Brown University Physics Department
Workshop name: New England Theoretical Cosmology and Gravity Workshop
Dates: 09/16 (public lecture) and 09/17 (workshop)
Registration: Free
Public Lecture 09/16 at 6:00 PM, in the Carmichael Auditorium, 85 Waterman Street
Speaker: Katherine Freese (University of Michigan)
Title: "The Dark Side of the Universe”
Abstract: The
ordinary atoms that make up the known universe, from our bodies and the
air we breathe to the planets and stars, constitute only 5% of all
matter and energy in the cosmos. The remaining 95% is made up of a
recipe of 25% dark matter and 70% dark energy, both nonluminous
components whose nature remains a mystery. Freese will recount the hunt
for dark matter, from the discoveries of visionary scientists like Knut
Lundmark and Fritz Zwicky, the astronomers who coined the term "dark
matter" in the 1930's, to the deluge of data today from underground
laboratories, satellites in space, and the Large Hadron Collider.
Theorists contend that dark matter consists of fundamental particles
known as WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. Billions of
them pass through our bodies every second without us even realizing it,
yet their gravitational pull is capable of whirling stars and gas at
breakneck speeds around the centers of galaxies, and bending light from
distant bright objects. In this talk Freese will provide an overview of
this cosmic cocktail, including the evidence for the existence of dark
matter in galaxies. Many cosmologists believe we are on the verge of
solving this mystery and this talk will provide the foundation needed to
fully fathom this epochal moment in humankind's quest to understand
the universe.
Workshop: 09/17 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM, Barus & Holley, Rm 190, 182 Hope Street
Schedule:
9:30 - 10:00 AM Coffee and Bagels
10:00 - 10:55 AM Opening Remarks and Keynote Address by David Spergel (Princeton University)
11:00 - 11:25 AM Robert Caldwell (Dartmouth)
11:30 - 11:55 AM Jiji Fan (Brown University)
12:00 - 12:25 PM Cora Dvorkin (Harvard University)
12:25 - 12:50 PM Ian Dell Antonio (Brown University)
1:00 - 2:25 PM Lunch
2:30 - 2:55 PM David Kaiser (MIT)
3:00 - 3:25 PM Mark Hertzberg (Tufts)
3:30 - 3:55 PM Savvas Koushiappas (Brown University)
4:00 - 4:25 PM Devin Walker (Dartmouth)
4:30 - 5:30 PM (Four Grad Student Talks TBD)
5:30 - 6:30 PM Panel Discussion Moderated by Stephon Alexander:
"The Future of Cosmology" (Panel: Alan Guth, David Spergel, Jim Gates, and Katie Freese)