, which, in its many facets, is the candidate for a self-consistent theory of quantum gravity. A key role in the "duality" between gauge theories and M-Theory is played by the UV-IR connection: short scales in one theory are exchanged with long scales in the dual theory.