Physics Department Colloquia |
Events During the Week of February 21st through February 28th, 2010
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
- No events scheduled
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
- No events scheduled
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
- No events scheduled
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
- No events scheduled
Friday, February 26th, 2010
- Special Joint Physics/Astronomy Colloquium Talk
- Confronting the Dark Energy Crisis in Fundamental Physics
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 3:30 pm)
- Speaker: Christopher Stubbs, Harvard University, Physics and Astronomy
- Abstract: The best evidence we currently have for physics beyond the standard model comes from astrophysical observations: Dark Energy (repulsive gravity in the vacuum!) , Dark Matter (ordinary matter is a minority component of the mass budget of the Universe), and even the cosmic abundance of matter over antimatter are each indications of shortcomings in our understanding of basic physics. I will describe our efforts to understand the nature of the Dark Energy, and why this particular problem merits our collective attention. I'll also present the status of PanSTARRS and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), two ambitious ground-based optical systems that will provide new capabilities for studying diverse topics in astronomy and astrophysics, and fundamental physics.
- Host: Karsten Heeger